Metaverse Weekly

Journey Acquires Futures Intelligence Group, Skilled Creative and ICRAVE

This week my new company, Journey , came out of stealth. I founded Futures Intelligence Group in February 2021 and sold it at the end of December 2021 to Journey. I’m now one of the co-founders of Journey and the company’s Chief Metaverse Officer, overseeing our Metaverse Studio. I’ll be posting an article about my journey into this new adventure very soon.? Journey is a new kind of innovation and design consultancy conceived to help brands envision, plan, and effectively build the next generation of fan experiences and customer journeys.?

Journey brings together a leading architecture and design company (ICRAVE), with one of the world’s top Voice agencies (Skilled Creative), and the Futures Intelligence Group, which recently added virtual world-building/gaming capabilities to its offerings. We are now a one-stop-shop for brands and organizations that want to go from idea to implementation, whether it’s in the physical world or the virtual one, taking human experiences to the next level. Journey is backed by private equity firm Growth Catalyst Partners, Journey is led by CEO Andrew Zimmerman, former CEO of frog Design, the iconic innovation and design firm, and co-founder of Accenture Interactive and Mobility.

GameStop Launches Integrated Wallet

GameStop launched a self-custodial Ethereum wallet this week. As of this moment, the wallet doesn’t seem to have marked benefits over other browser wallets but will be integrated into the company’s NFT marketplace, which is expected to go live later this year. Earlier releases from the company point toward the wallet being built around a partnership with Immutable X .

Financial Times Releases Short Documentary Film About Gaming’s Role in the Metaverse

I was lucky to be interviewed by Gregory Bobillot for the Financial Time’s latest short documentary film that was released today called “Is gaming the gateway to success in the metaverse ?” It covers how tech companies are betting on the metaverse and included the following description: “ The $201bn gaming industry, twice the size of the film business, already attracts hundreds of millions of players. But as tech leaders vie to create the next iteration of the internet, gaming has become a battleground. The FT explores how gaming got so big, and whether it really can be the gateway into this new world. Or will regulation, integration, and plain old reality get in the way?” Other interviewees include Christina Heller from Metastage, Sebastien Borget from The Sandbox, Manuel Bronstein from Roblox, and more.?

MetaMask Partners with Asset Reality to Help Scam Victims

Speaking of “other browser wallets,” fellow crypto extension MetaMask is now partnered with Asset Reality - an “end-to-end solution for investigating, recovering, managing and releasing crypto and complex assets.” The partnership makes Asset Reality the “case handler” for MetaMask users who report being the victim of crypto scams.

OpenSea Announces More Updates

NFT marketplace OpenSea announced another round of updates this week, this time focusing on the user experience through updated profile and collection pages. The announcement closely follows changes to the platform’s verification process.

Spotify Builds Out its Roblox World

Adweek Reported that Spotify is building on its Roblox world with a “K-Park” devoted to K-Pop with themed lounges, cafes, and merch shops. According to the report, the park will also provide opportunities for fans to meet musical groups in the immersive world. The article also mentions having their digital merch “signed” which could hint at limited-edition or even completely uniqye virtual items.

Niantic Hosts First In-House Summit?

Mobile-based MR company Niantic held its first summit this week , featuring announcements from the company, as well as from recent acquisition 8th Wall . 8th Wall’s announcements were developer focused, involving new pricing tiers, monetization options, and discoverability.

Niantic rolled out an AR map, as well as tools for developers to actively help expand the spatial data layer, which currently consists of millions of scans. Tens of thousands of areas are developed enough for experience building with site density in six cities around the world. Niantic will also be rolling out an AR social network called “Campfire.” Another company SpotX games, is also “joining the Niantic Family.”

“Beyond Inclusion” Scholarship to Increase Diversity in XR

The Cyber XR Coalition is launching the “Beyond Inclusion” scholarship program to “remove financial barriers for aspiring XR professionals.” The program, which is intended to increase diversity in the industry while helping groups disproportionately impacted by workplace changes like automation, is currently supported by the XR Safety Initiative , XR Bootcamp , and Meta .

What we know about the program is currently limited. However, more will be revealed at a series of talks during the Augmented World Expo next week.

Living Cities

This news is incredibly interesting and exciting. I urge you to keep your eyes on what's being built by, Living Cities is a new “social metaverse” company launched by Matt Miesnieks, John Gaeta, and Dennis Crowley. Right now, little is known about the company but we definitely have a lot to look forward to from these giants.

Beauty and Fashion Tech Forum Coming to New York

After AWE, PERFECT Corp’s Global Beauty and Fashion Tech Forum is coming next month to New York and will also be viewable online. The speaker list is live, the agenda is full, and tickets are available. In case you aren’t familiar, PERFECT specializes in helping retailers use augmented reality and artificial intelligence develop and market beauty and health products.

Zakeke Report Includes NFT Adoption Recommendations

A recent report by 3D product configurator Zakeke with information from data and opinion company YouGov explored NFTs in retail and eCommerce. Because NFTs are currently primarily an element in art, fashion, and gaming, it may not be surprising that the number of consumers that owned NFTs related to retail and eCommerce was fairly low – around 9 percent.

The report also gathered information on the circumstances in which consumers said that they would be more likely to buy NFTs in this kind of market interaction. Around thirty percent of respondents said that they would be interested in NFTs related to retail and eCommerce if ownership allowed perks related to their in-person experience, like priority checkouts.

SeekXR (now OCAVU) Pivots to Serve Brands and Influencers With?

OCAVU , former SeekXR, is pivoting from providing 3D assets to retailers to helping brands and influencers engage with users, including through NFTs. The announcement mentions the creation of a utility engine for blockchain. You might remember SeekXR when the company made news in 2020. According to AR Post , “the US Patent and Trademark Office granted Seek XR a patent with exclusive rights for its cross-platform augmented reality deployment technology. The patent protects the IP rights for Systems and Methods for Generating and Intelligently Distributing Forms of Extended Reality Content.”

VentureBeat also reported on it and said “Seek announced that it has successfully patented a key technology for that purpose: a system for converting “any type” of 3D model into a platform-agnostic augmented reality asset. The patent is significant because it could be fundamental in the mixed reality era, giving Seek the exclusive right to produce — and exclude others from producing — tools to create 3D assets that work across different operating systems and AR platforms.”?

This new announcement could be significant due to the patent they were granted.?

Jadu Closes Funding Round

Jadu announced the closing of a $36M funding round. The project, still in its early stages, is building up to an AR game. Right now the project consists of selling NFT transportation items that will impact gameplay when the full project goes live.

Lynx Closes Funding Round

Lynx also announced a closed funding round of $4M. Perhaps the most intriguing part of the announcement by the highly anticipated hybrid AR/VR headset manufacturer is that the funding round was lead by Somnium Space .