Samsung tease XR wearables, Africa's growing gaming industry, & Snap's future in hardware.
Samsung tease XR wearables, Africa's growing gaming industry, & Snap's future in hardware.
This week...Samsung announce XR wearable devices, Playstation deny PSVR2 production cuts, and Meta report biggest ever losses.
Good morning Metaverse Business Brief readers. Let’s jump into the most relevant news from the immersive world in our weekly roundup.
Top Stories
Samsung announce XR wearable devices. The new hardware was teased at the Samsung Unpacked event, and came with the announcement of future partnerships with Meta and Microsoft. It is understand that the devices will run on a new google designed android version custom build for wearable displays.
Meta testing ‘members only’ Horizon Worlds. The limited alpha test launch will allows users to build curated worlds with their friends in VR. Members only worlds are limited to 150 members and 25 concurrent visitors, and it is suggested they will be ideal for groups like book clubs and VIP creator hangouts.
Playstation deny PSVR2 production cut. Contrary to previous reports from Bloomberg, Sony has refuted allegations that production numbers for the new $550 dollar PSVR2 unit will be halved on launch. Instead, the company claimed it is “seeing enthusiasm from Playstation fans for the upcoming launch”.
Meta report metaverse division losses. The company reported a fourth-quarter loss of $4.279 billion, the biggest loss yet for meta’s metaverse division. Revenues for the VR division were also down to $727 million in Q4 from $877 million a year prior. Of note is the fact that this was the first holiday season since the Oculus Quest 2 headset price increase to $400 dollars.
In Funding
Xander raise $1.4 million in pre-seed round. The Boston-based startup claim that the funding will enable the market launch of its first product, XanderGlasses. The product is an AR glasses captioning solution for those with hearing loss.
Prisms VR grab $12.5 million. The organisation launched in 2021 with a view to incorporating visual based learning as a method of improving mathematical literacy. The company already have a VR app on the Meta Quest platform, and is used by 100,000 students in the US.
African gaming startups see strong investment. The reputation of the continent as a force in the industry is growing, with a $27 million investment in South African firm Carry1st the latest in a flurry of investment activity within a captive market of gamers that has grown by 109 million users in 7 years.
Keep an eye on
Qualcomm outline XR position for future. Hugo Swart, General Manager of XR at Qualcomm, has spoken out about how he perceives the current headset market, the future of XR and Metaverse, and the incoming generation of devices that will be set to use the companies Snapdragon family of processors.
Metaverse takes hold in Hiroshima education. Metaverse technologies have seen a sharp increase in use within educational establishments in the Japanese city, with students praising the abilities of the technology to allow for communication while absent from classes and providing a platform to meet new people.
Snap hint at step into hardware market. The makers of the highly successful social media app Snapchat have suggested they will produce AR glasses powered by generative AI. While the company hasn’t pinned the timeframe on said development, they remain committed to investigating the potential of AI as a tool for it’s current lens studio technology.
Louis Vuitton enter AR backed by Japanese artist. In another step from Snap, the company has partnered with the much renowned fashion house and contemporary Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama to bring the duo’s collaborative ‘painted dots’ range to iconic landmarks around the world via Snap’s creative AR landmarker technology.
Events to be at
February 14 Online | Insights Live: Art and the Metaverse: From Creation to Market
March 14 Online | Insights Live: The Great Debate: Entertainment in the Metaverse – LBE vs Home Entertainment
April 11 Online | Insights Live: Growth of Web3 and Retail
March 10 Austin | SXSW Conference
March 16 Paris | Virtuality Web3 Summit
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Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, and your picks from the PSVR2 launch lineup to team@aixr.org.
January 06 2023 Edition - Issue 5