| Welcome to the latest edition of Inside Metaverse: - Chinese AR firm XREAL, formerly NREAL, has captured 51% of the AR market.
- The Youth Olympic Games (YOG) 2024 in Gangwon, South Korea, offers a unique virtual world with interactive experiences for global fans.
- Ernest Cline, author of "Ready Player One," and film producer Dan Farah are collaborating with an AI tech company to launch a metaverse called Readyverse.
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| 1 | | Chinese AR firm XREAL, formerly NREAL, has captured 51% of the AR market. This achievement is highlighted by their lightweight AR glasses lineup, which includes the XREAL Air and XREAL Air Pro models. More: - XREAL's AR glasses resemble regular glasses and offer prescription options, functioning as an external monitor for Windows PCs and Android phones.
- XREAL has shipped 350,000 units of its AR glasses, combining sales of both XREAL Air and XREAL Air Pro models.
- The entry-level XREAL Air 2 Pro is priced at $300, significantly lower than competitors like HoloLens and Apple's Vision Pro.
- These AR glasses use micro OLED displays from Sony and feature optional prescription inserts.
- The glasses seamlessly integrate with modern devices via USB-C, supporting applications like Netflix, YouTube, and Samsung DeX.
Zoom Out: - XREAL boasts significant investors, including Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba and electric vehicle firm Nio.
- In October 2023, Xreal launched its next-generation glasses amid growing interest in a technology that tech giants like Apple and Meta consider the next major consumer product following the smartphone.
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What the numbers say: As of November 2023, Nvidia is a leading semiconductor company in market capitalization, followed by TSMC, Broadcom, Samsung, and ASML. Relevance: High-tech companies uniquely benefit from their role in producing hardware essential for the metaverse's technology. This advantageous position opens up substantial business opportunities, increasingly recognized by industry executives. Accenture's recent research reveals that 44% of semiconductor executives plan to dedicate over 20% of their production budget to metaverse-related developments. Impact: Los Angeles-based Meetkai is advancing technology in the metaverse and conversational AI and has created a digital twin of the upcoming $2B Silicon Box chip packaging factory in Singapore. This factory specializes in the innovation of chiplets — modules that can be assembled to form "super chips." These super chips are connected using specialized packaging technology developed by Silicon Box. | | | |
| 3 | | Walmart is enhancing its metaverse presence in 2024 by partnering with Unity, a software development company, to integrate shopping options into Unity-based games and 3D experiences. This collaboration will allow developers to use Walmart's commerce APIs for in-game and virtual-world transactions. More: - Walmart, ranked No. 2 in North America's online retailers, is showcasing its immersive shopping SDK with Unity at CES 2024.
- Unity's platform, used by 1.1 million developers monthly, records 3.6 billion downloads of games and apps monthly.
- Tom Kang of Walmart's Store No. 8 highlights the fusion of physical and digital realms, offering in-game transactions for physical products.
- Walmart's previous metaverse ventures include Roblox experiences and exploring NFTs.
- Walmart invites developers to apply for its Unity SDK via the Walmart.io website.
Zoom Out: - Citi estimates that by 2030, the total market value for metaverse-related commercial activities will range between $8T and $13T, with approximately five billion users in the metaverse.
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| 4 | | The Youth Olympic Games (YOG) 2024 in Gangwon, South Korea, offers a unique virtual world with interactive experiences for global fans. This initiative, supported by the International Olympic Committee and the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSICT), aims to make the event more inclusive and accessible, especially for young fans. More: - The Winter YOG Gangwon 2024, scheduled from Jan. 19 to Feb. 1, 2024, expects around 1,900 athletes from 81 National Olympic Committees.
- The metaverse includes virtual tours of venues, online mini-games in ski jumping, bobsleigh, and curling, and streaming of events for users in the Republic of Korea.
- Users worldwide can interact with others, inspiring them to try new winter sports and learn about Olympic values.
- The metaverse features automatic translation in six languages: Korean, English, Spanish, French, Japanese, and Chinese.
- The 3D virtual world showcases digital recreations of nine YOG venues, Youth Olympic villages, and four regional tourist attractions.
Zoom Out: - South Korea's MSICT has allocated 227B won ($177B) for metaverse advancement, including Seoul's construction of a 3.9B won platform for virtual public services.
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| 5 | | Ernest Cline, author of "Ready Player One," and film producer Dan Farah are collaborating with an AI tech company to launch a metaverse called Readyverse. This virtual world, developed by Futureverse and in partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery, aims to bring the "Ready Player One" franchise to life, offering digital experiences and adventures with familiar characters. More: - Futureverse, based in New Zealand and Los Angeles, is spearheading the Readyverse project, which is set to launch early this year.
- Readyverse will feature VR and other digital experiences, enabling users to interact with characters and worlds from the "Ready Player One" universe.
- The project aims to extend Warner Bros.'s intellectual property life following the movie's $583M global box office success.
- Readyverse Studios, a Los Angeles firm with about 30 employees, is focused on integrating various internet characters and worlds into Readyverse.
- Futureverse has launched a $50M fund and venture studio, Born Ready, raising $54M for the project.
Zoom Out: - In December 2023, Warner Bros collaborated with developer studio The Gang to promote "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom" through a unique underwater simulation on Roblox, offering an immersive experience.
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| 6 | | According to PWC, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are poised to harness the metaverse's potential, which could contribute ~$15B to their economies by 2030. This growth is driven by the metaverse's ability to transform key sectors in the Middle East, offering innovative digital experiences and economic opportunities. More: - Dubai's metaverse strategy aims to add $4B to its GDP, create 40,000 virtual jobs, and attract 1,000 blockchain and metaverse companies by 2030.
- The GCC's travel and tourism sector could gain approximately $3.2B from the metaverse by 2030, offering virtual tours and immersive experiences.
- Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 plans to leverage the metaverse to attract 100 million tourists, focusing on virtual tourism experiences.
- The metaverse could contribute an additional $1B to the GCC real estate sector by 2030, with virtual visits influencing city developments.
- PwC recommends business leaders in the GCC prepare strategically and technologically to capitalize on the metaverse's opportunities.
Zoom Out: - In October 2023, Saudi Arabia's $500B future city project Neom announced a $50M investment in metaverse giant Animoca Brands to consult on blockchain use cases.
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- Goertek's new headset reference design features high-quality hand and eye tracking, positioning OEMs to compete with Apple effectively.
- Two recent patents reveal significant innovations in Apple's AR smart glasses, including advanced thermal ergonomics and eyewear stabilization, offering more insight than the previous two years.
- Elvis Presley's hologram is set to perform on London's stage later this year, with additional Elvis Evolution concerts planned for Las Vegas, Tokyo, and Berlin.
- QuBy Ai has unveiled plans for a Web 3.0 game with blockchain integration, aiming to transform the gaming industry.
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