The most dangerous part of the metaverse will be agenda-driven artificial agents that look and act like other users but are actually simulated personas controlled by AI.
Avataar raises $45 million to improve consumer shopping experience with life-sized 3D product evaluation
The vast majority of e-commerce customers prefer to preview the product before making the purchase. That’s the reason why the likes of Amazon have historically struggled to move fashion and home decor items online. A San Francisco and Bengaluru-based startup is attempting to solve this problem and has just raised a new funding round to […]
5 NFT trends that will bring social media audiences into web3
The true mass-market potential of blockchain will be unlocked with the merger of Web 2.0 and web3.
Snapchat knows you want to see what you’d look like in the metaverse
Snapchat released an Avatar lens AR filter today, which makes you look like a Sims character. Or, in more modern parlance, it makes you look like what you’d look like in the metaverse. To use the lens, open your camera in the Snapchat app to scan the QR code on Snapchat’s website, then look at […]
Niantic raises $300M at a $9B valuation to build the ‘real-world metaverse’
Niantic, the augmented reality platform that’s developing games like Pokémon GO, raised $300 million from Coatue, valuing the company at $9 billion. The San Fransisco-based startup, which initially spun out of Google, will use this money to build what it calls the “real-world metaverse.” As early as August, Niantic founder and CEO John Hanke has […]
VR glove startup says Meta’s recently unveiled prototype is ‘substantively identical’ to their own device
Facebook, errr Meta, showed off a new prototype haptic feedback glove yesterday, which they detailed could eventually bring a new generation of AR/VR users closer than they’ve ever been to digital content. Today, a VR startup with that same mission called HaptX (which we’ve covered here before) released a fairly aggressive statement accusing Meta of […]
Snapchat partners with Sony Music, announces plans for new AR music lenses
Snapchat has inked a deal with Sony Music Entertainment to include its artists’ music in the app’s Sounds library. The company also revealed that it’s creating new AR music lenses. Soon, Snapchat will feature “Sound Lenses” with a pre-selected song embedded into the lens, a lens that transforms pictures of anyone to appear as if […]
Niantic reveals its vision for a ‘real-world metaverse,’ releases Lightship AR Developer Kit
AR technology company Niantic, best known for Pokémon GO, announced today that it will launch Lightship, an AR Developer Kit (ARDK) that will make building augmented reality experiences more accessible. This free, openly available technology will help Niantic lay the foundation for its vision of the “real-world metaverse.” In the program’s launch livestream, Niantic CEO […]
With Mesh for Teams, Microsoft plans to bring 3D workspaces to remote workers in 2022
The concept rides the recent “metaverse” hype, but it’s only a precursor.
Luma raises $4.3M to make 3D models as easy as waving a phone around
When online shopping, you’ve probably come across photos that spin around so you can see a product from all angles. This is typically done by taking a number of photos of a product from all angles, and then playing them like an animation. Luma — founded by engineers who left Apple’s AR and computer vision […]