This Week In XR: Mojo Adds $21 M To Series A, Hot Take On Quest 3, The Techno Optimist Manifesto
An interesting take on the new Quest 3. Impressed with the guidance and other improvements like room scanning. The interface has also become much better. The first thing you see when you boot up the system is the physical room you're in through the color camera. Your spawn point is anywhere in the physical world, wherever you are. The digital screen is above reality, just as Quest 2's point of departure is from the cartoon environment. The camera colors are so good that I could read emails on my iPhone while wearing headphones. It looks much more natural.
This YouTube video was created to show the graphical improvements of Quest 3, but it is misleading. While it's true that the graphics are slightly better on the headset, the environment feels more fake, so go for the best. Now the bad news. Although the new Quest 3 is thinner than the Quest 2, it is heavier and warmer. I miss the open sides of the Quest Pro to dissipate heat. As a result, the Quest 3 may not be suitable for fitness applications. XR needs Game of Thrones. Maybe completing MR will make it possible after all.
Mojo Vision brought its Mojo back after the contact lens debacle in a $43 million Series A round. Mojo Vision, which abandoned its ambitious contact lens project and turned its attention to micro-displays, announced its next Series A round of $22.4 million, doubling its previous round and bringing the total raised to $43.5 million bring. The round was led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and Khosla Ventures. The company's display is significantly denser (14,000 pixels per inch) than the Apple Vision Pro's microOLED display (3,400 pixels per inch).
Universal Music by Sue Anthropic. The complaint states that Claude 2 could be persuaded to distribute lyrics to songs such as Katy Perry's "Roar," Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" and the Rolling Stones' "You Can't Always Get What You Want." the songs. Our guest on next week's This Week in XR podcast is legendary music producer and CEO Albie Galuten, who will talk to us about this very topic.
Qualcomm laid off more than 1,258 people in Santa Clara and San Diego counties. The company has 51,000 employees in the Golden State. "Given the continued uncertainty in macroeconomic conditions and demand, we plan to take additional restructuring actions to ensure continued investment in key growth and diversification opportunities," the company said in a statement. Sales, business communications, accounting and human resources appear to be the most likely to be laid off.
Marc Andreessen's New Optimistic Technology Manifesto. It's arrogant enough to write a manifesto about your beliefs, but the tech world relies on the messages of a billionaire. It's hard not to, considering what he's accomplished since creating the browser in 1992. Andreessen founded Netscape and it has become one of the most successful technology venture capital firms in the world. "We believe that the machine of markets and techno-capitalist innovations never stops, but continues to expand," he wrote. “Technology is the triumph of human ambition and achievement, the spearhead of progress and the realization of our potential. I like it, but I don't know how to feel when Andreessen says things like "our enemies are corruption, regulatory capture, monopolies, cartels." But it is interesting. If you're reading this, you should be reading this.
Even Roblox is tired of remote work. In a letter to employees, CEO David Baszucki told the company it was time to leave sweat AirBnB in Portugal and return to San Mateo. Ironically, this company may be the closest thing to a meta version we have. They recently launched their video chat option. It turns out that being virtual is great when we need to be apart, but not so great when we need to be together.
Mythic Realms turns your home into a mixed reality fantasy RPG in Quest App Lab . Speaking of games that use MR, Penticore Games' Mystic Realms is coming to the Meta Quest platform via App Lab today. The full version of the game is expected in 2024.
Wonderland and Robot Invader teamed up to find a new way to engage players in virtual reality gaming. The company has updated the first levels of its upcoming Dead Secret Circle game for Meta Quest VR so that all three levels can be played through the headset's browser. Now free at Wonderlandengine.com.
The 10th Augmented Enterprise Summit opened on October 24-26 in Houston. The Augmented Enterprise Summit focuses on the commercial and industrial applications of AR/VR/MR (XR) and other emerging technologies related to the metaverse. Extended Enterprise is the best opportunity to see how the world's largest companies are implementing meaningful digital transformation through XR and discover solutions that are ready to be implemented in today's workplace.
Also featured this week in XR is a podcast hosted by columnists Ted Shilowitz, Futurist, Paramount Global and Magic Leap founder Roni Abovitz. Our guests this week are Jake Zim, EVP Virtual Reality at Sony Pictures Entertainment, who produced Ghostbusters; Rise of the Ghost King” next week. You can find us on Spotify, iTunes and YouTube.
What we read
The Metaverse is dead because there is no fun in Silicon Valley (Business is brisk)
Elon Musk's Neuralink wants to connect people with artificial intelligence. How many brains will be damaged in the process? (Segal Samuel/Vox)
