Welcome back to Spatial Beats, where we round up all the top news and happenings from around the spatial computing spectrum, including its escalating infusions with AI and other emerging tech. Let’s dive in…
The Lede
Perplexity AI Raising $500M at $8 Billion Valuation. Perplexity AI, a Jeff Bezos-backed AI search company, is reportedly in talks to raise $500 million in funding, which would more than double its valuation to $8 billion. The company, which offers an AI-powered conversational search engine, has seen rapid growth, handling around 15 million queries daily and generating approximately $50 million in annualized revenue. This marks a significant increase from its $3 billion valuation in June 2024. The funds will help Perplexity compete with industry giants like OpenAI and expand its enterprise services. However, the company has faced legal challenges, including disputes with publishers over content usage.
Feeling Spatial
News about IVAS, the Army Version of HoloLens, Keeps Getting Worse. The Army seems to have suddenly realized $80,000 per unit may be a bit pricey for their needs. The problem lies in the stupidity of the is original spec. Army, here’s some free consulting: put more sensors on the helmet, attach flip down displays like the night vision glasses, network them through a phone or a puck, and call in the airstrikes. It will cost under $5,000. I can’t be the only one who’s thought of this. The HoloLens is overkill.
Beats & Bites
- Apple May Halt Vision Pro Production by Year-End
- Meta Quest 3S review: I’m shocked that affordable mixed reality looks this good
- Meta Is Losing Developers to Snap Amid AR Rivalry
- Cisco Boosts Vision Pro Meetings with New ‘Webex’ Spatial Video Update
- The Samsung XR Headset: Release Date Rumors and Specs
- Khronos & VRM Consortium Aim to Expand VRM Avatar Format Globally
- Beleaguered startup Humane drops Ai Pin price by $200
- Why Meta and Snap are spending billions on AR glasses
- Snapchat brings camera shortcut to the iPhone lock screen
- Watch NBA Courtside in Quest, Including 52 Immersive Games This Season
- Vimeo Now Has An Apple Vision Pro App And Natively Supports Spatial Videos
- Top NFL QB Credits VR Training as a Big Part of His Success
- Bigscreen Says Beyond Is Now Shipping Within One Day Of Ordering
The AI Desk
Adobe unveiled new AI-powered features across its Creative Cloud apps. At the company’s annual creative conference this week, Adobe unveiled new product updates and tools across its suite of editing software, including Premiere Pro, Photoshop, Illustrator, and its AI model Firefly. For Photoshop, the Generative Fill tool now creates more photorealistic images, while the Distraction Removal feature simplifies removing unwanted elements. Premiere Pro gains generative AI capabilities for video editing, such as expanding shots and filling in missing footage. Lightroom introduces Generative Remove to quickly clean up photos and Lens Blur for selective focus. Adobe Express now supports 3D motion graphics and bulk content creation, optimizing workflows for social media and branding.
Runway has unveiled Act-One, a new tool built on its Gen-3 Alpha technology. Designed to deliver highly realistic and expressive character performances, Act-One captures intricate details like micro-expressions, eye-lines, and pacing, allowing filmmakers to blend AI-generated characters into human performances. The tool can generate cinematic scenes from various camera angles, offering deeper character portrayals and opening new possibilities for emotionally complex storytelling. Additionally, Keyframes, a feature for Gen-3 Turbo, allows users to set first and last frame inputs, enhancing control and consistency in animated sequences. Runway says Act-One will gradually roll out to users.
US Air Force and the Drone Racing League Expand Talent Recruitment Efforts. Somebody call Palmer Lucky! The Inaugural Drone Racing Championship is taking flight in 2025. If Anduril is not racing to sponsor this thing then Elon should jump in and put an X on it. Imagine an epic steaming series in which modern gladiators dodge killer drones the size, and lethality, of flying shotgun shells, which weigh about an ounce. In the future the most lethal pilots may not be the ones flying planes.
The 14 Best AI-Generated Fake Movie Trailers, Ranked (Jonathan Kantor/Looped)
Listen In
For more spatial commentary & insights, check out This Week in XR, hosted by the author of this column, Charlie Fink, Ted Schilowitz, former studio executive and co-founder of Red Camera, and Rony Abovitz, founder of Magic Leap. This week our guest is Deniz Özgür, co-founder, co-CEO, Spacerunners. You can find it on podcasting platforms Spotify, iTunes, and YouTube.
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.
More from AR Insider…
