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Metaverse market to surge to $1.2 trillion by 2033

The metaverse has taken a backseat in the past few years as shinier technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) have taken over the headlines. However, the sector continues to grow, and according to one report, it will be a $1.2 trillion market by 2033.

According to the report by Brainy Insights, a Pune, India-based market research company, the metaverse market was worth $62.22 billion in 2023. The report credited the COVID-19 pandemic with fuelling the growth of the technology through the rise of remote working and interactive distance learning.

The post-COVID period witnessed accelerated growth for the metaverse as some of the biggest companies battled to dominate the new frontier. Meta (NASDAQ: META)?was the biggest entrant, with Mark Zuckerberg announcing a pivot from a purely social media model to focus on the new tech, complete with a name change.

Zuckerberg predicted that the metaverse would reach a billion people over the next decade, host hundreds of billions in digital commerce, and give jobs to millions of content creators. Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) Founder Bill Gates was just as optimistic, predicting in 2021 that over the next three years, “most virtual meetings will move from 2D camera image grids to the metaverse, a 3D space with digital avatars.”

Meanwhile, Omniscape CEO and Co-Founder Robert Rice believes that the metaverse is well positioned to mature in the next six months.

“[Metaverse] is not just [about] VR, it’s not just AR. We’re like the only industry that can encompass every other industry [like AI and blockchain],” Rice told CoinGeek Weekly Livestream. “So now that AI is kind of percolating down, it’s still hot, but now metaverse is kind of coming back… Again, when you have these huge hype things, people just throw money at whatever with no real substance to it; it goes away. But people who are actually building stuff are keeping their heads out of the craziness; we almost always survive, and now it’s our time to hit the hockey stick.”

The Brainy Insights report found North America dominates the sector and will lead in the forecasted period. The region is home to key market players, boasts a more robust infrastructure, and has the most favorable regulatory conditions.

In the metaverse industry, the software segment is the largest, with a 35% market share in 2023. Augmented reality is the dominant technology ahead of virtual and mixed realities.

Gaming has continued to dominate the metaverse and is unlikely to be dislodged over the next decade, the report found. Even before the blockchain-powered metaverse blew up globally, gamers were already engaging in immersive digital worlds through VR headsets, making the transition easier for them.

Media and entertainment are the next largest sectors for the metaverse, with a 20.11% market share in 2023.

While high development costs remain a challenge, the report predicts that the expansion of the metaverse beyond entertainment offers massive room for growth. The technology is now being used in education, healthcare, remote work, tourism, aerospace, and more.

The use of the metaverse in more critical sectors comes with the risk of cyber attacks, which could hinder the technology’s growth, the report acknowledged.

CitizenM to be first hotel group to open in the metaverse

CitizenM has announced it will open a hotel in the metaverse, following on the heels of architecture firms such as Zaha Hadid Architects and BIG, which have already pioneered virtual environments in the growing digital realm. The project will be funded through the sale of NFTs (non-fungible tokens) – increasingly traded units of data which have become most closely associated with the art world.

If this all sounds a little indecipherable, it’s because both the metaverse and NFTs are emerging and relatively untested concepts. The metaverse itself is perhaps best understood as a virtual universe, accessed through virtual reality and made up of worlds that continue to exist whether they are being occupied or not.

CitizenM will launch the project by buying a site in The Sandbox (one of the metaverse’s constituent worlds), on which it plans to build a virtual hotel for avatars to work, sleep and play, much as they would in a physical property.

“We’ve always been a disruptor in the hospitality industry,” Robin Chadha, the group’s chief marketing officer is quoted as saying, “so this is a space we want to explore. As we develop the hotel we will create interactive moments and possibly even use this as a way to test new ‘real world’ ideas.

BoboVR is a Cheaper Meta Quest 3 Charging Dock

BoboVR is now selling a considerably cheaper charging dock for Meta Quest 3, providing an alternative to the official Meta charging port which costs slightly more.

It is referred to as BoboVR D3 and charges the Quest 3 headset, the Touch Plus controllers (which are recharged wirelessly through the rechargeable batteries), and a B100 battery. The battery is used with the separately sold BoboVR S3 Pro Super Strap headband which has a replaceable battery. It isn’t clear yet whether the charger can also recharge the battery in the S3 Pro Super Strap, that is, two batteries simultaneously.

The controllers are charged using the BoboVR G3 Plus Grips.

According to BoboVR, its charging dock can charge not only the Quest 3 headset but also the controller and the battery in under three hours when used with a 45+W charger, which is also sold separately. Users can also use the 18 W charger that ships with the Quest 3 headset and is compatible with the BoboVR D3 charger.

Meta Quest Gallery Now Accessible on the Web

Previously, photos and videos captured with Meta Quest could only be accessed on your headset or smartphone following update v68. Now, you can also view them on the web.

This handy new feature was initially launched at the end of July. Meta quickly rolled it back after its introduction, likely due to some bug. It has now been reintroduced and should look like this:

The web gallery is useful when a user wants to access photos and videos using a laptop or stationary computer, and edit these or share these images locally. Before the update, users needed to transfer these files via a cable to their computer or download them to their smartphone via the Meta Horizon app before sending them to their computer.

Recorded content is subsequently uploaded to Meta’s cloud, if it has been enabled, and will quickly appear in the web gallery from where it is downloadable in full quality. A data limit is, however, still applicable for videos, which is also the case with the Meta Horizon app.

Following the v68 update, you will be able to download better screenshots, particularly for the Meta Quest 3 headset, where you can now capture screenshots in high resolution of 2,160 x 2,160 pixels rather than the previous 1,440 x 1,440.

To use this feature in Meta Quest, ensure you have enabled the Sync option under Settings > System > Camera > General.

For additional details about the Meta Quest Gallery feature, check out the official support page. According to the information on the page, the headset will need to be on and idle. The sync fails when another app is opened, if the headset disconnects from Wi-Fi, or if the headset is turned off.

The larger files sync for much longer. Videos taken from the headset that are longer than a minute will have to be synced individually.

Hyundai Mobis Presents New Manufacturing Technologies Powered by AI and Virtual Reality

Hyundai Mobis announced on Aug. 29 that it held the M-Sphere 2024, the first M-Sphere exhibition at its Uiwang Research Center in Gyeonggi Province of Korea for two days from Aug. 28 to take the wraps off new technologies for mobility manufacturing to its sister companies and key partners.More than 1,000 people attended the exhibition including production technology and procurement executives from Hyundai Motor and Kia Corp., as well as representatives from Hyundai WIA, Hyundai Transys, Hyundai KEPICO and second-tier suppliers.

At the exhibition, Hyundai Mobis unwrapped 42 new parts manufacturing technologies under eight themes. These include digital twins utilizing virtual reality (VR), facility control using artificial intelligence (AI), and quality improvement technology that integrates vision inspection.

Rumored Samsung XR headset appears on Geekbench with specs that could tease an AI-powered Apple Vision Pro rival

At the recent foldables-focused Galaxy Unpacked event Samsung and Google teased that we’d finally see the results of their XR partnership “coming this year” – and it looks like ?things are on track as the Samsung XR headset’s performance scores have seemingly leaked on Geekbench. If the leak is correct, the device looks set to be a bonafide Apple Vision Pro rival which could get some AI integration.

While the Geekbench score isn’t explicitly labeled something like ‘Samsung VR headset’ it is for a device called the Samsung SM-I130 – a designation a leaker attached to the Samsung headset back in January. What’s more, the CPU information which is listed as being a 6-core 2.36GHz processor would match up with the one known Samsung headset hardware detail – that it uses a Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2.

The Samsung headset’s reliance on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2 was teased by Qualcomm itself, and the chipset is a 6-core processor, with its cores being able to run at up to 2.4 GHz.

As for the new details, the leak says the device has 16GB of RAM. This is the same as the Apple Vision Pro, and twice the amount you’d find in the Meta Quest 3. Not only will this help apps and XR experiences run more smoothly, I suspect it’ll facilitate AI integration.

RAM boosts were the standout upgrade for Google’s own Pixel phones at its recent Google Pixel 9 event – the Pixel 9 getting 12GB, and Pixel 9 Pro models receiving 16GB – and the reason behind this improvement was AI. More RAM means the phones can do more with Google’s Gemini AI on device – so results are quicker, and your data doesn’t have to be shared with an off-device server making it more private.

With 16GB of RAM of its own the Samsung XR headset would theoretically be able to pull off many of the same tricks we've seen from the Pixel 9 Pro.

Considering Apple and Meta aren’t yet leveraging their AI platforms in a meaningful way with their XR devices (save for the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses’ Meta AI integration, though they aren’t XR glasses in fairness) Google and Samsung focusing on Gemini would be a clever way to stand out from the crowd and make the upgraded hardware feel worthwhile.

Space Scientists Invent Futuristic VR Simulations For Moon Astronauts

The first American astronauts set to touch down on the Moon in the new millennium will not blast off for another 700 days, but now they can begin exploring potential landing sites by jacking into Matrix-style simulations of its cratered South Pole sector.

Simultaneous revolutions in space-based imagers and laser scanners, and in virtual reality modelling toolkits, are giving rise to VR doubles of real-life lunar scenes that appear to be identical twins.

“We are building very high resolution, photorealistic digital twins of potential Artemis III landing sites,” and then developing these into cutting-edge virtual replicas of the orb’s ancient plains and circular impact formations, says Kip Hodges, who as founding director of Arizona State University’s School of Earth and Space Exploration helped transform the university into one of the top American space studies centers and research nodes.

Meta is Reportedly Working on a Super-Light Mixed Reality Headset

According to new reports, Meta is planning a brand new mixed reality headset that will be dramatically lighter than the lightest Meta Quest. The news comes following the reveal that the planned Meta Quest Pro 2 has likely been canceled.

Meta currently leads the market in wireless virtual reality headsets. However, it has gradually been moving in the direction of mixed reality applications, as well. This is in keeping with Meta's hopes that their headset line will not only attract gamers, but also businesses and individuals who want to use them as productivity tools. This new design may be the culmination of these efforts.

According to new reports, Meta is planning a brand new mixed reality headset that will be dramatically lighter than the lightest Meta Quest. The news comes following the reveal that the planned Meta Quest Pro 2 has likely been canceled.

Meta currently leads the market in wireless virtual reality headsets. However, it has gradually been moving in the direction of mixed reality applications, as well. This is in keeping with Meta's hopes that their headset line will not only attract gamers, but also businesses and individuals who want to use them as productivity tools. This new design may be the culmination of these efforts.

According to new reports, Meta is planning a brand new mixed reality headset that will be dramatically lighter than the lightest Meta Quest. The news comes following the reveal that the planned Meta Quest Pro 2 has likely been canceled.

Meta currently leads the market in wireless virtual reality headsets. However, it has gradually been moving in the direction of mixed reality applications, as well. This is in keeping with Meta's hopes that their headset line will not only attract gamers, but also businesses and individuals who want to use them as productivity tools. This new design may be the culmination of these efforts.According to new reports, Meta is planning a brand new mixed reality headset that will be dramatically lighter than the lightest Meta Quest. The news comes following the reveal that the planned Meta Quest Pro 2 has likely been canceled.

Meta currently leads the market in wireless virtual reality headsets. However, it has gradually been moving in the direction of mixed reality applications, as well. This is in keeping with Meta's hopes that their headset line will not only attract gamers, but also businesses and individuals who want to use them as productivity tools. This new design may be the culmination of these efforts.

Turn Your House into Tiny Town in Mixed Reality With This Game

Watch a cozy city full of miniature people grow right in your living room in Wall Town Wonders, an upcoming mixed reality game by Cyborn.?

Help tiny characters expand their world by completing quests and mini-games in the game's detailed environments and interact with your new neighbors like never before using your hands. You can "touch" the objects and even guide a virtual plane.

The developers promise unique experiences via customization options for your city and exclusive skins for pre-ordering.

Wall Town Wonders will be available for Meta Quest in fall. Wishlist it here and join our?80 Level Talent platform?and?our Telegram channel, follow us on?Instagram,?Twitter,?LinkedIn,?TikTok, and?Reddit, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.

PureWeb Announces General Availability of PureWeb Extended Reality: On-Demand VR Streaming Support

PureWeb, a pioneer in immersive technology solutions, is excited to announce the general availability of PureWeb Extended Reality, a revolutionary on-demand virtual reality (VR) streaming solution. This innovative solution is designed to enable untethered VR experiences by leveraging NVIDIA CloudXR technology.

“By eliminating all of the complexities around infrastructure management, security, and network optimization, we’ve significantly lowered the barriers to entry for VR in enterprise use cases like training, simulation, and digital twin collaboration.”

Built on PureWeb’s proven enterprise streaming platform, PureWeb Extended Reality streams high-quality virtual reality experiences directly to low-power all-in-one VR headsets. This will enable brands and businesses to transform their VR workflows, providing seamless access to detail rich VR content without the need for tethered desktop gaming hardware.

“NVIDIA CloudXR helped revolutionize what was possible with low-power VR devices. Our new PureWeb Extended Reality offering moves CloudXR from feasibility into the realm of production scalability,” said Chris Jarabek, VP of Product Development at PureWeb. “By eliminating all of the complexities around infrastructure management, security, and network optimization, we’ve significantly lowered the barriers to entry for VR in enterprise use cases like training, simulation, and digital twin collaboration.”

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