AWE USA 2024, Long Beach, CA

Highlights

Sundance 2021
Sundance has announced that the 2021 Sundance Film Festival will be held in a custom-built VR platform. Sundance Institute Founder and President Robert Redford cites togetherness as an "animating principle" during planning for Sundance 2021. Also this week Sundance announced the 14 selections for this year's New Frontier showcase, which is dedicated to immersive media. (VRScout)
Rec Room Raises $20M
Rec Room announced on Thursday that they had received $20M in Series C funding. The social world, originally for PC VR, has expanded to support every major VR platform as well as iOS, Playstation, and Xbox. This announcement comes recently after the platform introduced in-game currency which allows users to sell their in-game creations. (RoadtoVR)
First AR-Guided Surgery
The first AR "holographically-navigated" spine surgery was performed at Balgrist University Hospital at the start of this month. The operation was performed by a doctor wearing a set of HoloLens 2 glasses, which were used to project scans of the patient's anatomy gathered previously through CT imaging over his physical body. The surgery was reportedly successful, and the patient is doing well. (Microsoft)

The XR Market

Roblox Acquires Loom.ai
The gaming platform Roblox has acquired Loom.ai, a company working to develop real-time facial animation for avatars. Loom.ai has raised $5.85M in two prior funding rounds. The move comes as Roblox announced that it was delaying its IPO to next year. (Roblox)

ForeVR Raises $1.5M

ForeVR has raised $1.5M in an initial seed round. Founded by veterans of Zynga, ForeVR is looking to create mass-market VR games for the whole family, starting with their first project, ForeVR Bowling. (RoadtoVR)

Cybershoes Doubles Goal

For the third time, Cybershoes' Oculus Quest compatibility Kickstarter campaign is in our XR Market section, this time for more than doubling its original goal of $30,000USD. The campaign had reached more than $77,000 at the time of writing, with 2 weeks left to go in the campaign. (VRFocus)

Unity Acquires RestAR

Major 3D creation and operation platform Unity has acquired RestAR, a "deep-learning" company that allows brands to scan their products for AR marketing using a smartphone. (Auganix)

8th Wall and COFFEE Partner for Holiday Hunt

8th Wall and COFFEE have partnered to create a WebAR scavenger hunt in Westfield shopping centers across the country. (ARPost)

Launches & Announcements
- FXG's FM360 Duo has two 3D cameras for filming human-eye-like VR content. (ImmersiveTechnology)
- Dole Foods Europe Partnered with Feed the Children to create an AR teddy bear to raise awareness of the 1 in 5 children who will go hungry this Christmas. (TaylorJames)
- Snapchat's Lens Fest 2020 took place last week and focused heavily on lenses with a social impact. (ARPost)
- Google has announced the addition of 50 new AR animals to its search feature on mobile. (Engadget)
- Google Adds AR Makeup try-on to its shopping feature. (TechCrunch)
- As 2020 draws to a close, ZD Net takes a look at what the XR market might look like in 2021. (ZDNet)
- OrbusVR released a Winter Festival content update. (UploadVR)
- Valve’s next game could feature an asymmetric VR v. PC experience. (RoadtoVR)
- Downtown Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas now displays the world’s largest AR Murals. (8NewsNow)
- Lia Pavlova models Khaite’s new pre-Fall collection in your living room with this new AR experience. (Vogue)
- Google's ARCore has reached 1B downloads, though this may be entirely from pre-instillation. (9to5Google)
- Spatial has launched a mobile AR workspace as a part of its goal of accessibility. (VRScout)
In Focus: The AWEsome Team Wishes You a Happy and Safe Holiday Season!

We hope everyone is gearing up for an enjoyable and safe holiday season! AWE is taking a short break for the holidays, so instead of a Weekly Spatial on Dec. 25 and Jan. 1, we'll have a special edition of the Weekly Spatial on Dec. 29th. We'll be back at rounding up the XR news of the week on Jan. 8!

Thank you for your support of AWE, and have a happy holiday season!

Looking for more XR in your holiday? Check out these Holiday XR gift ideas, compiled by AR Post.

AWE Nite: Holographic Zoom, Anyone?

Presented by Looking Glass Factory

AWE Nite: Holographic Zoom, Anyone? took place on Wednesday, Dec. 16. Check out the recording here!

Upcoming Events

VRAR Chicago: The Next Evolution in Arts & Culture: Jan. 6, 7 PM EST (Online)

The Past, Present, and Future of VR: Jan. 10, 8:30 PM EST (Online)

AREA Webinar: Sensing Human Gestures: Jan. 20, 11 AM EST (Online)

7th Wearable Expo: Jan. 20-22 (Tokyo)

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

ICVR 2021: Jan 28-29 (New York)

AWE Nites

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