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Welcome back to Spatial Beats. This week, we look at XR treatments of the Perseverence Mars landing, Rebecca Minkoff’s new AR collection and other happenings from the spatial universe. Let’s dive in…
The Perseverance Mars landing was broadcast in 360 in AltspaceVR. It was also streamed live around the world by every network and every major platform at 4pm EST. We watched it on Tik Tok and raised our fist in the air along with the masked engineers at JPL who were running the show from Pasadena. Recent advances in technology have renewed interest in space, and given humanity hope in the midst of a pandemic.
Realworld, a mirror image of this world in VR, is coming to the Quest. This is blowing our mind. Realworld is based on the Microsoft version of Google Earth. It’s plastic and changeable. A mirrorworld. It sounds like they’re creating a version of earth without limitations like distance, scale and gravity. To me, the ability to bring in 3D objects, and make persistent changes within that instance is a new idea. A mirror image of this world in VR, that is plastic and changeable. This is an amazing twist to the Mirrorworld story. This is why the topic of Metaverses is so hot right now.
Meow Wolf’s Omega Mart is now open. The supermarket will anchor AREA15’s retail and entertainment complex in Las Vegas. Meow Wolf’s Omega Mart is an immersive art experience with over 50 collaborating visual and musical artists and artist groups from all over the world. Tickets are $30-45 and are available here.
Yahoo and Rebecca Minkoff bring you a new fashion collection in AR. The Yahoo Ryot Lab produced photogrammetry 3D models of her collection which will allow users to place the outfits in their space using AR. A first for the fashion industry, it will be used for larger scaled experiences in the future with multiple designers in the Fall.
eXp World Holdings announces 2-for-1 stock split. This split will be in the form of a stock dividend to make stock ownership more accessible to employees and investors. eXp are the owners of eXp Realty in the real estate industry and VirBELA, a remote workplace platform.
The 7th annual FIVARS – Festival of International Virtual & Augmented Reality Stories – begins today, Feb. 19th, through March 2nd. The event showcases a curated selection of immersive experiences from around the world. You can watch the films on their custom-built 360° Desktop web browser theatre or any VR headset.
Baby Hands is in Oculus Labs for the Quest. The popular mobile title by Austin-based Chicken Waffle studio is finally available through the hard-to-find Quest Store’s App Lab. You’re a baby, using your hands to crawl around, and pull yourself up. Play with toys, race cars, start a fights between Ultraman and a TRex. The way the creators play with scale is exceedingly well done.
This Week in XR is now a podcast hosted by Paramount’s Futurist Ted Schilowitz and Charlie Fink, the author of this weekly column. You can find it on podcasting platforms Spotify, iTunes, and YouTube. Watch the latest episode below.
Charlie Fink is an author and futurist focused on spatial computing. See his books here. Spatial Beats contains insights and inputs from Fink’s collaborators including Paramount Pictures futurist Ted Shilowitz.
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