 Meta's Horizon Worlds and Horizon Venues reached 300,000 monthly users in just three months. The company also announced that since the launch in Dec. 2021, there have been over 10,000 worlds created on the platform. More: - Similar to Rec Room, the Horizon Worlds platform allows users to create their own avatars, create their own gameplay, and interact with other users on the platform. Venues is Horizon's place to livestream events such as sports and concerts.
- Quest or Rift VR headsets are required to enter the platform, but Meta CEO Mark Zuckerburg has stated an intent to release a mobile version of the app.
- "While the deepest and most immersive experiences are going to be in virtual reality, you’re also going to be able to access the worlds from your Facebook or Instagram apps as well, and probably more over time," Zuckerburg said.
- Horizon Worlds and Venues launched in December to U.S. and Canadian adults after a 2-year beta period. Although the combined platforms have 300,000 users, they still trail Rec Room's 1 million monthly users.
Bitcoin.com 
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 Warren Buffett has been very quiet about his metaverse interest, but the legendary investor holds a stake in a list of metaverse-centric companies. One company in his portfolio, BYD Co., on Monday filed for a metaverse trademark, the "BYD Metaverse." More: - BYD is waiting on approval for its metaverse trademark filing following the likes of Chinese tech giants Tencent, Alibaba, and more.
- In addition to his sizable share in the Chinese battery and electric vehicle company BYD, Buffett also bought shares of Activision Blizzard in the fourth quarter of 2021.
- It remains unclear if the legendary investor will make any direct moves into the metaverse. His most relevant metaverse stock is Apple, which ranks by far the biggest holding by Buffett's company, Berkshire Hathaway.
- Buffet also said that Apple "is probably the best business I know in the world."
Benzinga
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 Tencent and Alibaba stocks tumbled Monday morning, and some speculate that the metaverse might be the cause. Alibaba (ticker: 9988. H.K.) stock fell 3.9%, and Tencent (0700. H.K.) dropped 5.2% as Chinese regulators scrutinize the metaverse ecosystem. More: - Alibaba is bullish on the potential of the metaverse and even started a corporate department focusing on how cloud platforms can help accelerate metaverse development.
- Tencent also has similar plans as the company filed several metaverse trademarks and looks to expand into the virtual world.
- President and executive director Chi Ping Lau said: "We actually have a lot of the technology and know-how building blocks for us to explore and develop for the metaverse opportunity."
- Chinese tech giants are bullish about the metaverse opportunity, but China's key financial regulator has warned of the rise of illegal investment schemes related to the metaverse, which may include real estate transactions in VR, false metaverse projects, and crypto-related frauds.
- There is currently no clear sign that Chinese regulators will place a future ban on virtual worlds.
Barrons
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 ERTHA Metaverse is on its way to potentially become the top metaverse project. The platform has the most-searched-for tokens in GameFi and has a diluted market cap of $380M. More: - Its Rome NFT was bought for $120,000 on the platform, giving its new owner control over the digital city and all its landmarks, which also includes the Vatican.
- The digital land comes with resources that can be exploited that can help generate revenue in the form of $ERTHA tokens.
- Revenue comes from taxes, fees, and business transactions.
- Ertha World is a popular game that allows players to trade, balance production, and budget in order to compete with other players.
- The $ERTHA token is the platform's digital currency which has various uses such as in-game political policies, land purchases, real estate development, and more.
Bitcoin
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 Sony is launching a new VR experience for Sword Art Online's EX CHRONICLE, a Japanese anime series, next month. The company hosts a variety of solutions in entertainment, marketing, planning, and e-commerce, and now it will also include immersive solutions that allow artists to perform on a virtual reality platform. More: - The Sword Art Online event is the latest in a series of immersive events to host events for the entertainment industry. The platform will focus on music, film, and art.
- The company offers artists its Reality, Real-Time, and Remote (3R) technology, some of which included allowing Madison Beer to perform as an avatar for her Life Support album.
- The immersive experience plans will launch in Japan and globally for fans in Germany, Hong Kong, Korea, Macau, Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
- Sony launched its MITENE augmented reality (AR) digital signage system and soon after expanded its products for immersive solutions to various markets.
XR Today
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 Researchers in India and Australia have taken facial recognition in VR to a new level. The new research shows that a person's facial expressions can be used to manipulate objects in virtual reality without a handheld controller or touchpad. More: - The system is designed to recognize facial expressions via an EEG headset. A smile can trigger the "move" command, and a frown can stop it, eliminating the need to use controllers.
- The goal is to capture human emotions, such as anger, happiness, and surprise, and implement them into a virtual reality environment.
- Three virtual reality environments have been designed — happy, neutral, and scary — that will monitor users' psychological responses in VR.
- The benefit of the technology extends beyond gaming and entertainment — people with disabilities may interact hands-free in VR, eliminating the need to rely on controllers to enter the immersive environment.
Tech Eplore
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- Apple's rumored AR/VR headsets have reportedly undergone key production tests.
- Analysts believe that sales of VR headsets will increase this year, with Meta's Quest being the most popular.
- Metaverse harassment cases will be a huge challenge for Meta's metaverse plans.
- Here is a closer look at some metaverse-linked cryptocurrency tokens and their long-term prospects.
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 |  | Gia Mattu is based in Calgary, Alberta. She is an entrepreneur with experience in climate technology, drones, AI, machine learning, and blockchain technology. When she's not working, she loves to hike the Canadian Rockies, try new cuisine, and travel. | | | | Editor | Aaron Crutchfield is based in the high desert of California. Over the last two decades, he has spent time writing and editing at various local newspapers and defense contractors in California. When he's not working, he can often be found looking at the latest memes with his kids or working on his 1962 Ford. | |
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