It’s been a bumpy ride for social VR platform Neos VR over the past two years partly due to being removed from Steam for heavily featuring its own cryptocurrency. While Neos VR was eventually reinstated on Steam, original Neos VR developer Tomáš “Frooxius” Mariančík has since departed the project and now announced a spiritual successor called Resonite.
There’s a fair bit of drama surrounding Neos VR, something you can read up on over at Ryan Schulz’s blog, which delves into the cryptocurrency-fueled rift between Mariančík and Karel Hulec, CEO of the app’s publisher Sorilax. The two have completely parted ways, with Hulec still managing Neos while Mariančík has headed a new team developing Resonite.
From what by all accounts was a bitter split, Resonite is emerging from the controversy, bringing with it what Mariančík describes as a “novel digital universe with infinite possibilities.”
“Whether you resonate with people around the world in a casual conversation, playing games and socializing or you riff off each other when creating anything from art to programming complex games, you’ll find your place here,” the app’s Steam description reads.
Like Neos VR, Resonite heavily focuses on in-app content creation, allowing users to create their own interactive avatars, art, gadgets, and “complex interactive worlds and games.”
There’s no release date yet for Resonite, however the app’s Steam page says it’s launching into early access sometime in October. Whatever the case, Resonite doesn’t appear to have ambitions to launch on Quest, PSVR 2, or mobile hardware currently, essentially setting it up to be a PC-exclusive experience likely appealing mostly to enthusiasts.
We’re curious to learn more about Resonite, and what sets it apart from Neos. Whatever the case, there seems to be a fairly substantial expected migration of Neos users to Resonite, as Resonite’s Patreon page already boasts over $14,000 monthly donations.
According to cached pages, support for Neos VR’s Patreon has decreased significantly in the past two years since the project included its own cryptocurrency and friction arose between its creators; near its all-time high of over $18,000 per-month donations, today Neos garners a little under $5,000 per month from backers.
Meta released a Quest software update via its public test channel (PTC), which lets users opt-in to try new features before they’re pushed out to everyone. Among the v57 PTC update is a feature that’s been notably missing from Meta avatars: legs.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg promised at Connect 2022 that its avatars would eventually be getting legs, putting an end to the platform’s characteristic floating torsos at some point in the not-too-distant future. At the time, Zuckerberg showed off his on-stage avatar jumping and kicking, although it was revealed later this was actually created using some fairly common external motion capture tech.
In short, Quest can’t track legs yet, which means the v57 PTC update is packing a pretty standard implementation of inverse kinematics (IK), resulting in the sort of body positioning guesswork you see in apps like VR Chat. Still, nice to see a full body in Quest Home for once, right?
X (formerly Twitter) user Lunayian shows off the new avatar legs after installing the v57 PTC update.
YouTuber and tech analyst Brad Lynch also tried out the new legs, showing off some of the limitations currently. Notably, you won’t see your avatar’s legs when looking down directly at them—they’re only viewable via the mirror, and ostensibly by other users—and the IK system still doesn’t account for crouching.
According to data mined by X user NyaVR, the v57 PTC update also includes the ability to enable and disable the avatar mirror, a new Horizon Worlds Portal in home, an Airplane Mode, and an Extended Battery Mode.
The comes alongside a wider push to attract more users to Horizon Worlds, as Meta recently took its first steps of endingQuest-exclusivity for the social VR app with the launch of a closed beta on Android mobile devices. It’s also set to arrive on standard PC browsers too at some point.
Additionally, Meta seems to also be investing more in first-party content for Horizon Worlds, having released Super Rumblelate last month, a hero shooter which feels more in line with the sort of sticky content that ought to attract and bring users back more regularly.
We’re sure to learn more about Quest software features and Horizon Worlds stuff at the company’s annual Connect developer conference, which takes place September 27th.
While the metaverse is a relatively established concept, a comprehensive idea of the metaverse is slowly gaining traction: the multiverse. With the rapid and constant change that the world is experiencing due to continuous technological innovations, how we communicate and access information has dramatically changed over the years.
For this article, we talked with Ronny Tome, the founder of a blockchain company Ducatus Global, to help us shed more light on the multiverse, what it is, and what it will play in bringing the metaverse to life.
What Is the Multiverse?
Before defining what the multiverse is, let’s do a quick review of what the metaverse is. As defined by Tome, a metaverse is a shared space that’s created when physical and virtual realities come together.
“It is an immersive environment that goes beyond the traditional concept of virtual reality as entertainment, the metaverse connects anyone – anywhere and anytime – with others in a virtual environment that offers possibilities for social interaction, community, business, and more. Today and arguably the future’s metaverse is believed to be the next evolution of the Internet,” he said.
Meanwhile, the multiverse “is the home of multiple metaverses,” as Tome puts it. In the multiverse, users can discover and experiences different metaverses all at once, even if the diverse ecosystems are disparate. To expand on the concept of the multiverse, it’s a virtual space where users can also interact with each other.
Multiverse vs. Metaverse: What Are Their Differences?
Some of the key differences between the metaverse and the multiverse are as follows, according to LeewayHertz:
The metaverse is interconnected, while the multiverse contains several disparate ecosystems.
In the metaverse, users can have ownership over their digital assets, whereas, in the multiverse, users won’t be able to own their investments in separate ecosystems.
However, while they may be two different things, Tome said in the interview that the metaverse and the multiverse will complement each other, meaning there’s no competition between these virtual universes.
Tome then introduced the idea of the GOLD Multiverse, Ducatus Global’s vision of the multiverse and part of the Ducatus Ecosystem, which allows users to utilize their rewards and tokens in the metaverse and real life. Think of it as a blockchain with multiple layers comprised of different universes where users can do activities like shopping for clothing in a virtual world and then visiting a garden in real life, all of which are connected to the metaverse.
Benefits of the GOLD Multiverse
So, how can organizations benefit from the multiverse?
According to Tome, the GOLD Multiverse opens up more opportunities for users.
“In the GOLD Multiverse, there are various metaverses, which we call worlds, that are dedicated to different values, interests, and persuasions. There’s a world of sustainability in Garden of Life, a world of heritage and tradition with the Queen Margherita Napoli, a world of health and fitness in META Gym, and more,” he said.
Tome goes on to say that, for instance, if someone is interested in bodybuilding, then they’d go to the META Gym. However, before they can get there, they’d have to go through what he calls a “gateway,” where they’ll be able to discover other worlds, which can potentially hold new opportunities for them.
For organizations planning on venturing into the multiverse, Tome suggests that it’s best to be clear about their objectives and that they should “have the tenacity to fulfill these objectives.”
For ordinary users, the GOLD Multiverse also holds several benefits, according to Tome, such as:
Accessibility
Users can support their preferred advocacies regardless of their location.
Connection
In the GOLD Multiverse, users (organizations and individuals) can freely interact with each other without any limitations of borders or influence.
Education
Users can enjoy limitless learning. They can still access new information, skills, and more with minimal resources.
Community
In the GOLD Multiverse, users can unite and bond over shared interests.
Financial Opportunities
“Each metaverse offers various chances to grow financially, either by receiving rewards or making use of the skills developed through learning experiences or by promoting their brands to users,” said Tome.
The Role of the Multiverse in Bringing the Metaverse to Life
“Our vision for GOLD Multiverse is shaped by the values of openness and inclusivity. We believe that by serving as a gateway, the GOLD Multiverse magnifies the potential of each metaverse. Potential to be seen more, experienced more, and supported by more people,” said Tome. “With a single entry through this gateway, you will immediately be made aware of the existence of the various worlds that you can discover.”
However, while the concept of the multiverse seems promising, some challenges remain. Tome notes that these challenges, such as glitches and downtime, are commonly faced by anyone going online.
“Nothing is certain. But if we are committed to our goals and objectives, the work will never stop. Technology is never constant, it’s always evolving, improving, striving to be better, and always looking for the next best thing,” Tome remarked.
Tome adds that the mission of the GOLD Multiverse is to help different projects proceed with the development of their respective metaverses.
“Our role extends beyond constructing or designing the virtual space, we also offer our expertise in making sure that objectives and goals are met,” he shared. When asked if there are any real-world rules that govern the multiverse, Tome shared that if these refer to government regulations, they’re not aware of any such practices.
“As a company though, we abide by strict professional standards in the way we do business and our work in general. We practice due diligence and vet the projects that we allow into our blockchain and the multiverse – this is our very own GOLD standard,” said Tome.
If you get all of your AWE coverage from ARPost, you might be under the impression that the event is only in California – but it wouldn’t be much of a “World Expo” then, would it? In addition to frequent all-online events, AWE consists of three in-person events each year: AWE USA, AWE Europe, and AWE Asia.
AWE Asia, this year taking place in Singapore, is fast approaching, with the agenda now finalized. Attendees can look forward to hearing from over 60 speakers in over 60 sessions including keynotes, talks, and panels over the course of the two-day conference. Let’s take a look at some of the most exciting sessions.
AWE Asia Keynotes and Addresses
Day One starts off with an opening ceremony by AWE co-founder Ori Inbar, joined on-stage by AWE Asia President and Vice President, Gavin Newton-Tanzer and Ryan Hu. This session is followed by back-to-back keynotes by HTC Global Vice President of Corporate Development Alvin Graylin and University of South Australia professor Dr. Mark Billinghurst.
Day Two also starts off with keynotes. First, “Metaverse as the Next Biggest Thing: Challenges, Roadmaps, and Standardization” by IEEE president Dr. Yu Yuan. This is followed by “ifland: A Case Study on Telco Collaboration in Building a Global Metaverse Platform” presented by SK Telecom Vice President Ikhwan Cho and Deutsche Telekom Senior Director of XR and the Metaverse Terry Schussler.
Day Two then closes with remarks and awards from Inbar, Newton-Tanzer, and AWE Asia COO and Content Director David Weeks.
The keynotes and addresses are great because they often feature some of a conference’s biggest announcements and most anticipated speakers. They’re also great because nothing is scheduled at the same time as a keynote. From here, we’ll have to start making some tough calls.
Day One Sessions
Following the AWE Asia welcome address and keynotes on Day One, the crowd is sure to split. Remain near the main stage to hear NVIDIA’s Vanessa Ching discuss “Developers, Platforms, and AI.” Venture off to a substage to hear Joe Millward and Kyle Jackson of Talespin talk about “Scaling XR Content for the Enterprise With Generative AI.”
Next up. Niantic Senior VP of Engineering, Brian McClendon, explains how “Niantic is Powering AR, Everywhere, All at Once.” Having seen this talk at AWE USA, I can tell you it’s worth seeing, but I can also point out that you could watch the recording online and stretch your day a little further.
Another tough decision follows. Will it be “How AI Will Enhance the Metaverse and Education” with Meta Head of Global Education Partnerships Leticia Jauregui and Zoe Immersive CEO and co-founder Emilie Joly? Or will it be “Beyond Loudness: Spatial Chat and the Future of Virtual World Communication” with Dolby Laboratories Developer Advocate Angelik Laboy?
Day One’s Marathon on the Main Stage
The afternoon of Day One has a lineup of promising presentations on the main stage. Starting, Immersal Chief Marketing Officer Päivi Laakso-Kuivalainen and Graviton Interactive co-founder and Managing Director Declan Dwyer talk “Revolutionizing Fan Engagement: Augmented Reality in Stadiums Powered by Visual Positioning Systems and Spatial Computing.”
This is followed by Linux Foundation General Manager Royal O’Brien talking about “Inspiring Game Development Through Open Source.” Then, keep your seat to hear Trigger XR founder and CEO Jason Yim talk about retail, advertising, and e-commerce. A little later on the same stage, Mindverse.AI co-founder and COO Kisson Lin talks about the Web3 creator economy.
Day Two Sessions Main Stage Sessions
One can’t-miss session on Day Two comes from Dispelix APAC VP of Sales and Partnerships Andy Lin, presenting “PERFECTING COMFORT – Vision Behind Dispelix Waveguide Combiners for Near-to-Eye XR Displays.”
Some of the last regular sessions on the main stage before the AWE Asia closing address look promising as well.
First, Infocomm Assistant Director of Innovation Joanne Teh, Deloitte Center for the Edge Southeast Asia Leader Michelle Khoo, Serl.io co-founder and CEO Terence Loo, and SMRT Corporation Learning Technologies Lead Benjamin Chen have a panel discussion about “The Future of Immersive Experiences: Navigating the World of XR.”
Immediately following the panel discussion, Google’s Toshihiro Ohnuma takes the stage to discuss “Connecting Both Worlds – Google Maps and AR Core.”
In between those sessions, the substages look pretty promising.
Major Side-Stage Attractions
After Lin’s talk, head over to Substage 1 for a series of promising talks. These start with Maxar Technologies Business Development Manager Andrew Steele presenting “Experience the Digital Twin Built for Connecting Your XR Content With the Real World. “ The world-scale digital twin won the Auggie for Best Use of AI at the awards ceremony in Santa Clara this spring.
Up next on the same stage, Anything World co-founder and Creative Director Sebastian Hofer explains “How AI Is Powering a Golden Age in Games Development.”
A quick break between sessions and then back to learn about “ThinkReality Solutions Powering the Enterprise Metaverse” with Lenovo Emerging Technologies Lead Martand Srivastava and Qualcomm’s Kai Ping Tee.
Lots to Take In
AWE Asia being two days instead of three certainly doesn’t solve the classic AWE problem of there being just too much amazing content to take in everything. At least, not live anyway.
To attend AWE Asia yourself, get tickets here, and use our code AW323SEB25 for 30% off the standard ticket and PAR23VSEB for 35% off the VIP ticket.
The metaverse can be summed up as the augmented world. So, naturally, it has implications for travel. How and when people travel may both seriously change as spatial communication and digital twins make some kinds of travel less likely, while AR and automation reimagine the travel that we do engage in. A report by Booking.com for Business, titled “The Future of Business Travel” explores the next 30 years of travel.
AR and Space Hotels
The report begins with “A Timeline of Future Business Travel Predictions.” To the potential dismay of augmented reality enthusiasts, the report puts AR in 2027 – the same year as “space hotels”. The report acknowledges existing AR use cases including augmenting areas with contextual information. However, the authors are waiting for something better.
“Right now, AR is limited, lacking a wide field-of-view and having resolution, battery, and 3D sensing issues,” reads the report. “It’s thought that by 2027 people will have access to unconstrained, immersive AR experiences and the associated advantages for travel professionals.”
Why 2027? The paper doesn’t explicitly mention powerful AR wearables, but the time frame and their insistence on “unconstrained” experiences suggest that this is what the authors are waiting for. We already have consumer AR glasses, with limited FoV, but these are almost exclusively “viewers” for virtual screens that can’t offer the real-time contextual information people want.
In a recent interview with ARPost Lumus VP of Optics David Goldman placed a consumer AR device based on Z-Lens around 2025, with 2027 seeing models with 50-degree FoV eventually getting as wide as 70 or 80 degrees. That sounds like it’s getting more in line with people’s expectations for AR travel.
More Interest in VR?
Augmented travel is one thing, but virtual travel is another. Virtual reality has higher immersion due to a heads-up interface, greater graphical fidelity, and wider field of view. Further, VR hardware is becoming increasingly accessible, affordable, and popular with consumers.
The report also included a collection of the most-searched business travel trends, which included virtual travel in the top three. A ranking of the most talked about travel trends in the media also includes “hotel metaverse” at number three and “hotel virtual events” at number eight.
The authors attribute this to virtual travel “reducing the necessary number of business trips and giving corporate travelers the chance to explore the world with VR and metaverse experience.” Specific use cases anticipated in the report include immersive tours prior to booking, virtual conferences and events, virtual site visits to digital twins, and immersive in-flight entertainment.
More to the Metaverse
Immersive technology is first in our minds and hearts here at ARPost, but the metaverse is about more than just display technologies. The report also includes predictions related to other emerging technologies including artificial intelligence and blockchain.
For example, the authors predict blockchain technology becoming standard in hotels the year before they anticipate AR kicking off. And, around the beginning of the next decade, the authors predict “guest comfort and energy efficiency will be managed and optimized by AI in most hotels.”
Other predictions, including hotel-specific crypto-driven rewards programs and robot assistants, can be found in the full report.
A Lot to Look Forward To
All predictions should be taken with a healthy dose of salt – and that’s particularly true of predictions based on when to expect a given development. Disclaimers aside, Booking.com has presented a very interesting look at trends regarding what people want out of the metaverse when it comes to travel.
The European Commission is already setting out to tackle Web 4.0. There’s quite a bit to unpack here, including the EC approach, the 4-point plan that they recently published, and – of course – what they mean by Web 4.0.
What Is Web 4.0?
It’s not a typo and you’re not asleep at the wheel. While most of us haven’t gotten the hang of Web 3.0 yet, Europe is already setting the table for Web 4.0. Don’t worry, this is just a new terminology for something that’s already on your radar.
“Beyond the currently developing third generation of the internet, Web 3.0, whose main features are openness, decentralization, and user empowerment, the next generation, Web 4.0, will allow an integration between digital and real objects and environments and enhanced interactions between humans and machines,” reads the EC’s report.
So, essentially, “Web 4.0” is the metaverse. But, why not just call it that?
Webs and the Metaverse
The metaverse discussion at least started out as being largely a conversation within the world of immersive technology, with discussions of Web3 largely being topics within the blockchain and crypto spaces. (“Web3” and “Web 3.0” aren’t exactly the same concept, but both largely revolve around decentralization, so they’re more-or-less interchangeable for most levels of discussion.)
As voices from the cryptocurrency and blockchain communities promised that these technologies would be the future of a cross-platform, self-owned online future, Web3 and the metaverse were increasingly mentioned in the same breath with both being apparently convergent visions of the future.
A short-lived explosion of interest in the metaverse was so short-lived largely because – while the pieces are certainly falling into place – one connected metaverse hasn’t fully realized. While there are more-or-less realized metaverse spaces or use cases, the all-encompassing digital layer of reality isn’t here yet. Web3, while struggling with adoption, is largely functional today.
While some may groan at the introduction of yet another idealistic tech concept, “Web 4.0” does offer some clarity at least with regard to what the EC is talking about. First, it respects that the metaverse is still a thing of the (near?) future. Second, it ties in the themes of openness and decentralization that were lacking in many metaverse discussions.
Finally, it ties in “interactions between humans and machines.” While some technologists have long included this aspect in their discussions of the metaverse, recent developments in AI have led to increased interest in this field even since blockchain and the metaverse had their moments in the media over the last few years.
Bracing for Web 4.0
While it’s easy to feel like much of the world is still catching up with the previous generation of the internet, how is Europe planning to get ahead of the next generation of the internet? A lot of it has to do with knowing where current experts are and creating pathways for future builders.
To make that happen, the report outlines four “Key Strategy Pillars”:
Empowering people and reinforcing skills to foster awareness, access to trustworthy information, and building a talent pool of virtual world specialists.
Supporting a European Web 4.0 industrial ecosystem to scale up excellence and address fragmentation.
Supporting local progress and virtual public services to leverage the opportunities virtual worlds can offer.
Shaping global standards for open and interoperable virtual worlds and Web 4.0, ensuring they will not be dominated by a few big players.
One of the reasons that so much of the strategy has to do with ideas like “empowering people” and “leveraging opportunities” might be that much of the document was distilled from an earlier workshop of 150 randomly selected European citizens. The average person is likely feeling left behind Web 2.0 and out of the loop on Web 3.0.
The European Perspective
“Ensuring that [virtual worlds] will not be dominated by a few big players” may not be a uniquely European feeling, but it’s interesting to note. Meta, in particular, has gotten into trouble in EU member countries like Germany for the equivalent of antitrust concerns, which has opened the way for Pico to make headway in European markets free from its US political struggles.
At the most recent Augmented World Expo – just before Apple announced their first XR headset – some speakers even expressed concern that Apple will be able to throw its weight around the industry in a way that not even Meta enjoys.
“Apple currently holds so much power that they could say ‘This is the way we’re going to go.’ and the Metaverse Standards Forum could stand up and say ‘No.’,” XRSI founder and CEO Kavya Pearlman said during a panel discussion at this year’s AWE.
Standards are a concern everywhere, but this is another area where the approach is somewhat different across the Atlantic. A number of standards groups have formed in the US, but all of them are independent groups rather than governmental initiatives – though some groups are calling for regulators to step into the space over concerns like privacy.
Thinking Globally About Web 4.0
“Europe is, in many ways, a first mover on metaverse policy, and it is putting forward a positive vision for the future of immersive technology,” the XRA’s VP of Public Policy Joan O’Hara said in an email to ARPost. “We very much appreciate the [European Commission’s] approach to balancing user protection and wellbeing with the desire to support innovation and adoption.”
The headquarters of Web 3.0 and Web 4.0 companies might be in one country or another, but most of them are offering international services. Unless they want to have different (and potentially incompatible) versions of those services available for different countries, it behooves those companies to have services that fit all national standards.
So, in the absence of officially codified US standards for immersive worlds, it is likely that the services offered to American audiences might fit into the shape described by groups like the European Commission. Fortunately, most of the organizations already looking at these problems are also international in nature and work with and between national governments.
“This will serve as a model going forward,” said O’Hara. “The XRA has been actively engaged with both European and British colleagues on these issues, and we believe the US interests are largely aligned with those of our friends across the Atlantic.”
Thinking Ahead
US discussions of Web 3.0 have largely spiraled around the nation’s failure to prepare for or recover from Web 2.0. The fact that Europe is already looking forward to Web 4.0 is definitely something to consider. In emerging tech, looking backward instead of forward is a dangerous strategy.
The idea of digital twins has been conceptually important to immersive technology and related ideas like the metaverse for some time – not to mention their practical employment, particularly in enterprise. However, the term doesn’t, or hasn’t, necessarily meant what it sounds like and the actual technology has so far had only limited usefulness for spatial computing.
Advances in immersive technology itself are opening up more nuanced and exciting applications for digital twins as fully-featured virtual artifacts, environments, and interfaces to the point that even experts who have been working with digital twins for decades are starting to rethink the concept.
Understanding Digital Twins
What exactly constitutes a digital twin is still a matter of some difference from company to company. ARPost defines a digital twin as “a virtual version of something that also exists as a physical object.” This basic definition includes now arguably antiquated iterations of the technology that wouldn’t be of much interest to the immersive tech crowd.
Strictly speaking, a digital twin does not have to be interactive, dynamic, or even visually representative of the physical twin. In academia and enterprise where this concept has been practically employed for decades, a digital twin might be a spreadsheet or a database.
We often think about the metaverse as like The Matrix, but we often think of it as the way Neo experiences the Matrix – from within. In that same analogy, digital twins are like the Matrix but as Tank and Dozer experience it – endless numbers that only look like numbers to the uninitiated but that paint detailed pictures to those in the know.
While that version certainly continues to have its practical applications, it’s not exactly what most readers will have in mind when they encounter the term.
The Shifting View of Digital Twins
“The traditional view of a digital twin is a row in a database that’s updated by a device,”Nstream founder and CEO Chris Sachs told ARPost.“I don’t think that view is particularly interesting or particularly useful.”
Nstream is “a vertically integrated streaming data application platform.” Their work includes digital twins in the conventional sense but it also includes more nuanced uses that incorporate the conventional but also stretch it into new fields. That’s why companies aren’t just comparing definitions, they’re also rethinking how they use these terms internally.
“How Unity talks about digital twins – real-time 3D in industry – I think we need to revamp what that means as we go along,”Unity VP of Digital Twins Rory Armes told ARPost.“We’ve had digital twins for a while […] our evolution or our kind of learning is the visualization of that data.”
This evolution naturally has a lot to do with technological advances, but Armes hypothesizes that it’s also the result of a generational shift. People who have lived their whole lives as regular computer users and gamers have a different approach to technology and its applications.
“There’s a much younger group coming into the industry […] the way they think and the way they operate is very different,” said Armes. “Their ability to digest data is way beyond anything I could do when I was 25.”
Data doesn’t always sound interesting and it doesn’t always look exciting. That is, until you remember that the metaverse isn’t just a collection of virtual worlds – it also means augmenting the physical world. That means lots of data – and doing new things with it.
Digital Twins as a User Interface
“If you have a virtual representation of a thing, you can run software on that representation as though it was running on the thing itself. That’s easier, it’s more usable, it’s more agile,” said Sachs. “You can sort of program the world by programming the digital twin.”
This approach allows limited hardware to provide minimal input to the digital twin. These provide minimal output to devices creating an automated, more affordable, more responsive Internet of Things.
“You create a kind of virtual world […] whatever they decide in the virtual world, they send it back to the real world,” said Sachs. “You can create a smarter world […] but you can’t do it one device at a time. You have to get them to work together.”
This virtual world can be controlled from the backend by VR. It can also be navigated as a user interface in AR.
“In AR, you can kind of intuit what’s happening in the world. That’s such a boost to understanding this complex technical world that we’ve built,” said Sachs. “Google and Niantic haven’t solved it, they’ve solved the photon end of it, the rendering of it, but they haven’t solved the interactivity of it […] the problem is the fabric of the web. It doesn’t work.”
To Sachs, this process of creating connected digital twins of essentially every piece of infrastructure and utility on earth isn’t just the next thing that we do with the internet – it’s how the next generation of the internet comes about.
“The world wide web was designed as a big data repository. The problem is that not everything is a document,” said Sachs. “We’re trying to upgrade the web so everything, instead of being a web page is a web agent, […] instead of a document, everything is a process.”
Rebuilding the World Wide Web
While digital twins can be a part of reinventing the internet, a lot of the tools used to build digital twins are also not made for that particular task. It doesn’t mean that they can’t do the job, it just means that providers and people using those services have to be creative about it.
“The Unity core was never developed for these VR training and geospatial data uses. […] Old-school 3D modeling like Maya was never designed for [spatial data],” said Armes. “That’s where the game engine starts.”
Unity – which is a game engine at heart – isn’t shying away from digital twins. The company works with groups, particularly in industry, to use Unity’s visual resources in these more complex use cases – often behind the scenes on internal projects.
“There are tons of companies that have bought Unity and are using it to visualize their data in whatever form,” said Armes. “People don’t necessarily use Unity to bring a product to the community, they’re using it as an asset process and that’s what Unity does really well.”
While Unity “was never developed for” those use cases, the toolkit can do it and do it well.
“We have a large geospatial model, we slap it into an engine, we’re running that engine,” said Armes. “We’re now bringing multiple layers to a world and being able to render that out.”
“Bringing the Worlds Together”
A digital twin of the real world powered by real-time data – a combination of the worlds described by Armes and Sachs – has huge potential as a way of both understanding and managing the world.
“We’re close to bringing the worlds together, in a sense,” said Armes. “Suddenly now, we’re starting to bring the pieces together […] we’re getting to that space.”
The Orlando Economic Partnership (OEP) is working on just such a platform, with a prototype already on offer. I was fortunate enough to see a presentation of the Orlando digital twin at the Augmented World Expo. The plan is for the twin to one day show real-time information on the city in a room-scale experience accessible to planners, responders, and the government.
“It’s going to become a platform for the city to build on,” said Justin Braun, OEP Director of Marketing and Communications.
Moving Toward Tomorrow
Digital twins have a lot of potential. But, many are stuck between thinking about how digital twins have always worked and thinking about the ways that we would like them to work. The current reality is somewhere in the middle – but, like everything else in the world of emerging and converging technology – it’s moving in an interesting direction.
Istanbul, Türkiye— EUMENA Events, the event consultancy and management specialist, is proud to announce the launch of MetaGate – International Metaverse Summit, a three-day business-focused hybrid summit that will take place in September 2023 in Istanbul, Türkiye.
MetaGate will bring together international experts, technologists, digital builders, entrepreneurs, investors, business leaders, and enterprises to discover the power of the metaverse, identify its real value, and discuss its utility for businesses.The summit will feature sessions, keynotes, fireside talks, and panels exploring the latest trends and developments in the metaverse world and how companies can develop and implement metaverse strategy to enhance their business process, increase competitiveness, and support their marketing efforts.MetaGate will take place both in person and virtually in a custom 3D metaverse venue where attendees can create a unique avatar and walk around to explore exhibition areas, attend sessions, and chat with speakers, sponsors, startups, and investors.
“We are thrilled to be launching MetaGate – International Metaverse Summit,” said Lara Daoud, Founder of EUMENA Events . “The metaverse is the future, and this summit will provide an opportunity for businesses to capture the real business value of the Metaverse, meet and network with global tech and business leaders, prepare their business to enter the Metaverse, explore the latest metaverse solutions and technologies, and discover the real-world adoption of web3.0 and metaverse.”
MetaGate will offer an immersive experience where every detail reflects the collective pursuit of excellence, featuring 800+ physical delegates, 2,500+ virtual attendees, 30+ world-class industry speakers, and 20+ content-rich sessions.
The summit will highlight how businesses in various industries, such as E-commerce & Retail, Healthcare, Manufacturing, Logistics, Banking and Finance, Real Estate, Governments, Automotive, Education, Telecom, Tourism, Events, Media & Entertainment, Travel, and Tourism, are seeing tremendous opportunities in metaverse technologies.
MetaGate will also include a startup pitch competition designed to discover the next generation of metaverse innovators and builders. Qualified entrepreneurs will pitch their businesses live on stage in front of an experienced jury made up of investors and executives for the chance to win awards and potential partnership deals.
The summit will offer a series of networking events, including meetups, tours, and a Gala Dinner, providing engaging and networking opportunities among MetaGate Summit panelists, speakers, sponsors, startups, investors, and delegates.
“Our mission is to serve as a catalyst for positive change by fostering discussions about the metaverse proper use, innovation acceleration, productivity increase, and adaptability to change, all of which can greatly benefit any business looking to successfully launch its products and better serve its existing clients,” added Lara Daoud.
For more information about MetaGate – International Metaverse Summit, visit the summit’s official website at www.metagatesummit.com.
About EUMENA:
EUMENA is an event consultancy and management specialist that offers turnkey planning and comprehensive operational services. The company’s experience ranges from delivering mass events to large B2B, B2G, and B2C exhibitions and trade shows, corporate meetings, game-changing summits & conferences, brand activations, and innovative networking activities that deliver measurable return on investment to its clients.
Apple unveiled its first mixed reality headset, the Vision Pro, at this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on June 5, 2023. The company’s “first spatial computer” will enable users to interact with digital content like never before by leveraging a new 3D interface to deliver immersive spatial experiences.
The Vision Pro marks a new era for immersive technologies, and it can potentially be used to bolster efforts in using such technologies to improve communities.
How the Vision Pro Headset Can Strengthen Efforts to Transform Orlando
Cities around the world are starting to apply new technologies to help improve their communities. City, University of London, for instance, has launched an initiative that will bring about the UK’s largest AR, VR, and metaverse training center. London has also been mapped in 3D, allowing locals and visitors to have an immersive view of the city.
In 2021, Columbia University started a project called the “Hybrid Twins for Urban Transportation”, which creates a digital twin of New York’s key intersections to help optimize traffic flows.
Using New Technologies to Enhance Orlando’s Digital Twin Initiative
With Orlando, Florida, being designated as the metaverse’s MetaCenter, new MR headsets like Apple’s Vision Pro can help create radical changes to bolster the city’s digital twin efforts, which can accelerate Orlando’s metaverse capabilities.
In an interview with ARPost, Tim Giuliani, the President and CEO of the Orlando Economic Partnership (OEP), shared that emerging technologies like the digital twin enables them to showcase the region to executives who are planning to relocate their companies to Orlando.
Moreover, the digital twin helps local leaders ensure that the city has a robust infrastructure to support its residents, thus positively impacting the city’s economy and prosperity.
The digital twin’s physical display is currently housed at the OEP’s headquarters in downtown Orlando. However, Giuliani shared that AR headsets can make it more accessible.
“We can use the headset’s technology to take our digital twin to trade shows or whenever it goes out to market to companies,” said Giuliani. According to Giuliani, utility companies and city planners can use the 3D model to access a holographic display when mapping out proposed infrastructure improvements. Stakeholders can also use it to create 3D models using their own data for simulations like climate change and infrastructure planning.
He added that equipment like the Vision Pro can help make VR, AR, and 3D simulation more widespread. According to Giuliani, while the Vision Pro is the first one to come out, other new devices will come out in the coming years and the competition will make these devices a consumer device.
“Apple’s announcement cements the importance of the MetaCenter. The Orlando region has been leading in VR and AR and 3D simulation for over a decade now. So, all the things that we have been saying of why we are the MetaCenter, this hardware better positions us to continue leading in this territory,” he told us.
Leveraging the Vision Pro and MR to Usher in New Innovations
Innovate Orlando CEO and OEP Chief Information Officer David Adelson noted that aside from companies, ordinary individuals who aren’t keenly interested in immersive tech for development or work can also use devices like the Vision Pro to help Orlando with its effort to become the MetaCenter.
“These new devices are one of the hardware solutions that this industry has been seeking. Through these hardware devices, the software platforms, and simulation market that has been building for decades, will now be enabled on a consumer and a business interface,” said Adelson.
Adelson also shared that Orlando has been leading in the spatial computing landscape and that the emergence of a spatial computing headset like the Vision Pro brings this particular sector into the spotlight.
How can businesses leverage the new Vision Pro headset and other MR technologies to usher in new developments?
According to Giuliani, businesses can use these technologies to provide a range of services, such as consulting services, as well as help increase customer engagement, cut costs, and make informed decisions faster.
“AR can be a powerful tool to provide remote expertise and remote assistance with AR helps move projects forward and provide services that would otherwise require multiple site visits. This is what we are taking advantage of with the digital twin,” said Giuliani.
Giuliani also noted that such technologies can be a way for companies to empower both employees and customers by enhancing productivity, improving services, and fostering better communication.
Potential Drawbacks of Emerging Technologies
Given that these are still relatively new pieces of technology, it’s possible that they’ll have some drawbacks. However, according to Adelson, these can be seen as a positive movement that can potentially change the Web3 landscape. Giuliani echoes this sentiment.
“We like to focus on the things that can unite us and help us move forward to advance broad-based prosperity and this means working with the new advancements created and finding ways to make them work and facilitate the work we all do,” he told us.
The second day of AWE is the day that the expo floor opens. That is always thrilling, and we’ll get there, but first – more keynotes and conversations.
AWE Day Two Keynotes
Day One kickstarted the keynotes, but AWE Day Two saw exciting presentations and announcements from Magic Leap and Niantic. Both affirmed a theme from the day before: meaningful XR is already here.
Magic Leap: Let’s Get to Work
“The vision of AR that some legacy tech companies are promising is still years out, is not years or months or days out,” Magic Leap CEO Peggy Johnson said in her keynote. “The small team at Magic Leap has made something that many larger companies are still struggling to achieve.”
Peggy Johnson
Johnson also continued another theme from AWE Day One: AI and XR aren’t in competition – they help each other. Inbar’s opening talk included a line that quickly became a motto for almost the whole event: “XR is the interface for AI.”
“I honestly believe AR systems are going to become the endpoints for a lot of AI,” said Johnson. “The ability to provide contract input and get contextual output will really be a game changer.”
Magic Leap’s big announcement wasn’t to do with AI, but it will still be thrilling to developers: an Unreal Engine plugin is coming in August.
“AR Everywhere” With Niantic
While enterprise companies and hardware manufacturers are still struggling with adoption to since degree, few companies have done as much for AR consumer adoption as Niantic.
Brian McClendon
In his AWE keynote, “Empowering AR Everywhere”, Niantic Senior Vice President of Engineering, Brian McClendon, laid out a number of major updates coming to the company – as well as coming to or through 8th Wall.
First, ARDK 3.0 will allow developers using Niantic tools to also use outside AR asset libraries. It will also enable a QR code-triggered “lobby system” for multi-user shared AR experiences. The updated ARDK will enter a beta phase later this month. A new maps SDK compatible with Unity is also coming to 8th Wall.
Further, 8th Wall’s “Metaversal Deployment” announced at AWE 2021 is now compatible with mixed reality via Quest 2, Quest Pro, “and probably all future MR headsets.”
Big Picture Panel Discussions
One of the things that really makes AWE special is its ability to bring together the industry’s big thinkers. A number of insightful panel discussions from Day Two explored some of the biggest topics in XR today.
XR’s Inflection Point
The panel discussion “How Immersive Storytelling Can Deepen Human Understanding of Critical Issues” brought together Unity CEO John Riccitiello, journalist Ashlan Cousteau, and TRIPP CEO and co-founder Nanea Reeves. The talk included further affirmations that, contrary to some media pieces, XR as an industry is thriving.
From left to right: John Riccitiello, Ashlan Cousteau, and Nanea Reeves
“I now cancel what I said seven years ago about this not being a good time to build a business in this space,” said Riccitiello. “We’re at a time right now where it makes a lot of sense to look forward with optimism around XR. … Companies are born around technology transitions.”
Reeves echoed the sentiment, but included some of the cautious caveats expressed by XR ethicist Kent Bye during a panel discussion yesterday.
“We’re at such an interesting point of technology and the evolution of it, especially with AI and XR,” said Reeves. “What’s the next level of storytelling and what should we be aware of as we bring AI into it?”
Building Open Standards for the Metaverse
The good news is that the metaverse isn’t dead. The bad news is that it arguably hasn’t been born yet either. One of the most important features of the metaverse is also one of its most elusive.
It was also the crux of a panel discussion bringing together XR Safety Initiative founder and CEO Kavya Pearlman, XRSI Advisor Elizabeth Rothman, and Khronos Group President Neil Trevett, moderated by Moor Insights and Strategy Senior Analyst Anshel Sag.
From left to right: Kavya Pearlman, Neil Trevett, Elizabeth Rothman, and Anshel Sag
“Whichever way you come to the metaverse, you need interoperability,” said Trevett. “It’s foundational.”
The panel also addresses the lasting and fleeting effects of the wave of attention that has seemingly passed over the metaverse.
“We go through these hype cycles and bubbles,” said Rothman. “There are always technological innovations that come out of them.”
The panel also addressed AI, an overarching theme of the conference. However, the panel brought up one concern with the technology that had not been addressed elsewhere.
“This convergence has a way more visceral impact on children’s brains even than social media,” said Pearlman.
So far, the “solution” to this problem has been for content publishers to age-restrict experiences. However, this approach has crucial shortcomings. First, most approaches to age restrictions aren’t foolproof. Second, when they are, this measure excludes young users rather than protecting them.
“We run the risk of regulating children right out of the metaverse,” said Rothman. “We need to strike a balance.”
Hitting the AWE Floor
I first started covering AWE during the pandemic when the entire conference was virtual. AWE is a lot more fun in-person but, practically speaking, the demos are the only component that can’t really happen remotely.
Meeting Wol
I actually met Wol in the Niantic Lounge before the very first session on Day One. While this is where arranging this content makes sense to me, Wol was possibly my first impression of AWE. And it was a good one. But wait, who’s Wol?
Niantic Lounge
Wol is a collaboration between 8th Wall, Liquid City, and InWorld AI. He’s an artificially intelligent character virtually embodied as an owl. His only job is to educate people about the Redwood Forest but he’s also passionate about mushrooms, fairies, and, well, you just have to meet him.
“Wol has a lot of personal knowledge about his own life, and he can talk to you about the forest through his own experience,” explained Liquid City Director Keiichi Matsuda. “Ultimately, Wol has a mind of its own and we can only provide parameters for it.”
I met Wol through the Quest Pro in passthrough AR via a portal that appeared in the room directly into the Redwoods – and, now that I think about it, this was the day before Niantic announced that 8th Wall supported Quest Pro MR. In any case, the whole experience was magical, and I can’t wait to get home and show it to the family.
Visiting Orlando via Santa Clara
Largely thanks to a group called the Orlando Economic Partnership, Orlando is quickly becoming a global epicenter of metaverse development. Just one of their many initiatives is an 800-square-mile virtual twin of the Orlando area. The digital twin has its own in-person viewing room in Orlando but it also exists in a more bite-size iteration that runs on a Quest 2.
“The idea was to showcase the entire region – all of its assets in terms of data points that we could present,” explained the OEP’s Director of Marketing and Communications Justin Braun. “It’s going to become a platform for the city to build on.”
I was able to see at AWE featured photorealistic 3D models of Orlando landmarks, complete with informational slides and quiz questions. The full version, which took 11 months, is a lot more fully featured. It just doesn’t fit in Braun’s backpack.
“At some point, this will be able to do things that are beneficial for the city and its utilities, like shower power outages,” said the OEP’s Chief Information Officer David Adelson. “It’s community-driven.”
Gathering Around the Campfire
I opened by saying that demos can’t be done remotely. I remotely demoed Campfire recently, but that was their desktop view. Campfire also offers tabletop and room-scale 3D interactions that require the company’s custom-made headset and markers. I got to try these solutions out hands-on when I reconnected with CEO and co-founder Jay Wright on the AWE floor.
Campfire at AWE USA 2023
“The perception system is designed to do one thing very well, and that’s to make multi-user AR as high-fidelity as desktop,” said Wright. And they’ve done it.
Models and mockups that I viewed in mixed reality using Campfire’s hardware were beautifully rendered. The internet connectivity at AWE is notoriously spotty and, while the controller disconnected a few times, the display never skipped a beat.
Wright demonstrated the visor that switches Campfire from MR to VR on a virtually reconstructed art museum that I could view from above in a “dollhouse mode” or travel through in a 1:1 model. In addition to showcasing more hardware and software ease-of-use, it might have been the most graphically impressive showcase I’ve seen from XR hardware ever.
The Lenovo VRX
With Lenovo ThinkReality’s new headset announced the day before AWE started, this might be the record for the shortest passage of time between a headset releasing and my putting it on – and it’s all thanks to ARPost’s longtime Lenovo contact Bill Adams.
“We think we have one of the best passthrough headsets and most comfortable headsets in the industry,” said Adams, who made a gentleman’s wager that I would (finally) be able to see my notes through the Lenovo VRX.
I couldn’t read my writing, but I could tell where the writing was on the page – which, honestly, is enough. Having tried the same experiment on the Quest Pro earlier that day, I can back up what Adams said about the headset’s passthrough quality.
As for comfort, ditto. The headset features a removable overhead strap, but it was so comfortable that I forgot that the strap was there anyway. Switching from VR to passthrough is a simple button press.
Catching Up With Snap
The average user can have a great AR experience with just a phone, and the average creator can make a really advanced experience without creating their own app, according to Snap Senior Product Communications Manager Cassie Bumgarner.
Snap at AWE 2023
“There’s a lot of chatter on the hardware front, but what we want to show is that there’s so much more left to unlock on the mobile front,” said Bumgarner.
A Snap Lense made with QReal uses AI to identify LEGO bricks in a tub. A quick scan, and the lens recommends small models that can be made with the available pieces. Bumgarner and I still get the fun of digging out the pieces and assembling them, and then the app creates a virtual LEGO set to match our creation – in this case, a bathtub to go with the duck we made.
Of course, Snap has hardware too. On display at AWE, the company showed off the virtual try-on mirrors debuted at the Snap Partner Summit that took place in April.
One More Day of AWE
Two days down and there’s still so much to look forward to from AWE. The expo floor is still open tomorrow. There are no more keynotes, but that just means that there’s more time for panel discussions and insightful conversations. And don’t think we forgot about the Auggies. While most of the Auggies were awarded last evening, there are still three to be awarded.
AWE USA 2023 saw a blossoming industry defending itself from negative press and a perceived rivalry with other emerging technologies. Fortunately, Day One also brought big announcements, great discussions, and a little help from AI itself.
Ori Inbar’s Welcome Address
Historically, AWE has started with an address from founder Ori Inbar. This time, it started with an address from a hologram of Ori Inbar appearing on an ARHT display.
Ori Inbar hologram
The hologram waxed on for a few minutes about progress in the industry and XR’s incredible journey. Then the human Ori Inbar appeared and told the audience that everything that the hologram said was written by ChatGPT.
While (the real) Inbar quipped that he uses artificial intelligence to show him how not to talk, he addressed recent media claims that AI is taking attention and funding away from XR. He has a different view.
it’s ON !!!
Ori Inbar just started his opening key note at #AWE2023
“We industry insiders know this is not exactly true … AI is a good thing for XR. AI accelerates XR,” said Inbar. “XR is the interface for AI … our interactions [with AI] will become a lot less about text and prompts and a lot more about spatial context.”
“Metaverse, Shmetaverse” Returns With a Very Special Guest
Inbar has always been bullish on XR. He has been skeptical of the metaverse.
At the end of his welcome address last year, Inbar praised himself for not saying “the M word” a single time. The year before that, he opened the conference with a joke game show called “Metaverse, Shmetaverse.” Attendees this year were curious to see Inbar share the stage with a special guest: Neal Stephenson.
Neal Stephenson
Stephenson’s 1992 book, Snow Crash, introduced the world to the word “metaverse” – though Stephenson said that he wasn’t the first one to imagine the concept. He also addressed the common concern that the term for shared virtual spaces came from a dystopian novel.
“The metaverse described in Snow Crash was my best guess about what spatial computing as a mass medium might look like,” said Stephenson. “The metaverse itself is neither dystopian nor utopian.”
Stephenson then commented that the last five years or so have seen the emergence of the core technologies necessary to create the metaverse, though it still suffers from a lack of compelling content. That’s something that his company, Lamina1, hopes to address through a blockchain-based system for rewarding creators.
“There have to be experiences in the metaverse that are worth having,” said Stephenson. “For me, there’s a kind of glaring and frustrating lack of support for the people who make those experiences.”
AWE 2023 Keynotes and Follow-Ups
Both Day One and Day Two of AWE start out with blocks of keynotes on the main stage. On Day One, following Inbar’s welcome address and conversation with Stephenson, we heard from Qualcomm and XREAL (formerly Nreal). Both talks kicked off themes that would be taken up in other sessions throughout the day.
Qualcomm
From the main stage, Qualcomm Vice President and General Manager of XR, Hugo Swart, presented “Accelerating the XR Ecosystem: The Future Is Open.” He commented on the challenge of developing AR headsets, but mentioned the half-dozen or so Qualcomm-enabled headsets released in the last year, including the Lenovo ThinkReality VRX announced Tuesday.
Hugo Swart
Swart was joined on the stage by OPPO Director of XR Technology, Yi Xu, who announced a new Qualcomm-powered MR headset that would become available as a developer edition in the second half of this year.
As exciting as those announcements were, it was a software announcement that really made a stir. It’s a new Snapdragon Spaces tool called “Dual Render Fusion.”
“We have been working very hard to reimagine smartphone XR when used with AR glasses,” said Swart. “The idea is that mobile developers designing apps for 2D expand those apps to world-scale apps without any knowledge of XR.”
Keeping the Conversation Going
Another talk, “XR’s Inflection Point” presented by Qualcomm Director of Product Management Steve Lukas, provided a deeper dive into Dual Render Fusion. The tool allows an experience to use a mobile phone camera and a headworn device’s camera simultaneously. Existing app development tools hadn’t allowed this because (until now) it didn’t make sense.
Steve Lukas
“To increase XR’s adoption curve, we must first flatten its learning curve, and that’s what Qualcomm just did,” said Lukas. “We’re not ready to give up on mobile phones so why don’t we stop talking about how to replace them and start talking about how to leverage them?”
A panel discussion, “Creating a New Reality With Snapdragon Today” moderated by Qualcomm Senior Director of Product Management XR Said Bakadir, brought together Xu, Lenovo General Manager of XR and Metaverse Vishal Shah, and DigiLens Vice President of Sales and Marketing Brian Hamilton. They largely addressed the need to rethink AR content and delivery.
From left to right: Vishal Shah, Brian Hamilton, Yi Xu, and Said Bakadir
“When I talk to the developers, they say, ‘Well there’s no hardware.’ When I talk to the hardware guys, they say, ‘There’s no content.’ And we’re kind of stuck in that space,” said Bakadir.
Hamilton and Shah both said, in their own words, that Qualcomm is creating “an all-in-one platform” and “an end-to-end solution” that solves the content/delivery dilemma that Bakadir opened with.
XREAL
In case you blinked and missed it, Nreal is now XREAL. According to a release shared with ARPost, the name change had to do with “disputes regarding the Nreal mark” (probably how similar it was to “Unreal”). But, “the disputes were solved amicably.”
Chi Xu
The only change is the name – the hardware and software are still the hardware and software that we know and love. So, when CEO Chi Xu took the stage to present “Unleashing the Potential of Consumer AR” he just focused on progress.
From one angle, that progress looks like a version of XREAL’s AR operating system for Steam Deck, which Xu said is “coming soon.” From another angle, it looked like the partnership with Sightful which recently resulted in “Spacetop” – the world’s first AR laptop.
XREAL also announced Beam, a controller and compute box that can connect wirelessly or via hard connection to XREAL glasses specifically for streaming media. Beam also allows comfort and usability settings for the virtual screen that aren’t currently supported by the company’s current console and app integrations. Xu called it “the best TV innovation since TV.”
AI and XR
A number of panels and talks also picked up on Inbar’s theme of AI and XR. And they all (as far as I saw) unanimously agreed with Inbar’s assessment that there is no actual competition between the two technologies.
The most in-depth discussion on the topic was “The Intersection of AI and XR” a panel discussion between XR ethicist Kent Bye, Lamina1 CPO Tony Parisi, HTC Global VP of Corporate Development Alvin Graylin, and moderated by WXR Fund Managing Partner Amy LaMeyer.
From left to right: Amy LaMeyer, Tony Parisi, Alvin Graylin, Kent Bye
“There’s this myth that AI is here so now XR’s dead, but it’s the complete opposite,” said Graylin. Graylin pointed out that most forms of tracking and input as well as approaches to scene understanding are all driven by AI. “AI has been part of XR for a long time.”
While they all agreed that AI is a part of XR, the group disagreed on the extent to which AI could take over content creation.
“A lot of people think AI is the solution to all of their content creation and authoring needs in XR, but that’s not the whole equation,” said Parisi.
Graylin countered that AI will increasingly be able to replace human developers. Bye in particular was vocal that we should be reluctant and suspicious of handing over too much creative power to AI in the first place.
“The differentiating factor is going to be storytelling,” said Bye. “I’m seeing a lot of XR theater that has live actors doing things that AI could never do.”
Web3, WebXR, and the Metaverse
The conversation is still continuing regarding the relationship between the metaverse and Web3. With both the metaverse and Web3 focusing on the ideas of openness and interoperability, WebXR has become a common ground between the two. WebXR is also the most accessible from a hardware perspective.
“VR headsets will remain a niche tech like game consoles: some people will have them and use them and swear by them and won’t be able to live without them, but not everyone will have one,”Nokia Head of Trends and Innovation Scouting, Leslie Shannon, said in her talk “What Problem Does the Metaverse Solve?”
Leslie Shannon
“The majority of metaverse experiences are happening on mobile phones,” said Shannon. “Presence is more important than immersion.”
Wonderland Engine CEO Jonathan Hale asked “Will WebXR Replace Native XR” with The Fitness Resort COO Lydia Berry. Berry commented that the availability of WebXR across devices helps developers make their content accessible as well as discoverable.
Lydia Berry and Jonathan Hale
“The adoption challenges around glasses are there. We’re still in the really early adoption phase,” said Berry. “We need as many headsets out there as possible.”
Hale also added that WebXR is being taken more seriously as a delivery method by hardware manufacturers who were previously mainly interested in pursuing native apps.
“More and more interest is coming from hardware manufacturers every day,” said Hale. “We just announced that we’re working with Qualcomm to bring Wonderland Engine to Snapdragon Spaces.”
Keep Coming Back
AWE Day One was a riot but there’s a lot more where that came from. Day Two kicks off with keynotes by Magic Leap and Niantic, there are more talks, more panels, more AI, and the Expo Floor opens up for demos. We’ll see you tomorrow.
Virtual events are getting more exciting with the latest technological developments in virtual reality. One such product is Dreamwave, a web-based metaverse platform that provides companies, brands, and creators with a unique way to host online events.
Dreamwave boasts ready-made and custom 3D environments called “microverses” to make brand experiences stand out. The platform enables participants to experience virtual and hybrid events in a unique and exciting way. Microverse events are accessible on all types of devices with just a click, ensuring that as many audiences as possible can attend.
Microverses: Dreamwave’s Secret to Enhanced Virtual Events
Dreamwave’s microverses contribute to the growing economy of virtual events. These microverses enhance the user experience of online eventgoers. Participants can immerse themselves in the 3D environments, chat and engage with other people, and check out different forms of content from the organizer. From live video streaming, on-demand videos, photo galleries, and sponsored content, brands can display the types of media that suits their event the best.
Created in 2020 by award-winning creative technology company Active Theory, Dreamwave sets the stage for enhanced custom 3D experiences with its microverses. Currently, Dreamwave offers eight ready-made microverse templates that customers can choose from:
Amphitheater – mimics a theater setup where guests gather around a virtual stage;
Blossom – a picturesque island ideal for chilling, relaxing, and meeting new people;
Cube – a more futuristic interior world that features a big screen reflected on cubes;
Cyber – suitable for presenting videos and images in a cyberpunk setting;
Fantasy – an out-of-this-world island with fantastical elements;
Fun – guests can participate in this obstacle race course for high engagement;
Garden – another island setting featuring classic garden ruins;
Showroom – for brands who want to exhibit their products.
Dreamwave template environment Fantasy
Custom Microverses for Custom Experiences
Aside from these template microverses, customers can also avail of a custom-built 3D environment that aligns more with their own branding. For instance, Dreamwave has developed custom microverses for brands such as Xbox (The 20 Years of Xbox Museum), ESPN (Fifty/50 World), the Wall Street Journal (Iconic Mints), and the Secret Sky music festival.
Wall Street Journal’s Iconic Mints
These custom projects can be tailored specifically to the client’s requirements. With Active Theory’s expertise in building immersive 3D environments with virtual reality, brands can stage almost any type of event, from product launches to concerts and conferences. They can also organize entirely virtual events or incorporate their custom microverses to complement real-world functions.
The Future of Live Virtual Events
Since the pandemic, live events have evolved to include hybrid and fully virtual events. What’s great about Dreamwave is that they aim to enhance the online experience for companies and brands that choose to have an online component for their events.
Because of this, event organizers can stop worrying about geographical restrictions. Companies can reach more audiences with online events, building their identity and brand for a global market. In fact, virtual events have been on the rise since 2020, revealing marketers’ increasing acceptance of online events as a good alternative to in-person events.
