Metaverse trends of major foreign companies in the third quarter
The popularity of the metaverse seems to have declined a lot recently, and people's attention to the metaverse is also waning. What about big companies? Big companies haven't actually stopped in the metaverse, and Meta made some big moves in the third quarter.
Meta is still moving a lot
On July 14, Meta released its first annual human rights report. The report specifically mentions human rights principles and anti-bullying and harassment policies. It also explains data policies, how its law enforcement response team and due diligence assessment work protect people from illegal or excessive government surveillance, and emphasizes the important role that end-to-end encryption plays in protecting privacy on WhatsApp, and how it can be extended to other messaging apps.
The report notes that human and civil rights are central to the development of its metaverse, and that its human rights commitments will be reflected in the future metaverse. Previously, related harassment was frequently reported, including Meta's internal testing staff. Earlier, 01 Blockchain wrote “The Metaverse Brings Four Challenges at the National Level”, which included legal issues, monetary issues, metaverse enterprise issues, and social issues. If the metaverse is to be implemented in the future, related human rights and legal issues must be resolved.
On July 20, Meta announced a partnership with digital fashion startup DressX to offer new virtual clothing on Meta's AvatarStore. DressX clothing officially went on sale on July 19, and users can buy and wear it on Meta platforms including Messenger, Facebook, Instagram, and the VR headset Quest. Costumes cost between $2.99 and $8.99. The market was initially launched in countries such as Canada, the United States, Mexico, and Thailand, and will expand to more countries in the future. DressX is based in Los Angeles and was founded in 2020. Currently, the company has raised $3.3 million and is the first digital fashion brand to launch a series on Roblox. DressX previously collaborated with H&M to launch virtual fashion and was shortlisted for LVMH's 2022 Innovation Award.
On August 26, Zuckerberg said Meta's next VR headset will launch in October and will focus on “socializing in virtual scenes.” Currently, Meta's Oculus Quest 2 is the most popular VR headset on the market, accounting for more than half of the market and very popular on many websites. Meta's further launch of next generation headsets in October may further strengthen its position in the VR/AR field.
VR headset market share in January 2022
Source: MIXED
On September 13, Meta announced the launch of the XR Startup Program, an extended reality promotion program with Meity Startup Hub, an Indian startup ecosystem to promote India's extended reality (XR) ecosystem and help build the foundation for the metaverse. The XR Startup Program is supported by Meta XR program and a research fund that aims to invest $50 million in metaverse projects over a two-year period. The XR Startup Program includes an accelerator and a Grand Challenge to encourage innovation that may impact multiple fields such as education, learning, healthcare, etc. The accelerator program will support 40 early-stage startups to build XR technology, and each business will receive 2 million rupees in funding. For the Grand Challenge, 80 early innovators will be screened to participate in the bootcamp, and 16 of them will be given 2 million rupees to help them develop product prototypes.
In September 2022, META and VictoryXR, a virtual reality education startup headquartered in Iowa, USA, collaborated to create and open 10 metaverse virtual campuses. The project invested $150 million. Meta said as part of its immersive learning program, which aims to bring education into a virtual reality environment. Education is one of the biggest applications of virtual reality and metaverse technology, and Meta is implementing this idea to help 10 universities launch metaverse-based virtual campuses.
As the company with the most aggressive layout of the metaverse, even though the popularity of the metaverse has declined a lot recently, Meta has not stopped laying out the metaverse, and is even investing more in the metaverse.
Samsung partners with Roblox to launch metaverse games
On July 12, Samsung Electronics announced the launch of “Space Tycoon,” a metaverse game for Gen Z in Roblox. The gameplay is to collect virtual themed accessories and virtual electronic products in a virtual world. Players can collect raw materials in the mining area in the virtual world and then combine them into products in the laboratory area, covering gadgets such as mobile phones, televisions, and watches. Space Tycoon supports 14 languages including Korean, English, Chinese, and Spanish, and has plenty of additional features to interact, participate in virtual parties, and more.
Space Tycoon is set in the Samsung Space Station and research lab, where alien characters research Samsung's latest products. It consists of three specific gaming areas: a mining area for resource procurement, a store to buy game items, and a laboratory for product manufacturing. Samsung and Roblox joined forces to host a Superstar Galaxy/Charli XCX virtual concert in early 2022.
On August 22, Samsung launched the metaverse game Challenge Smart City in the Fortnite virtual world, an experience designed for its Latin American customers who will be able to interact with the company's digital products. The challenge aims to find two phones hidden within the virtual city, Galaxy zFold4 and zFlip4, which are now accessible via Android and desktop clients. If you play this challenge with any of the Galaxy zFold4 and zFlip4 models, you'll get a special challenge bonus.
Nikeland, a collaboration between Roblox and Nike, has accumulated over 21 million visitors
On September 22, Roblox disclosed data showing that Nikeland, the Nike metaverse virtual store, has now accumulated more than 21 million visitors and 118,000 players. Nikeland is a virtual world with various Nike themed buildings, runways, and arenas for players to participate in various mini-games. Its design is inspired by Nike's actual headquarters in Oregon, USA.
Users can freely bounce on the trampoline, tag each other and play hide-and-seek with nearby players, parkour on a glowing magma racetrack, and even play exciting dodgeball.
Users can also dress up as virtual avatars in Nikeland. There are various Nike sneakers, clothing, and accessories that can be unlocked, including Air Force 1, Nike Blazer, Air Max 2021, and Mercurial series soccer shoes. According to Nike, Nikeland will continue to update virtual content in the future, including, for example, adding new star athlete characters or branded products, and even simulating international events such as the World Cup or Super Bowl.
Nikeland Page
Source: Roblox
Nike CFO Matt Friend once said, “We can improve the operational efficiency of our digital business through predictive modeling tools, member personalization, and inventory staging.” Nikeland not only boosts Nike's digital business, but there are more features to be developed in the future. The benefits of building Nikeland far outweigh the disadvantages for Nike.
Starbucks launches Web3 platform
On September 13, the famous coffee brand Starbucks announced a partnership with the Polygon blockchain to build the Web3 platform Starbucks Odyssey. The Web3 platform will launch digital collectible stamps designed by Starbucks. Customers and employees can collect and purchase digital collectible stamps presented in the form of NFTs through the US Starbucks Rewards loyalty program. According to Starbucks's description, digital collectible stamps are Starbucks artwork created by external artists and Starbucks partners. Limited edition stamps can be purchased with a credit card. What's different is that you don't need a Bitcoin or crypto wallet to buy Starbucks digital collectible stamps, which allows many people to participate, allow more members to use this new technology and claim their loyalty to Starbucks.
Amazon participates in the development of the digital euro
On September 17, the ECB announced that it will select partners to develop a digital euro prototype. Amazon was one of the five selected companies. Other selected institutions include Spain's CaixaBank, France's Worldline SA, Italy's Nexi SpA, and the banking group EPI. Each institution will focus on the specific use of the digital euro. According to reports, the ECB is likely to be one of the first central banks in developed economies to issue digital currencies. Officials pointed out that digital currencies may be launched around 2025.
Currently, Germany is in the two-year “investigation phase” of the digital euro project, and no formal decision has been made on whether to launch a digital euro. When Bitcoin was popular in early 2021, it was a time when Musk made a big effort to “bring in” Dogecoin. There were rumors at the time that Amazon intended to accept Dogecoin as a means of payment, but so far it has not been implemented. In fact, Amazon is not involved in blockchain-related businesses (aside from the metaverse), and this is also the first time Amazon has participated in digital currency-related businesses.
Nvidia Unveils Multiple Products and Tools to Transform the Industry Using AI, Metaverse, and Digital People
On August 11, at the SIGGRAPH 2022 conference, Nvidia unveiled new products and research to transform the industry using AI, the metaverse, and digital humans, including a new platform for creating avatars, the NVIDIA Omniverse Avatar Cloud Engine (ACE), a new version of NVIDIA Omniverse (connected to Unity, Blender, etc.), and Instant, a tool to create 3D objects or scenes from 2D images NeRF NVIDIA Omniverse is a toolkit for building metaverse applications and a computational engine for running virtual worlds. The NVIDIA Omniverse Avatar Cloud Engine covers everything from conversational AI to animation tools such as Audio2 Face and Audio2 Emotion. With Omniverse ACE (released next year), developers can build, configure, and deploy their avatar apps on any engine in any public or private cloud. NVIDIA says ACE will run on embedded systems and all major cloud services in 2023.
The Omniverse platform's strength has been proven. Realistic simulations of virtual humans, simulations of virtual Earth, etc. are all pushing the limits of technology. And Nvidia's release of more products and research this time will strengthen Nvidia's position in the AI field and strengthen its determination to enter the metaverse. Nvidia founder Hwang In-hoon has stated in public several times that the metaverse will be an important field for the future and Nvidia's future layout.
Microsoft launches metaverse education program
On July 23, Microsoft Hong Kong, Ocean Park Hong Kong and Modern Education Research Institute jointly launched the Discover2 SE-Metaverse in Education program, using the “Minecraft” Minecraft for Education virtual space to shape hybrid education and shared learning experiences. It is reported that the first Discover2 se blended learning course will be launched in the new 2022/23 school year.
Earlier, 01 Blockchain published the article “Metaverse University Is in Place”. Examples of metaverse education include Meta and VictoryXR collaborating to build 10 virtual campuses, Meta layout for metaverse education, Stanford's metaverse courses, and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology's launch of the world's first metaverse twin campus and Accenture to train employees in a metaverse course. Microsoft has also joined the ranks of metaverse education. Obviously, the field of metaverse education has developed rapidly recently, and there will be more and more cases and implementation examples in the foreseeable future.
