Mark Cuban says that buying virtual real estate is the "dumbest sh*t ever" as the sales of digital land plummet this year. The Dallas Mavericks owner is not sold on the prospects of the metaverse and does not believe that digital land will be valuable in the future. More: - Facebook changing its name to Meta created a global hype around the virtual worlds that promise to let users play, work and socialize in immersive reality.
- The announcement increased interest in existing "metaverse platforms" like Decentraland and The Sandbox from people worldwide, including celebrities like Snoop Dogg, who bought land and built a virtual mansion in The Sandbox.
- Users were buying and selling plots of land in these metaverses as NFTs and reselling on popular exchanges such as OpenSea.
- Companies like Atari, Samsung, Adidas, and others have all bought virtual land.
- "The worst part is that people buy real estate in these places. That's just the dumbest sh*t ever," says Mark Cuban.
- It's evident that the hype around the metaverse is starting to cool off. Virtual land sales volume has dropped significantly from its peak of more than $60M on Nov. 6, 2021.
- The sales volume among the top five metaverse platforms, including The Sandbox, Decentraland, Voxels, was just $150,000 on Aug. 6, indicating a decrease of 81% to $5,930 last week.
- However, Cuban argues that the sale of virtual land "is not even as good as a URL or an ENS (Ethereum Naming Service)" because there is no scarcity attached to its value. You can create "unlimited volumes."
- Cuban has invested in Yuga Labs, a company developing its version of the metaverse called The Otherside, which has raised $317M. Cuban is not a big fan of the company's virtual real estate offering.
- "I still thought it was dumb to do the real estate. That was great money for them, you know, but that wasn't based off a utility," he said.
Fortune 
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Apple may ship over 1.5 million units of its AR/VR headset with a $2,000 price tag. The rumored AR/VR head-mounted display is expected to launch later this year or early next year; Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg admitted that Apple is a direct competitor for the Quest 2 headset. More: - The rumored AR/VR headset is expected to launch sometime this year or early 2023. The company will announce its launch during the Jan. 2023 event, which could signal that the release date is near.
- In addition to the Meta Quest 2, it will compete with Sony's Playstation VR 2 headset.
- Apple's headset will come with eye tracking technology, 8K displays, external cameras, and an M1 processor similar to the Macbook.
- Meta recently announced that it would increase the Quest 2's price by $100 this summer.
CNET
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 Vuzix landed a deal with L3Harris Technologies to develop a head-mounted AR system for the U.S. military. The Senate also reduced funding for Microsofts IVAS displays due to technical issues with the hardware. More: - Vuzix, a developer of smart glasses that specializes in AR technology solutions, will create customized waveguide-based engine prototypes to improve the field of view in military applications.
- Matthew Renzi, Senior Director of Engineering at L3Harris, says, "This phased development will enhance the daytime augmented reality capabilities of existing L3Harris products."
- The smart glasses are developed for the U.S. military with a natural field of view, long battery life, and the lightest HUD system on the market.
Zoom out: - Funding will be cut to $50M from $400M for the Microsoft Integrated Visual Augmented System due to technical issues. The IVAS is similar to Microsoft's HoloLens 2.
- The U.S. Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee has concerns about the IVAS adoption challenges after undergoing various tests last year.
- The panel says it "remains concerned that IVAS continues to face software, hardware and user-acceptance challenges that the Army has not sufficiently addressed."
- Field tests were conducted last September, which showed that the technology needs to overcome several challenges to gain acceptance, such as HUD issues, the field of view, and environmental/moisture control.
- Microsoft and the Pentagon are working closely to resolve hardware issues in hopes of restoring confidence in the technology.
Optics
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 Lenovo intends to debut a VR headset for gamers. Called the "VR700," the headset is expected to drop in the next few days alongside Lenovo's Legion Y70 smartphone. More: - The headset and smartphone are part of Lenovo's "Legion" product line, comprising phones, laptops, desktop computers, tablets, and now a VR headset.
- Little is known about the VR700 except that it runs on a Snapdragon XR 2 Mobile VR chip.
- Lenovo has not announced how much the headset costs or where it will be available for purchase.
- Promotional images of the forthcoming headset did not picture controllers.
Zoom out: - This is the first time Lenovo will debut a VR headset on its own.
- Lenovo previously debuted its "Explorer" HMD with Microsoft and its "Mirage Solo" headset with Google.
- Neither of these ventures gained much traction.
- In 2019, Lenovo and Meta partnered to debut the "Oculus Rift S" headset.
- A commercial success, Meta discontinued the headset in 2020.
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Earlier today, AR/VR-focused company The Glimpse Group announced it added two new patents to its portfolio: an "Immersive Ecosystem" and a "Method for Generating An Augmented Reality Experience." The announcement follows its recent acquisition of Brightlight Interactive, LLC. More: - The company's patented "Immersive Ecosystem" uses real-time sensors to customize AR/VR experiences.
- The sensors capture various data points, such as user biometrics and atmospheric conditions, to render bespoke VR content.
- The Group's "Method for Generating An Augmented Reality Experience" patent transforms 2D/3D media into immersive AR content.
- The patents cover the reproduction of both real-world and animated people/characters.
- The group's CEO and President, Lyron Bentovim, noted that both patents advance "significant commercial implications."
- The patents represent the company's ninth and 10th portfolio additions.
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 Valve's latest Steam VR survey found that most Steam users don a Meta Quest 2 headset. According to the study, 50.32% of users employ Quest 2 HMDs to access the platform. More: - The survey found that over 2/3 of users donned a Meta headset to access the platform.
- Overall, Meta-developed headset use grew by 67.16%.
- Meta's competitive pricepoint likely helped the headset climb the ranks to become the most prevalent VR headset to date.
- However, the headset's recent price increase could affect its future popularity.
- The survey listed Valve and HTC as the second and third most popular headset brands.
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- Condense raised $4.5M Seed to develop "infrastructure as a service" metaverse. Localglobe, 7percent Ventures, and Deeptech Labs led the round.
- Analysts anticipate the ByteDance-affiliate company Pico will launch its latest VR headsets — the Pico 4 and the Pico 4 Pro — this September.
- EcoSmart and Virtualand Tech have partnered to launch "Virtualand Tech," a programmable, blockchain-supported, and 3D metaverse. The metaverse was constructed using Ethereum and Polygon.
- Soul Assembly announced it would debut its latest Quest 2 game, "Drop Dead: The Cabin," later this year.
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 |  | Courtney Rawlings is an Inside Research Analyst living in Los Angeles, California. She has returned to her hometown of LA after spending several years working at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, where she is completing a Ph.D. in Art and Architectural History. While working toward her Ph.D., Courtney has developed an interest in the language and history of the tech industry, especially regarding metaverse technologies, streaming, and podcasting. In fact, she hosted her own podcast Low Culture Boil! You can find her on Twitter: @ckayerawlings Email: courtney@inside.com |  | | 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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