Meta's Smart Glasses, Microsoft & Google's AI Era, & HaptX's Inclusive XR Solutions
Plus, personalised travel planning by Saudia's ventures and EU's new regulations over cryptocurrency.
Good day readers! Put on your smart glasses, whatever they are for now, and dive in into this week’s stories. Take a look:
Top Stories
Meta & EssilorLuxottica's new Ray-Ban smart glasses. The new launch includes AI enhancements, video streaming, an education-focused XR headset, and updates to improve the Quest 3 VR headset experience.
Microsoft and Google enter their AI era. Microsoft plans to invest over $50B and Google to maintain or exceed its $12B spending on their cloud infrastructure to meet the demand for AI services.
HaptX creates XR solutions for the visually impaired. The team is collaborating with universities to develop immersive touch simulations of braille and digital images.
In Funding
xAI close to securing $6B funding. The Open AI’s Competitor plans to integrate its technology and leverage data from Musk’s other ventures.
Trace has secured $2M pre-seed funding. Dubbed as the "Canva of AR," it aims to offer a beginner-friendly platform for AR content creation.
University of Iowa receives $2.5M from the US government. It aims to create a new cybersecurity center focused on protecting power grids.
Keep an eye on
XR: On April 30, position your XR work as top-tier, even outside of competitions, with the Nominations Briefing Webinar for the XR Awards, by AIXR.
Finance: The EU has approved new AML regulations that will mainly impact cryptocurrency.
Gaming: The Delta emulator is getting an iPad version soon, allowing users to enjoy Nintendo DS-like skins, soon enabling multiplayer mode.
Travel: Saudia launched the Travel Companion, that uses advanced AI to offer personalized solutions and streamline travel experiences.
Health: ETH Zurich researchers have developed an AI-based computer process to quickly design drug molecules based on protein structures.
Retail: Estée Lauder Companies and Microsoft collaborate to speed up product development, and ensure local market relevance, with AI.
Events to be at
May 14 – 22 Cannes, France | Cannes XR
May 22 - 23 Manchester, UK | DTX + UCX*
June 26 – 28 Seoul, Korea | Metaverse Expo
July 28 – August 1 Los Angeles, USA | Siggraph
December 5 Rotterdam, The Netherlands | XR Awards*
Events marked with an asterisk (*) have special rates available for AIXR members. Email events@aixr.org to claim your discount code.
View the full directory
Ready to start a new day? Please send any news and comments to team@aixr.org.
P.S.: if you want to sign up for this newsletter or share it with a friend or colleague, you can find us here.
April 29 2024 Edition - Issue 45