Executive summary
Welcome to your weekly briefing on the metaverse and spatial computing. Here are your snippets to sound smarter in meetings this week:
Headline: UK politicians wear avatars as they lay out a blockchain national plan (condensed version below).
Insight: What is a metaverse standards register? Christine Perey answers.
Other stories: GEEIQ raised $8.2m in funding, Varjo cut the price of the Varjo Aero to $990, and The Journal of Medical Extended Reality is a new publication that is accepting submissions (more stories below).
The Art of Explaination is a great book on how to write well and showcase what you need to say. It’s great for content writers in the business world, and works well as a commute read.
Analysis
UK politicians wear avatars as they lay out a blockchain national plan.
Natalie Elphicke, an MP, says the UK has the potential to become a “smart country” - though fewer than twelve countries have published roadmaps on the technology.
It was presented with avatars - which I am unsure about. It certainly legitimises the use of the technology for making major announcements, though I am unsure if it leads to a greater impact for those watching. It embodies the principles of the new group well, but it invites criticism from people on Twitter. I don’t envy the balance.
Other notable stories
Got any stories? Let me know at tom (at) immersivewire (dot) com.
Amazon is allegedly working on a smart home projector, with some XR capabilities.
Baidu and Qualcomm announced a strategic partnership to advance XR.
China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) formed a working group to establish metaverse standards.
GEEIQ raised $8.2m in funding.
Dassault Systèmes introduced Emma Twin, an avatar designed to raise awareness of the role that digital twins have in advancing healthcare.
Digital Catapult worked with Target3D to launch the UK's first network of Advanced Media Production studios.
I attended the launch of it, and it was very cool!
The Journal of Medical Extended Reality is a new publication that is accepting submissions.
Meta is discontinuing three VR games: Dead and Buried, Dead and Buried II, and Bogo.
Retinize announced that Animotive, an immersive real-time animation tool, is now available on PC.
Track Craft, a toy car game, released a demo on SideQuest and App Lab.
Varjo cut the price of the Varjo Aero to $990.
Virtual Reality Games for Rehabilitation is a new book looking into how immersive tech can help with heath disorders.
Vodafone has partnered with Audi to launch an AR app to help buy cars.
Help corner
If you have a problem that you think could be solved by another reader of The Immersive Wire and would like to be connected, let me know at tom (at) immersivewire (dot) com.
This could be you! If you need help, let me know.
Note: The Immersive Wire is run by Tom Ffiske, who also works within Accenture’s metaverse group. The contents of the newsletter should not be regarded as Accenture’s views.
