This week we focus on Landz, the metaverse, audio, digital economy, brain waves, mind-reading, WebAR, Cave Digger 2, The Turku 1827 Project, AWE EU, & more!
Welcome to Spatial News™ 38, the newsletter that punches above its weight! “Don’t count the days. Make the days count.” -Muhammad Ali (with a champion-level chiasmus)
Landz real-estate NFT collection is the first generative, interoperable virtual real-estate asset. Read more about Landz in the latest Spatial Spotlight article.
Image courtesy of Landz
Metaverse, Metaverse, Metavere:
“Th[e] conflation of crypto, Web3, Metaverse, and other terminology has created a complicated tapestry for brands to unpick, and this, in my experience, is turning people away from possibilities they might otherwise want to tap into – because they’ve picked up a negative association.”
Some practical advice for brands looking to unlock these possibilities includes:
Start experimenting with the current iteration of the Metaverse, i.e. collaborating with “flatscreen Metaverse” platforms like Fortnite, Roblox or even Animal Crossing
Apply DAO thinking such as “co-creation and co-ownership of designs, rewarding the most engaged [customers and fans] with products, experiences, or a financial stake”
Consider the role of NFTs, carefully to create “loyalty and engagement in the intersection between the physical and digital space”
(Shared by Ben Hanson, Editor-in-Chief of The Interline, an online rag worth reading if you’re into fashion tech and such.)
While many focus on pixels and polygons, audio “extend[s] the potential for immersion, communication, content delivery and creative expression”. This potential can take the shape of
“new forms of live radio broadcast, podcasts, commentary on unfolding events, and sonic social entities”
“non-intrusive and contextually relevant formats[…] for an intimate connection with individual users”
the adoption of “celebrity voice skin” (e.g. vocal timbre, singing ability, etc. of popular figures)
new audio logos and stings
and more
(Thanks for sharing, Clemens Amon.)
SK Telecom, South Korea’s top mobile carrier, “started operations [on its metaverse platform ifland] of ‘ifland point’, a reward system for ifland meet-up hosts and participants; a beta version of ifland for PC; ‘ifland lounge’ for first-time users of the metaverse platform; and ‘ifland studio’ where users can create fashion for their avatars” in order to set in motion ifland’s digital economy.
An English version of the platform is due out in June 2023. Curious to see how bumpy that “road to tomorrow” is for SK Telecom as they learn how a digital economy could work in a metaverse (am I using it right?).
begins Christopher Travers in his LI post.
“Meta AI can now translate noninvasive brain recordings into plain text with up to 73% top-10 accuracy from a vocabulary of 793 commonly used words. Should this research achieve a breakthrough, Meta will be able to decode human brain waves and convert thoughts directly into text.”
What’s the first thing I thought about?
No, not “[q]uestions of privacy, ethics, security, freedom, control, transparency” like Christopher had.
I thought of text-to-image and text-to-video AI (see SN #036).
So, I’ve got my new Oculus on with Meta AI’s latest brain wave decoder tech in it, and I think up a couple of prompts. Voilà! Instant virtual world! One that I can edit in realtime.
(Invasive is for the European starlings, Elon.)
But what if I doze off or get caught daydreaming? I might find myself in an Id-induced nightmare realm that would make a psychoanalyst salivate and a “Dream Data Dissector” rub his hands in glee.
I guess there’s more than one way to be invasive.
Spatial News from Finland:
The results of new research by the University of Helsinki "suggest that synchrony [between the brainwaves of two people] can have a role in online interaction, which should be further examined. For example, targeting inter-brain synchrony in the design of computer-mediated interaction is an interesting possibility.”
What could this mean “within a metaverse context at scale”?
(Great find, Theo Priestley!)
ZOAN has developed a real-time 3D reconstruction of Turku, the first capital of Finland for the upcoming Museum of the History and the Future and with expanded content for the Luostarinmäki Museum, both in Turku.
Follow the link to take a preview tour of the Turku of days past.
(Thanks for sharing, Jonathan Biz Medina.)
The sequel to the hit VR game Cave Digger is out now on PSVR, Steam, and Quest! Developed and published by VRKiwi Games, the game transports players into an alternative, Far West-inspired world where secrets and dangers lie just below the surface.
Check out the trailer above!
Screenshot of the game, courtesy of VRKiwi
To put it simply, “WebAR = augmented reality experiences that run in your mobile devices browser.”
Frans Tihveräinen, the “AR Dude”, and his company flyAR are experts at creating WebAR experiences, so read on to learn more. There’s also a link to their YouTube channel to see some of their supercool creations.
From Finland to Portugal.
Curious?
The Spatial8 boys will be there at our booth, schmoozing with the other attendees, and even moderating a panel! And we’re bringing the XR Nation community with us!
If you’re going and you’d like a 20% discount on tickets use this link.
This wraps up our 38th edition, Spatialists. Thanks for rapping with us!
ATTENZIONE: We’ll be publishing the newsletter twice a month starting this month. I know, I know, but, we’ll be back in early October with tales of travels, travails, and triumphs to regale you.
Joh of Spatial8, I chanted “Let Language Live!” at the death of ‘def’ party.