11 Dec 2020 | AWE Team
Weekly Spatial Dec 11
AR/VR Weekly Virtual Reality Augmented Reality



Wednesday December 16th at 9am PST/ 12pm EST/ 5pm GMT

 

Our way of living and working has been altered forever as we spend hours on zoom every day - and yet the experience can feel very flat. 
The ingredients for congregating in the third dimension are already here - but are we ready for holographic communications? 

 

Join us for AWE Nite: Holographic Zoom, Anyone? - Presented by Looking Glass Factory, where we'll discuss this question with a stellar panel of leaders developing these key ingredients:

  • Shawn Frayne - CEO & Co-Founder, Looking Glass Factory
  • Ryan Tong - Senior Manager, Strategic Alliances, Zoom
  • Christina Heler - CEO, Metastage
  • Jacob Loewenstein - VP Business Development & Strategy, Spatial
  • Moderated by Ori Inbar - Founder, AWE and Super Ventures
 





Register Here!



Highlights

  • The FTC Sues Facebook
    The Federal Trade Commission has announced an antitrust lawsuit against Facebook, accusing the tech giant of anticompetitive platform content and anticompetitive acquisitions in the personal social networking market. Oculus is not named in the FTC's suit, but developers are reportedly in conversation with the Justice Department about complaints that Facebook often forces apps out of the Oculus store that will compete with its upcoming projects. Meanwhile, while German authorities announced an antitrust investigation over the highly controversial requirement that Oculus users log in with Facebook accounts. (CNN) (TheVerge) (Bloomberg)
  • Snap's $3.5M AR Lens Creation Fund
    On Tuesday Snap announced a fund of $3.5M in 2021 that will go toward independent Snapchat Lens creators. The fund will build upon the company's existing Creator Residency Program, which allowed lens creators, developers, and artists to apply for funding. The announcement was made at the opening of Snap's multi-day Lens Fest, where they also announced the updated version 3.3 of Lens Studio.  (TechCrunch)
  • AR Contact Lenses
    Mojo Vision has announced a joint-development  agreement with Japanese contact lens creator Menicon. The companies will work together to develop AR contact lenses which are capable of generating monochromatic AR. Mojo is working with the US FDA through the voluntary Breakthrough Devices Program which works on developing safe and timely medical device access. (VentureBeat) 


The XR Market

Arthur Raises $2.5M
Arthur has raised $2.5M to develop its VR Office Space service. The company says they didn't want to develop a meeting tool but a virtual office, with personalization that stays consistent between uses.   (VentureBeat) 

The MAAP
The EU launched the Media and Audiovisual Action Plan to support the media sector, including a committment to "Foster a European Virtual and Augmented Reality industrial coalition" (EuropenCommission)

Mursion Raises $20M
Mursion has raised $20M in a Series B funding round. The company is a VR training platform for developing workplace emotional intelligence. (HypergridBusiness)



Patrón Partners with ROSE
Patrón has partnered with ROSE to create an experience in which you can personalize the labels on an AR Patron Bottle and gift the digital packaging to a friend or family member. (ARPost) 



VRChat Launches Premium
VRChat has announced it will be launching a paid subscription service that users can buy into for premium features like custom user icons. (VRScout) 


Launches & Announcements

 

  • Westfield Shopping Centers host holiday-themed AR scavenger hunts across the country. (VRScout)

  • The Great Plateau from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was re-created by a fan in VRChat. (RoadtoVR)

  • Balenciaga held a VR fashion show, complete with a video game. (Vogue)

  • The NewView Awards have announced this year's 25 Finalists. (UploadVR)

  • AR Insider has released new growth predictions that the AR Industry will continue to rise slowly but steadily in 2021. (ARInsider)

  • Living Popups has made English and Spanish versions of their AR apps for the Boxcar Children books free this holiday season. (PRNewswire)

  • New movie-making app Diorama lets you place AR objects into your scene while filming. (VRScout)

  • Snapchat partners with the Smithsonian, Palace of Versailles and Le Grand Palais.(Engadget)

  • Superhot VR has debuted a new holiday-themed endless mode. (UploadVR)

  • Tear Down This Wall lets you tear down the Berlin Wall in AR. (Forbes)

  • AWE partners quoted in TechCrunch piece on US-China competition in XR.  (TechCrunch)

  • The X-Craft by Rokid and the China National Petroleum Corporation is an AR headset for oil and natural gas workers. (Auganix)

  • The XRSpace Manova is coming to Europe in time for the holiday season. (VRFocus)


    AWE Throwback: Steve Willey (CEO Innovega)

    iOptik smartglasses + contact lens introduction at AWE 2015

    Mojo Vision's partnership with Menicon is certainly exciting, but they're not the first to work on AR contact lenses. Check out this presentation from CEO of Innovega Steve Willey at AWE way back in 2015!




    Upcoming Events

    XR4All Thematic Conferences: Dec 15 – 16 (Online)

    XR4All Tech Tour XR 2020: Dec. 16 – 17 (Online)

    AWE Nite: Holographic Zoom, Anyone?: Dec 16, 12pm EST (online)

    AUREA Awards: January 22-23 (Online)

    AWE Nite DC: XR Goes to the Capitol!: Jan. 26, 5:30 PM EST (Online)

    AWE Nites


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