š¤ Wiser! #109: Audiās VR in the Car | Avatar CVs | AR Make-Up | Throwing Robots
w/Wiser! #109ā23rd Jan 2023
Preamble
Welcome to the 109th issue of the Wiser! newsletter. This is the Medium edition.
With a special welcome to all the new subscribers to Wiser! Iām still in the UK visiting family and friends, so no premium article this week. Normal service will resume next issue, which coincides with Wiser!ās second birthday. ššš
Building on the new format that keeps the size of the newsletter shorter without sacrificing a ton of content, Iām continuing this week with Wiser! Things. Basically, the longer form articles are all laid out on a webpage which allows me to keep the length of this email shorter. Thereās enough of the story in the newsletter to give you the gist, but if you want more, thereās a ācontinue readingā link to the webpage.
The purpose is simple, to give you the maximum amount of insight and information with the top stories and news from the tech economy.
Keep the feedback coming and let me know what you think.
Subscribers to the Wiser! mailing list received the full version of this weekās newsletter (posted Friday 20th). They never miss an issue and always get it first. You can read the full colour version of Wiser! here.
ATB, Rick
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1. US Gov delay rollout of AR army headsets because of issues for the wearers
A week after Microsoft said that the US Army would get 10,000 augmented reality headsets, Congress put a stop to it. According to Bloomberg, instead of ordering more of the Hololens headsets from Microsoft, the US gov has instead approved only $40 million for Microsoft to develop a new version that fixes some of the user issues with the headsets.
2. App Economy slows for the first time as users switch to subscriptions from gaming apps
The app economy slowed for the first time in 2022, with consumer spending down 2% to $167 billion. This is according to the much anticipated annual review by data analytics firm Data.AI (who is better known as App Annie ā why did they change the name, I loved that name?) The report also showed that TikTok lost its ā1 position on the āTop Charts by Downloadsā to Instagram in 2022. Metaās efforts to copy-cat TikTokās feature set with Reels appears to be working.
Did You Know? In 2022, spending on games dropped 5% to $110 billion, while spending on non-game apps increased 6% to $58 billion ā the latter, driven by streaming subscriptions, dating apps and short-form video apps.
What else is happening in BigTech?
- Google and Nvidia shared concerns with the FTC as to how Microsoftās Activision Blizzard deal would give it an unfair advantage in cloud, subscription and mobile gaming.
- The UK is looking at amending the Online Safety Bill to add criminal liability for social media company execs if they fail to met āduty of careā rules. Sending the bosses of social media companies based in the US or China is easier said than done. š¤ Should tech bosses be sent to jail?
- Read this analysis of Amazonās cash-flow statements to get an inside perspective on what makes Amazon tick.
- Tencent Holdings said on Monday that it had fired more than 100 employees for bribery and embezzlement last year, with over ten referred to the police.
- Online publishing platform Medium, originally created by Twitter co-founder Evan Williams, has announced that itās joining Mastodon by creating its own instance to support its authors and their publications. Access to the instance will be offered through a Medium membership to become the first paid instance to come to Mastodon. More on Mastodon.
- Elon Musk faces $1.5 billion in interest payments relating to his purchase of Twitter. Meanwhile, Bloomberg reported Twitter is offering brands up to $250,000 in free ads as it battles to win back advertisers. Twitter has seen a 40% decline in revenue under Musk.
- TikTok discussed sharing details of its algorithm with US regulators.
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3. Audi is the first car manufacturer to provide a Virtual Reality experience for passengers
Audi showcased the VR tech in action at CES2023. Passengers wearing a VR headset from HTC Vive experience their own in-car entertainment using the holoride technology, which can detect the carās driving movements in real-time and adapt the virtual content as needed.
Continue readingā¦ (including a video of the Audi holoride VR experience in action.)
4. McDonaldās use AI and AR in Metaverse themed ad campaign
McDonaldās new media campaign to celebrate the Lunar New Year uses AI, augmented reality, 3D AR filters and has a metaverse theme. This isnāt the first time McDonaldās has created a cool virtual experience around culture and heritage. In 2022, the company created āMcDonaldās Hall of Zodiacs: 2022 Lunar New Year by Humberto Leonā gallery in AltspaceVR and in Spatial.
Continue readingā¦ (inc video of the McDonaldās experience.)
5. Davos goes Metaverse!
The 2023 World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting is currently taking place in Davos. This yearās theme is ācooperation in a fragmented world.ā To address this divide, Metaverse technologies are being used to create virtual, three-dimensional worlds that offer a new way to see, understand, and imagine our world. Davos has built āThe Global Collaboration Villageā as the first global, purpose-driven Metaverse platform that aims to enhance public-private cooperation and drive impact at scale.
Did You Know? A March 2022 survey by Statista showed that 36% of online adults expressed interest in using the Metaverse, with 12% reported as very interested.
6. Ready Player Me to create interoperable avatars
Ready Player Me is working with Unstoppable Domains to create digital identities that work across multiple platforms and games. What does that mean? Today, you might use your Google or Facebook account to log into multiple accounts across the Internet. You have a single, certified digital identity that removes the pain, repetition, and hassle of signing up for a new service.
What else is happening in Metaverse?
- Mastercard released a new AR experience to see Miamiās Design District.
- The Seoul Metropolitan Government has officially launched its metaverse platform āMetaverse Seoulā, allowing users to visit the capital virtually and handle administrative tasks remotely.
- Pearson, the worldās largest publisher, announced a partnership with XR Bootcamp, to prototype VR language learning games.
- Apple indefinitely postponed its lightweight AR glasses, according to Bloomberg.
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7. Is this use of AI and Deepfake tech the future for CVs and job interviews?
Bartosz Pampuch, the ex-VP of Comarch, posted this on LinkedIn this week. Itās a video of a 3D avatar he created to demo how an interactive resume could be used for a virtual interview process. The clue is in the āexā above, because Pampuch had found himself on the job market, and he created this novel approach to find himself a new role.
8. Robots that can throw
9. New AI smartphone app will be able to decipher Japanese cursive manuscripts
A new AI app will allow the cursive forms to be ātranslatedā into contemporary characters, allowing others to read text. This has huge implications for all historical and religious texts all over the globe. If the tech is successful, it is reasonable it could also be modified to interpret the authenticity of signatures.
10. EstƩe Lauder use AI and AR to assist the visually impaired put their make-up on
EstĆ©e Lauder has launched a new app in the UK that helps visually impaired users apply makeup. There are more than 2 million people living with visual impairment in the UK and this is the first use of technology to help them navigate the tricky job of applying make-up. The voice-enabled Makeup Assistant uses augmented reality and AI to analyse the makeup on a userās face. The app gives audio feedback on which areas need to be touched up or blended.
EstĆ©e Lauder are not the first brand to introduce initiatives to help people with disabilities. Unilever, P&G and LāOrĆ©al have also used tech to assist those in need of support.
Brand Strategies in Emerging Technology
If you are working in brand strategy, product management or the information, retail or consumer sectors, then youāre going to want to see the Brand Strategy Collection. Iāve tracked over 250 consumer brands and their projects, initiatives and innovations with emerging technologies such as NFTs, blockchain, virtual and augmented reality and AI.
The latest brands to be updated include:
- LāOrĆ©al and NYX (Metaverse and AR)
- Netflix (Metaverse)
- Nike (NFTs and web3)
- Porsche (NFTs)
- McDonaldās (AR and AI)
- BMW (NFTs)
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What else is happening in Technology & Innovation?
- Getty Images is suing Stable Diffusion for scraping its content. Getty Images claims Stability AI āunlawfullyā scraped millions of images from its site. Itās a significant escalation in the developing legal battles between generative AI firms and content creators.
- VirtualSpeech has incorporated ChatGPT into a VR simulations to help with the training of āsoft skillsā, like listening and empathy.
- CNET are in a bit of bother for over-relying on ChatGPT to write its copy.
- The best of AI at CES2023
- What happens when Tesla Autopilot crashes.
Seoul enters the Metaverse
The Seoul Metropolitan Government has officially launched its metaverse platform āMetaverse Seoulā, allowing users to visit the capital virtually and handle administrative tasks remotely. Metaverse Seoul conversations can be translated into English via Google Translate. The city government has already invested 2 billion won (US$1.6m) in the first phase of the platform, and an additional 2.8 billion won (US$2.3m) will be spent this year on the second phase. An āeasy modeā will be available for older users, and the third phase will be developed by 2026.
š Metaverse Seoul: Website
šļø Big Tech Little Tech Episode #17 ā Technology in 2023, Twitter rehab, Mui Board, and restaurant robots
Rick Huckstep and Shaun Weston talk about whatās happening in US courtrooms around the use of AI, specifically ChatGPT. Does China use AI to help enforce the law, and will Americans end up paying fewer speeding tickets?
Plus, Twitter leaves third parties in the lurch, Audi and John Deere announce new tech, and rats get facially profiled.
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About the Wiser! Newsletter
Wiser! is a weekly newsletter that makes sense of whatās happening and whatās coming next in the tech economy. From disruptive technologies, like blockchain, crypto and artificial intelligence, to emerging trends, like Web3 and the Metaverse. Plus thereās a big focus on BigTech and the impact of social media.
The purpose of Wiser! is simple, to help you stay interesting, informed, and one step ahead of your competition. Using easy and engaging language, I make sense of it all so that you donāt have to.
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