Weekly Insights

Cannes Lions 2024: watch every Grand Prix-winning ad

Bonjour and welcome to The Drum’s round-up of all the Cannes Lions 2024 Grand Prix winners as they’re announced.

As the crème de la crème of advertising and marketing descend upon the French Riviera for the 70th annual Festival of Creativity, we’re here to bring you updates on all the big wins every single day. (The Drum)

Mandarin Oriental uses artificial intelligence to reduce food waste

The luxury hotel group announces the deployment of Winnow technology, an analytical platform based on artificial intelligence, to better manage food waste from its 40 establishments and thus reduce its environmental impact.

After six months of testing in four of its pilot hotels - Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong, Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park London, Mandarin Oriental Miami and Mandarin Oriental Jumeirah Dubai - the group is extending the Winnow system to all its establishments. (Le Journal du Luxe)

I tested out a buzzy new text-to-video AI model from China

You may not be familiar with Kuaishou, but this Chinese company just hit a major milestone: It’s released the first text-to-video generative AI model that’s freely available for the public to test.

The short-video platform, which has over 600 million active users, announced the new tool on June 6. (It’s called Kling)

Audemars Piguet launches AR experience on Snap for the release of the Mini Royal Oak

Audemars Piguet, Snap and Atomic Digital Design have teamed up to launch a Snap AR lens to mark the launch of the Mini Royal Oak! By opening the lens, users can try on the three new models on their wrists, and then by pointing their fingers shrink the people. This is a nod to the new models, which are smaller versions of the Royal Oak. (Atomic Digital Design)

TikTok ads may soon contain AI-generated avatars of your favourite creators

TikTok is introducing some new generative AI tools that aim to help organizations and content creators grow their global audiences using customizable digital avatars and language dubbing features.

Building on the?Symphony generative AI ad suite?unveiled last month, TikTok says these new tools are intended to break down language barriers in marketing and allow brands to “add a human touch to their content” where real models or presenters wouldn’t otherwise be used. (The Verge)

Niantic Launches 3D and XR Experience Builder at AWE 2024

Niantic has introduced its ‘Niantic Studio’ 3D and XR experience builder for 8th Wall developers at AWE 2024. Now in public beta, Niantic Studio provides developers with a visual interface that makes all creation accessible and viewable in real-time.

This represents an advancement on traditional web-based XR and 3D builders, which predominantly display coding with little visual feedback of what this will entail for users. (XR Today)

Luma Dream Machine makes mind-blowing AI video open to all

It's still relatively early days for AI video generators, and the most powerful-looking models so far, OpenAI’s Sora and Kuaishou’s Kling, remain accessible only for a select groups of testers. However, a San Francisco-based startup has just shaken things up with the public launch of Luma AI Dream Machine.

The browser-based AI text-to-video generator is free to try, and there's no waiting list. And it looks like it's capable of producing some pretty mind-blowing footage when you consider where AI video was just a year ago. (Creative Blum)

Feeling Spatial: Lessons From Alvin Wang Graylin

What are the biggest lessons from a career in XR? Where are we in the industry’s lifecycle and what can we expect next? These are questions best answered by veterans and pioneers of spatial computing. And that’s what we aim to do in this Feeling Spatial series.

Specifically, we’re interviewing inductees to AWE’s XR Hall of Fame to find out what insights and advice they have for other players in the field. And we kick off the series here with Alvin Wang Graylin. AR Insider readers likely know him well, but for those unfamiliar, he’s kind of a big deal. (AR insider)

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