Xbox say NO to VR/AR, DREST claim £15 million for luxury fashion, and Quest 3's display resolution confirmed?
Also this week...‘AI anxiety’ amongst the creative industry grows, 'VR Godfather' Tom Furness talks down VR/Spatial Computing debate, and Apple confirm that the VisionOS SDK is now available.
Good morning Metaverse Business Brief readers. Let’s jump into the most relevant news from the immersive world in our weekly roundup.
Top Stories
Xbox reject VR Gaming on Series X. Xbox Game Studio head Matt Booty has spoken out against VR, claiming that the scale of the technology doesn’t exist yet. The news has ultimately put hopes of a hardware device or games from Microsoft’s Xbox to bed. With Booty claiming that Xbox need to “wait until there’s an audience there”, detractors have notably pointed to the steady success of the PSVR2 which is set to outsell it’s first iteration with a number of games yet to be released.
‘AI anxiety’ amongst creative industry grows. A new study of over 200 UK creative professionals by Empower has uncovered the highly conflicted environment in which AI has implanted itself within the creative industry. Generative AI was used by over 40% of the creatives in the study, however at least half of the participants also demonstrated a moderate or high concern over the impact that generative AI would have within their industry.
Tom Furness speaks as HTCE open ‘living lab’. Former VR Awards Lifetime Achievement Award winner Tom Furness, also known as the “grandfather of VR”, reiterated his passion for VR’s impact on society as he talked down the debates surrounding VR and the ‘Spatial Web’, claiming “we had already invented these technologies thirty years ago”. Furness spoke at the launch of a new innovation hub by the High Tech Campus Eindhoven (HTCE), which will act as a “hotspot” for VR, metaverse, and spatial web applications.
Apple VisionOS SDK now available. The promised SDK, or software development kit, will allow third party developers to build apps for the upcoming vision pro headset. Available via Xcode 15 beta 2, Apple also revealed that applications for vision pro developer kits will be accepted from the start of July, while developer labs in locations like London, Munich, Shanghai and Tokyo will open to allow hands-on experience with the vision pro hardware.
In Funding
DREST score £15 million. The London based organisation have raised the capital for their luxury fashion metaverse gaming platform, wherein players can improve their talent in styling via in game challenges that provide digital wearables. The platform for user generated content will use the finances to enable a global rollout of their current product.
Swave Photonics secures €10M. A semiconductor company and provider of holographic technology for AR, Swave Photonics confirmed the closure of its expansion seed round at a total raise of €10M. Swave’s Holographic eXtended Reality technology is capable of powering holographic glasses and headsets, with applications using it said to be capable of passing the visual ‘turing test’.
Anagram secure funding for VR mental health. Anagram are a creative studio that specialise in immersive experience design. The company have confirmed that the funding, received via Innovate UK and Ufi VocTech Trust, will go towards producing a VR training series dubbed “Inside Mental Health” which is focused on improving mental health amongst healthcare workers.
Keep an eye on
Quest 3 display resolution confirmed? Upon the announcement of the Quest 3, Meta confirmed it would have its “highest resolution display yet”. Now we have confirmation from an early Best Buy listing that the Quest 3 will have “a nearly 30% leap in resolution from Quest 2”. When crossed against rumours circulated by the Quest firmware dataminer Salumina and the Quest 2 pixel count of 1832x1920, a figure of 2064x2208 appears to be likely for the device.
RIAA take legal action against Discord AI group. The RIAA has obtained a subpoena demanding that Discord reveal the identities of users on its "AI Hub" message board, which has 145,000 members. The board is said to contain voice models for popular musicians including Bruno Mars, Rihanna, and Stevie Wonder. These models can be used to make AI tracks that mimic the styles and voices of major music artists - a highly controversial practice which is producing a fresh debate in the area of copyright law.
Motown Records motor into metaverse. The highly regarded music label - home to legacy acts like Marvin Gaye, the Jackson 5, and contemporary names like Ne-Yo - has announced that it will enter the metaverse in a partnership with Second Life and STYNGR. The agreement will see Second Life play host to an immersive ‘Motown venue’, wherein users can explore the music and talent that the label boasts before attaching musical snippets to their avatars.
Cyprus university creates ‘Masters of the Metaverse’. The University of Nicosia has announced that it will expand its existing collection of Blockchain degrees to begin allowing students to learn how to design and manage virtual worlds in a new MSc in Metaverse degree. The program, which amounts to a year’s study, will include courses covering AR, VR, NFTs, Blockchain, Marketing and Project management. The university have also created a scholarship fund of €300,000 each year which will support students who require assistance.
Events to be at
June 28 Tokyo | XR Fair Tokyo Summer
July 11 Online | Insights Live: The Importance of Inclusivity and Diversity within the Metaverse
August 08 Online | Insights Live: How the Metaverse would Transform Education
September 23 Online | Insights Live: How can CEOs stop feeling alone?
October 24-26 Houston | The 10th Augmented Enterprise Summit
November 30 Rotterdam | The 7th International VR Awards
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news and comments to team@aixr.org.
June 26 2023 Edition - Issue 25