METAVERSE INSIDER – January 2023 newsletter
CONTENTS
APPLE'S AR/VR HEADSET WON'T BE CHEAP
THE SANDBOX ANNOUNCE ALPHA SEASON 3 RESULTS
MACEYS HOLD THANKSGIVING PARADE IN THE METAVERSE
MATTEL LAUNCHES NFT MARKETPLACE ON THE FLOW BLOCKCHAIN
AMAZON INTRODUCES NEW ‘CREATE WITH ALEXA’ AI FEATURE
QUALCOMM DEBUTS NEW CHIPSET FOR HIGH PERFORMANCE AR GLASSES
WORLD'S 1ST METAVERSE FASHION MALL LAUNCHES
PANTONE LAUNCHES COLOR OF THE YEAR WITH ‘MAGENTAVERSE’ AT ART BASEL
WEB3 GLOSSARY – “SEMI-FUNGIBLE TOKEN (SFT)”
APPLE'S AR/VR HEADSET WON'T BE CHEAP
According to Bloomberg and other reports, the first Apple AR/VR headset is due to launch at the end of 2023 and will be considerably more premium than the one most of us will end up buying – priced between $2,000 to $3,000. The headset's spec is not surprisingly impressive, with a Mac-equivalent M2 chip, more than 10 cameras inside and outside plus "the highest resolution displays ever featured in a mass-market headset".
THE SANDBOX ANNOUNCE ALPHA SEASON 3 RESULTS
The Sandbox Alpha Season 3 wrapped on November 1, 2022 after 10 weeks of daily gaming, discovery, and adventure. Total visits came in at nearly 17M – three times that of Season 2, with over 360,000 users around the world having fun playing and socialising in the 22 experiences, and an average of 30,000 daily active users – all clocking up a record 2.4M hours played in total with a 20 minutes average session length.
MACEYS HOLD THANKSGIVING PARADE IN THE METAVERSE
A virtual version of the 2022 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade was held alongside the real one – hosted on the OnCyber multiverse platform. The activation included NFT galleries from five creators, with the opportunity for visitors to vote on one design that will be turned into a balloon for next year’s real-life parade through midtown Manhattan.
MATTEL LAUNCHES NFT MARKETPLACE ON THE FLOW BLOCKCHAIN
Global toy company Mattel has launched its own non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace on Mattel Creations, the company's direct-to-consumer platform, expanding its lineup of digital collectibles from its portfolio of iconic brands. Series 4 of the Hot Wheels NFT Garage, set for release on December 15, will be the first offering of Mattel Digital Collectibles.
AMAZON INTRODUCES NEW ‘CREATE WITH ALEXA’ AI FEATURE
Amazon’s new Alexa feature uses AI to create animated stories on Echo Show. Children can say the simple phrase, “Alexa, make a story,” follow a few prompts, and Alexa takes over—generating a unique and original narrative based on the child’s preferences, with the AI also composing an illustration, background music, and sound effects
QUALCOMM DEBUTS NEW CHIPSET FOR HIGH PERFORMANCE AR GLASSES
Qualcomm claims that the new platform delivers 2.5x better AI performance than the Snapdragon XR2 Gen 1 while consuming 50% less power, making it ideal for AR glasses that consume less than 1W power. The chipset will make an appearance on upcoming AR glasses from Lenovo, Nreal, LG, Oppo, TCL, Xiaomi, and more.
WORLD'S 1ST METAVERSE FASHION MALL LAUNCHES
Avatly, an eCommerce metaverse fashion mall built using state-of-the-art technology, has been launched with the aim to provide an unparalleled experience of trying on virtual clothing in the metaverse, with ultra-realistic clothes and user avatars created with the Avatly app.
PANTONE LAUNCHES COLOR OF THE YEAR WITH ‘MAGENTAVERSE’ AT ART BASEL
Inspired by the cochineal beetle, Pantone announced their 2022 colour of the year ‘Viva Magenta’ representing the resilience, optimism, and creativity that many of us hope to feel as we enter the new year. But in a twist, the colour also explores the interplay between the real world and the virtual one, which will become increasingly relevant as the metaverse looms larger. Viva Magenta will make its debut at this year’s Art Basel Miami Beach event, with ‘Magentaverse’ – as part of a series of immersive rooms created by Artechouse.
WEB3 GLOSSARY
“SEMI-FUNGIBLE TOKEN”
A semi-fungible token (SFT) can change state from being fungible, like a bitcoin, to non-fungible like any NFT – and are built on the ERC-1155 standard. They combine the features of NFTs and regular fungible tokens (cryptocurrencies). They can also evolve, starting as a fungible token then transforming into a non-fungible token.