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Welcome back to Spatial Beats. This week, we look at Meta’s supercomputer ambitions, all the latest XR M&A action, and Scott Galloway riffs on web3. Let’s dive in…
Epic Games Acquires Harmonix. The company behind the legendary hit video game Rock Band has been purchased by the company behind Fortnite. Harmonix says it will continue to support its existing franchises.
VR Studio Alta Raises $12.4 Million to Expand Township Tale. The Aussie developer announced it has raised a $12.4 million seed round to finance further development of the popular Quest 2 game.
AI startup behind Tom Cruise Deepfakes raises $7.5M. London-based Metaphysic wants to endow NPCs with uncanny intelligence. Investing in the round were Section 32, 8VC, TO Ventures, Winklevoss Capital and Logan Paul.
We Met tin VR’s Sundance Debut. Joe Hunting’s new documentary is shot entirely in VR. “These people aren’t just escaping from their lives with VR,” says Engadget reviewer D. Hardawar. “Their lives are being made richer because of it.”
Prof Galloway Spanks the Crypto Crowd What is web3? It’s a hazy/vague term describing a crypto-powered internet, and a font of yogababble. (Scott Galloway/profgalloway.com)
Meta wants to build the world’s fastest supercomputer, for the metaverse and more. The AI to power the Metaverse has to come from somewhere. (Morning Brew)
My Family Is Trapped in the Metaverse. Virtual reality isn’t great, but it’s a lot better than dealing with everything else out there. (Adrienne So/Wired)
Innovation & Impact: An Interview with Virbela Co-Founder and President Alex Howland (Yancy Berns/Comparably)
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.
Header image source: Dima Solomin on Unsplash
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