| 🌟 Hello Insiders, 🗞️ In today's digest, we navigate through various intriguing topics: from Andre Elijah's allegations against Meta Platforms Inc. for canceling his AEI Fitness app on the brink of its launch to an in-depth look at Roblox Corporation's substantial global net loss and a spotlight on how Japan is ingeniously blending funerals with the metaverse, creating a digital realm for memorial and remembrance, plus much more! 🚀 ⏬ Dive into our Quick Hits and don't miss the Upcoming Events section below. 💬 We value your insights — feel free to hit reply and share your thoughts with us! 🔄 If you find this newsletter useful, please share it with your friends and colleagues. Thank you. Vildana
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| 1 | | Andre Elijah, a VR yoga app developer, alleges Meta Platforms Inc. canceled his AEI Fitness app just before its launch after discovering his talks with Apple Inc. and ByteDance's Pico about launching on their VR platforms. Elijah, who claims the app could have topped the VR fitness market and earned tens of millions, is seeking $3.2M in the short term and hundreds of millions in lost revenue and damages through a lawsuit. More: - The VR fitness app market was valued at $16.4B last year and is projected to escalate to over $109B in the next seven years.
- Elijah accuses Meta of conspiring to quash his app to control the VR headset and distribution market.
- The lawsuit reveals developers' personal sacrifices to align with Meta's aggressive push into the metaverse.
- Meta, under investor pressure to sell more VR headsets, faces a barrier due to a comparative lack of apps and content.
- Elijah was already paid about $1.5M by Meta, and his lawsuit also names CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Alo, a fitness apparel company, as defendants.
Zoom Out: - Previously, Meta faced accusations from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission of attempting to monopolize the VR fitness app market by acquiring Within Unlimited Inc., although the agency withdrew after a judge in San Jose rejected its request to halt the deal.
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What the numbers say: In Q2 2023, Roblox Corporation disclosed a combined net deficit exceeding $284M, marking an escalation from the same quarter in the prior year, which saw a net loss surpassing $269M. The firm has not yet announced a profitable financial outcome. Relevance: Roblox CEO David Baszucki, in an interview at The Code Conference, articulated his goal to transform the gaming platform into a metaverse for over 1 billion daily users. Noting a surge in popularity among kids and teens, Baszucki highlighted that Roblox's fastest-growing demographic is users aged 17-24, experiencing over 30% year-over-year growth, as he aims to expand its appeal to all age groups. | | | |
| 3 | | Japan is innovatively integrating funerals into the metaverse, providing a digital space for memorialization and remembrance. The initiative, driven by companies like Alpha Club Musashino, addresses the challenges posed by Japan's aging population and the increasing difficulty for individuals to visit traditional grave sites physically. More: - Alpha Club Musashino is developing a digital graveyard accessible anytime via computer or mobile.
- In 2022, Japan recorded 1.58 million deaths, a rise from 1.26 million in 2012, reflecting an aging and declining population.
- A survey by Planet Inc. revealed that 36% of Japanese no longer visit their family graves.
- Applications to relocate family graves surged by 55% in 2021 compared to a decade earlier.
- The metaverse cemetery allows users to view photos, deliver virtual flowers, and leave condolence messages.
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| 4 | | The Sandbox, a leading decentralized gaming virtual world, has partnered with Agora to enhance real-time engagement in the metaverse. This collaboration aims to boost real-time voice, video, and chat interactions, promoting better collaboration among creators and immersive multiplayer experiences. More: - The Sandbox is a subsidiary of Animoca Brands.
- Agora provides an ideal platform for real-time metaverse engagement, integrating 3D Spatial Audio, persistent chat, and live streaming.
- The Sandbox aims to leverage these features to strengthen social ties between players.
- Sebastien Borget, COO of The Sandbox, emphasized the enhanced social potential this partnership brings.
- The Sandbox has over 400 partners, including Warner Music Group, Ubisoft, and Gucci Vault.
Zoom Out: | | | |
| 5 | | A new AR app, "Chronos," enables visitors to explore the Acropolis in its ancient glory, providing a digital overlay that reveals how the site looked as far back as the 5th century BC. The app, supported by Greece's Culture Ministry, enhances the visitor experience by showcasing the Parthenon and other structures in their original state and offers virtual access to global users. More: - The "Chronos" app allows users to view the Parthenon Marbles in their original location, a significant point considering their current display in the British Museum.
- The app reveals lesser-known features, like the previously vibrant colors of sculptures and a giant statue of Athena standing over a pool.
- The app can be utilized globally, offering a virtual visitation experience and potentially reducing physical visitor congestion.
- The digital strategy includes making historical sites more physically accessible, too, as seen with the installation of ramps and anti-slip pathways at monuments.
Zoom Out: - Various systems and frameworks have been developed and tested over the past decade to present invisible prehistoric landscapes through AR, providing a window into the unseen aspects of archaeological sites.
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| 6 | | The University of Glasgow has launched a £5.6M ($6.8M) project titled "Museums in the Metaverse." The initiative, supported by the U.K. government's Innovation Accelerator program, seeks to enable virtual access to museums and allow curators to create immersive, interactive experiences. More: - The project is a two-sided XR platform encompassing virtual reality, augmented reality, and mixed reality.
- One platform facet allows public access to virtual museums, sites, objects, and dynamic experiences.
- The second facet enables virtual curators to weave stories using 3D objects and environments.
- Partnerships include National Museums Scotland, Historic Environment Scotland, and Edify, an immersive learning platform.
- The project aims to make over 90% of objects currently in storage and unseen accessible to the public.
Zoom Out: - A Medium article discusses Metaverse Museums, highlighting interactive exhibitions that challenge traditional concepts of art and creativity.
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| 7 | | Quick Hits: - Discover ideal customers with data segmentation with BiglySales.com's data segmentation and AI-powered Outreach.*
- A physics professor alleges discovering evidence that suggests we inhabit a "virtual reality simulation."
- Blockchain gaming has attracted $2.3B in investments this year, with $600M invested in the third quarter of 2023 alone, according to data from DappRadar.
- The Cord SDK saved product teams at monday.com, BILL, and ThoughtSpot 12 months of developer time and $100,000s.*
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