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Monthly Archives: July 2022
Virtual reality experiences offered to people at St Giles Hospice – Lichfield Live
Posted: July 31, 2022 at 9:00 pm
People are being given the chance to experience sights and sounds from their hospice bed thanks to virtual reality technology.
Experiences available through a headset at St Giles Hospice include cities of the world, space, and wildlife, as well as a specific film narrated by Sir David Attenborough.
The Whittington-based hospices occupational therapy team has been delivering the VR experience to patients.
Janet is currently living with endometrial cancer and is a patient at St Giles Hospice.
As well as assisting with mobility issues, staff help patients take part in things they enjoy and which could help as a distraction from their condition.
Occupational therapist Beth Robinson said:
The use of the VR headsets helps our patients to immerse themselves into a calming space.
This distraction related activity enables our patients to escape the realities of their present situation and offers a form of relaxation.
Its lovely to see the benefits the VR headsets offer to our patients they appear calm and relaxed.
One of the patients to benefit was Janet, 71, who was transported to the beach thanks to the virtual reality film.
She said:
The headset is absolutely brilliant.
Ive never experienced anything quite like it in my life I was totally lost in the moment.
While engaged in the experiences of the headset, my pain was a distant memory it was so soothing.
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Meta virtual reality will be more open & cheaper than Apples – Gizchina.com
Posted: at 9:00 pm
Meta CEO, Mark Zuckerberg believes that Meta and Apple are in a very deep philosophical competition in building the metaverse. This suggests that the two tech giants are ready to go Head-On for augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality hardware sales.Earlier this month, Zuckerberg told employees at an all-hands meeting that they were competing with Apple to determine where the Internet should go. He claims that Meta would position itself as a more open, cheaper alternative to Apple.Apple is expected to release its first AR headset as early as later this year.
Its a competition of philosophy and ideas. They believe that by researching everything on their own and integrating them tightly, they can build a better consumer experience, Zuckerberg said. Theres a big gap in expertise across companies, which allows a larger ecosystem to exist.
Since changing Facebooks corporate name to Meta, Zuckerberg has been pushing the concept of interoperability in the Metaverse.He believes that themetaverse will be the next big chapter in computing after the mobile phone.Most recently, Meta partnered with Microsoft, Epic Games, and others to form the Metaverse Open Standards Organization. The aim of this organization is to foster open protocols that allow people to easily carry their virtual goods in the immersive 3D world of the future.
Of course, as everyone will expect, Apple did not participate in the group meetings. However, this is not a surprise to Meta. Zuckerberg told employees that Apples absence was not surprising. He explains that Apples approach to tightly controlling hardware and software works well on the iPhone. Nevertheless, he made employees understand that the situation may not be the same with Metaverse. He said, but for Meterverse, its unclear whether an open or closed ecosystem would be better.
Previously, Apple and Meta had already forged a relationship. Apples tweaks to its iOS privacy policy cost Meta billions of dollars in lost ad revenue this year. Zuckerbergs remarks suggest that the two companies will still compete for years to come, even as he tries to break away from Apples control in the mobile field.
Although Apple and Meta initially had different paths, their path is now converging in virtual reality. Apple has so much control over the iPhone and other Apple products. The company wants the same with metarverse. However, Meta believes in integration. This is why Meta is hoping to collaborate with other companies to make progress.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, recently announced the companys second-quarter earnings report. Unfortunately, Meta virtual reality unit is not doing so well. According to the report, Meta virtual reality unit, Reality Labs, posted a loss of $2.81 billion on revenue of $452 million in the quarter ended in June.Meta changed its name last October and since then, Meterverse has been recruiting. There is significantly large recruitment of Reality Labs employees. Overall, more than 13,000 employees were added last year and nearly 6,000 were added in the first quarter of this year.
Zuckerberg saidvirtual and augmented reality headsets will be the primary next-generation computing platforms. However, he confirms that there will be huge investments in technology and prototypes over the next few years.Meta has also previously invested in VR companies and startups developing core headset technology.
According to the financial report, Metas revenue in the second quarter was $28.822 billion. This is a 1% decrease from $29.077 billion in the same period last year. The companys net profit is $6.687 billion, down 36% from $10.394 billion in the same period last year. Furthermore, its earnings on diluted shares were $2.46, down 32% from $3.61 a year earlier.
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Virtual Reality Software Market by Technology Innovations and Growth 2022 to 2028 – NewsOrigins
Posted: at 9:00 pm
Forecast to be a highly lucrative business vertical, the Virtual Reality Software Market has been projected to accumulate modest proceeds by the end of the projected timeframe. Incorporating a concise analysis of the Virtual Reality Software Market in meticulous detail, the Virtual Reality Software Market research study aims to deliver valuable insights with reference to factors such as market size, revenue forecast, sales volume, and others. The segmentation of the Virtual Reality Software Market as well as the driving forces impacting the industry landscape are categorically provided in the report.
The latest research report on Virtual Reality Software market gives stakeholders a head-start by showcasing the overall economic progression from 2022 to 2028 through a multidimensional investigation of past achievements. Furthermore, the report's forecasts are determined and supported by specialists using verified mechanisms. Apart from credible information assembled from a wide range of authentic sources, it also encompasses a series of suggestions for stimulating growth through desirable marketing techniques.
The research discusses the prospects that will mold the operating profit pattern of the market in the upcoming years. It also explores the various industry trends and barriers, as well as approaches for limiting their effects. Moreover, it considers market segmentations to analyze the overall scope of the business landscape.
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Market segmentation and coverage
Product range:
Application spectrum:
Regional bifurcation: North America, Europe, China, Japan
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The industry value chain overview, which focuses on clients, distributors, and sales networks is deliberately intended to assist enterprises cut costs at every phase of the brand lifecycle while furnishing most value to their clients.
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Getty Museum and Apple team up to recreate William Blake’s terrifying visions in augmented reality – Art Newspaper
Posted: at 9:00 pm
The monstrous, nightmarish figure in William Blake's The Ghost of a Flea (around 1819-20) has come to life in central London. United Visions, a new augmented reality (AR) experience created for California's Getty Museum was launched on the App Store on 26 July and will be shown to the public for the first time at the newest Apple Store, in Brompton Road, on 28 July.
Tin Nugyen and his artist partner Ed Cuttingwho make up the Australian-born, New York-based artist and creative technologist combo Tin&Edworked with the US hiphop producer Just Blaze to animate Blake's artistic imaginings.
Five or six animated three-dimensional recreations of Blake's figures gyrated and flew, life size at one moment, larger at another around the Apple store's mirror-ceilinged auditorium. Suddenly, the group atomised and reappeared as a towering, solo "Flea" figure that stood around 3m tall in front of the audience. Its head transformed first into the adamantine St John the Evangelist eagle of Blake's watercolour Beatrice Addressing Dante from the Car (1824-27) and then again into the "burning bright" head of Blake's poem The Tyger (1794). A group of three serpents then looped and jived like battling kites around the dancing central figure in interlocking spirals before everything collided and shattered into fragments, releasing the audience from the grip of Blake's darkest imaginings.
Tin Nguyen (left), Ed Cutting and Just Blaze discuss their collaboration in the creation of United Visions at the Apple Store, Brompton Road, London Louis Jebb
The Getty Museum holds one of three surviving examples of Blakes Satan Exulting over Eve (1795), with one of Blake's most memorable serpents. Its threatening eyes seem to be present in the battling serpents of United Visions. The museum's Blake exhibitiona development of Tate Britain's 2019 retrospectiveis scheduled to open in autumn 2023, after the Covid-19 pandemic delayed its initial planned opening scheduled for July 2020.
"Blake inspired so many artists around the world," Nguyen said at the launch of United Visions. He described how he and Cutting took a deep dive into the artist's work at the beginning of the project"It drove us pretty much mad!"and found what connected them with the artist. It was, he said, "this idea of light and dark [that] are inherently connected [...] in a dynamic union". Nguyen referred to Blake's celebrated visions which he saw as "the mind creating in order to bring imagination into the world". And, he said: "augmented reality is just that sort of medium."
The eagle head of Blake's St John the Evangelist from his Dante drawings is one of the works sampled during the launch demonstration of United Visions Louis Jebb
Nguyen and Cutting created their Blake figures, applied them to motion capturethe first take of the danceand sent these visuals to Just Blaze. Just Blaze sent back his spellbinding soundtrack, with its building beat, layered with readings of Blake's poetry. The Tyger is voiced by Just Blazes son, Solomon Smith, with additional chopped-up lines from Blake written and spoken by the New York City-based Dominican rapper, music producer and poet, Oveous Maximus. Nguyen and Cutting rechoreographed their dancing figures to fit Just Blaze's hypnotic sound track and sent it back to him. "We had this really up-tempo track," Just Blaze said, "but we needed to darken it. So I called up a violinist and cellist friend."
One of the battling Blake-inspired serpents in the launch demo of United Visions at the new Apple Store in Brompton Road, London Louis Jebb
Just Blaze said he was attracted to the Getty Museum project by the seriousness with which Tin&Ed approach their art and by his own respect for Blake. And also because he is a "huge proponent" of AR: "one of the future story-telling genres". He described his own introduction to Blake's worka story in a Spiderman comic based around The Tyger, perhaps Spiderman and Tigra (Marvel Comics, 1978)and said he hoped that United Visions would provide a similar introduction to Blake to others. The piece, he said, brings The Tyger bang up to date, and he hopes it will be "a way to introduce people without saying: 'Here read this book'."
"Bang up to date'": Blake's "Tyger" was at the heart of the launch demo of United Visions Louis Jebb
Listening to Nguyen, Cutting and Just Blaze describing their process was a reminder of how much Blake the artist was an innovator in colour etchingsome of his methods still not understoodin which he layered his processes of outline, imposition and colour, much like a DJ building a soundtrack with words, rhythm and instrumentals or an artist-developer in AR pulling together motion capture, 3D modelling and surface textures.
The creation and execution of United Visions is a reminder, if one were needed, of how far Blakea radical misunderstood in his lifetime, mythologised as a "mad genius" by those who remembered him following his death before being rescued by the extraordinary bibliographical and scholarly voyage of the past 150 years, its course set for many decades by the remarkable Geoffrey Keyneshas come to be recognised as both a writer and an artist of the first rank. But also as a keystone of popular culture, sampled and referenced by film-makers, writers, artists and now at the cutting edge of the vision machine of telling stories in augmented and virtual reality.
United Visions is available on the App Store and supported on iPhone 11 or newer, iPad Pro 12-9-inch (3rd Gen), and iPad Prod 11-inch (1st Gen)
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Falco to use virtual reality for drivers training – Construction Index
Posted: at 9:00 pm
The company, the first Fleet Operator Recognition Scheme (FORS)-accredited fleet operator in the utilities sector, will now require all its drivers to attend a Work Related Road Risk (WRRR) course, organised by driver-training specialist Fleet Source, at its dedicated training suite in East London.
During the course, trainees don VR headsets to experience an immersive 6-hour session that includes live scenarios filmed from a variety of perspectives - inside the vehicle, cyclists, pedestrians and horse riders - to simulate typical situations they are likely to encounter and how to react and respond to them correctly.
This is a major step-change in the way we receive driver CPC training, said Jason Shreeve, Falcos fleet & facilities manager, The VR module really brought the scenario training to life and was much more thought-provoking and engaging than the traditional classroom-based instruction.
The company, which has 130 vehicles in its fleet, has used Fleet Source for CPC driver training since 2017, plans a further nine VR sessions for later in the year.
The Fleet Operator Recognition Scheme (FORS) is a voluntary accreditation scheme for fleet operators which aims to raise the level of quality within fleet operations, and to demonstrate which operators are achieving exemplary levels of best practice in safety, efficiency, and environmental protection.
Got a story? Email news@theconstructionindex.co.uk
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Google About to Test Augmented Reality (AR) Headsets in the Real World – Dice Insights
Posted: at 9:00 pm
Google is rededicating itself to the augmented reality (AR) arena, which means technologists who want to build AR apps and services may soon have a whole new ecosystem to explore.
In a corporate blog posting, Google suggested it plans to begin testing AR prototypes in the real world (whatever that means) in August. Well begin small-scale testing in public settings with AR prototypes worn by a few dozen Googlers and select trusted testers, the posting added. These prototypes will include in-lens displays, microphones and camerasbut theyll have strict limitations on what they can do. For example, our AR prototypes dont support photography and videography, though image data will be used to enable experiences like translating the menu in front of you or showing you directions to a nearby coffee shop.
The posting added: Its early, and we want to get this right, so were taking it slow, with a strong focus on ensuring the privacy of the testers and those around them.
Google is likely taking this new AR experiment slow because the last time it tried to enter the arena quickly, with its Google Glass headset, things imploded in spectacular fashion. Users disliked the devices aesthetics, and the hardwares sticker price made it prohibitively expensive for many; in addition, Google didnt effectively address the privacy and security concerns that inevitably come with someone walking around with a web-connected camera strapped to their face.
But undeterred by that misfire, Google has been hiring technologists for this new AR project. Its looking for job candidates skilled in theLinuxkernel and driver model as well as real-time operating system (RTOS) development.Overall details are still sketchy, including what the final hardware may actually look like.
If Google manages to roll out an AR headset that succeeds with audiences, it could open up a whole new ecosystem of apps and serviceswhich could translate into significant opportunities and profits for technologists. It will also face likely competition from Apple, which will supposedly roll out an AR headset next year, and Meta/Facebook, which is betting its entire existence on the metaverse, the companys term for an ecosystem of AR and virtual reality (VR) apps.
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Doddz: The Artist Taking The World By Storm With His Augmented Reality Art – ArtPlugged
Posted: at 9:00 pm
Doddz is an artist at the forefront of the Augmented Reality movement. He started as a street artist, transitioning into creating custom garments that produce an interactive experience where the artwork comes to life once a smartphone scans it.
His work pushes ARs boundaries, creating an artistic experience that is unlike anything else with a strong focus on sustainability, the Metaverse and digital fashion. He is paving the way for how we experience, collect and interact with art. Word of his sorcery soon spread, leading him to collaborate with some of the worlds biggest brands and artists, including Dior, Disney, The Beatles, Amazon, Adidas, Billie Eilish, Drake, Giggs, and Big Narstie, to name a few.
I endeavoured to make my work stand out from the many other artists
He has recently founded his online academy, which hosts online courses and free webinars, teaching his audience the simple steps to begin their digital journey. In his latest project, see him take over a billboard in New Yorks Time Square in true Augmented Reality fashion. We managed to catch up with the AR artist to learn how he got started, his process and whats next for him.
A: Of course, my name is Doddz. Im a 28-year-old artist working primarily with an Augmented Reality art style.
A: To take my art career more seriously, about five years ago, I endeavoured to make my work stand out from the many other artists and create something no one had ever done. This move was based on the feedback and rejection Id received from many galleries when looking for representation. This led me to experiment with all different types of mediums which was a fun, free creative number of years for me where no idea was off the table.
In order to make something that no one else had done before, I thought about using tech that hadnt been around for very long. It made sense that there wouldnt be much AR art as its still very much in its infancy. As soon as I experimented with Augmented Reality, the reaction was significantly different (in a good way) than all previous attempts, so I doubled down, and here we are.
10204 main stage at Coachella with a special guest? @champagnepapi
A: Typically theyll reach out to the team with a campaign they are keen to include AR with. Well hear them out, understanding the broader context of the whole campaign, and if we agree that AR makes sense, well put together several ideas and present them back. Once were agreed on the idea then, well begin production.
Having worked in the marketing world for a long time, I understand being able to steer the creative direction is a privilege which I dont take lightly. I often express a lot of gratitude that we are able to guide the clients decisions rather than reacting to client demands as we explain how and what works best for AR. Most of the time, its a collaborative effort rather than being hired by a brand to build out their ideas.
A: I think the work surrounding the start of my career will be focused around education. Teaching people whats possible with AR through art examples. Most of my artwork also blurs the line between digital and physical; this project was no exception. I rented out a billboard at the centre of the marketing world.
Times Square after recently seeing the trend of 3D billboards from brands where they fake a 3D effect using perspective on a 2D screen. Our billboard went the extra step of allowing the character to break free from the shackles of the screen and scoop up unknowing pedestrians in a King Kong-type fashion.
A: Every major tech company is not building a new phone model. Theyreallbuilding AR devices. So at this point, I would argue its difficult to suggest that the future is not centrally focused around AR; mobile devices have taken us as far as they can and staring at the screen feels unnatural, disconnecting from the surroundings. AR allows you to do everything a phone does and more, and youre now connected back to an enhanced version of your environment.
Unbeknownst to us, there is a tech rat race for who will own the next influential device. Apple won the phone battle, but that doesnt mean theyll win the smart wearables (watches, glasses, contact lenses) race. At the moment, I would say Meta is winning as Oculus has the most globally accepted headset in the market.
Regardless of who wins, there still needs to be some serious development areas like lighter, longer-lasting batteries and increased internet speeds before we all wear Apple Glasses.
A: Im glad you asked. Im releasing my first NFT project shortly in collaboration with DressX, the marketplace leader in digital fashion, at the end of August. There have been questions about releasing NFTs as a digital artist, but until now, Ive always felt that if I did release something, it would have been a money grab rather than something constructive. The more I learnt about the Web3 space, the more I felt that if I worked on an NFT project, it would need to be something Im passionate about, and as you mentioned before, Im often working on digital fashion as a personal project so this made sense.
The NFT release will be a small number of physical clothes I designed. Youll have the option of purchasing the physical item individually or buying the NFT, granting access to what Im calling the digital layer. That includes a virtual version of the clothes and Instagram effects that allow you to scan the physical item and reveal a hidden AR experience.
A: Unfortunately, as Im travelling around currently, I dont have a base where I can build out a studio, but in my old space, I owned a replica of the Micheals Special Stuff water bottle from Space Jam. You know the one? I know it sounds silly, but as a kid, I loved the bit where they drink the water, think theyre invincible and play great basketball only to discover its water, and their own self-belief made them great.
Now Im on the road, two important things Ill always have with me are dog treats to keep my Frenchie Louie happy and an ironing board. I read once in a 50 Cent book about the power of appearance and even if you cant afford the expensive stuff, making an effort and ironing your stuff (especially if you live out of a suitcase like me) makes a big impact on those you meet.
A: To continue the education of what AR can do by bringing AR into culturally relevant moments to reach more people with my artwork and hopefully put on some Immersive exhibitions later this year/early next year.
https://www.instagram.com/doddz/
2022 Doddz
Len is a curator and writer at Art Plugged, a contemporary platform inspired by a passion for showcasing exceptional artists and their work he also studying an MFA in Curating at Goldsmiths London.
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Book Review: the Metaverse by Matthew Ball – Business Insider
Posted: at 9:00 pm
The polarization of the current era extends far beyond traditional politics to matters of taste, technology, the environment, and economics. The result is an increasing inability to engage in civil discourse on any number of subjects that have significant implications for our collective future. The title of a new book exploring the potential impact of virtual and augmented reality technologies "The Metaverse: And How It Will Revolutionize Everything" seems to reflect this tendency toward polemic and hyperbole.
Happily, however, the book written by consultant and investor Matthew Ball, the former global head of strategy for Amazon Studios demonstrates that a true believer can still make a meaningful contribution to everyone's understanding of an important topic.
Ball achieves this feat by being clear and transparent on his assumptions and grounding his discussion in real data and facts. His analysis then manages to integrate logic, humor, and an appropriate degree of skepticism of the most extreme claims, often made by those with vested interests. The result is an entertaining and thought-provoking guide to the coming alternative virtual world that should prove indispensable to not just users and developers but investors, competitors, and regulators.
The term "metaverse" itself was coined 30 years ago in a sci-fi novel called "Snow Crash" by Neal Stephenson. Despite being around for so long, there is still little consensus on what precisely it is. Ball suggests that this may be in part because the very companies who most view the metaverse as both a threat and an opportunity for their existing businesses Facebook and Microsoft are extreme examples each propose starkly conflicting definitions that fit "their own worldviews and/or the capabilities of their companies." The resulting confusion encourages conflation of these concepts with blockchain and Web 3.0, which "The Metaverse" does a particularly good job of untangling.
The almost 50-word definition of the metaverse offered up by Ball may be a mouthful, but it usefully highlights all the key attributes needed to establish a ubiquitous, fully-functional virtual 3D ecosystem that can accommodate an unlimited number of simultaneous participants.Ball closely examines the technical and practical constraints on realizing each of these essential features. This exercise may come across as too painfully detailed for some the longest chapter examines the payment mechanisms needed to support a parallel metaverse economy but it is critical to an informed view of what the metaverse can actually be.
Despite his overall optimism about the ultimately revolutionary impact of the metaverse, Ball does not downplay the monumental technological obstacles to achieving this vision. "Its arrival remains far off," Ball concedes, "and its effects largely unclear." Some of the constraints, like bandwidth and computing power, may be eventually overcome through creativity and persistence. Others, like the speed of light, which poses a significant challenge to maintaining real-time interactive renderings of multiple individuals separated by many thousands of miles, are likely to remain stubbornly resistant to human innovation.
As incumbent platforms and new disrupters scramble to build their own unique piece of virtual real estate, Ball also grapples with what may be the biggest challenge to creating an all-encompassing metaverse getting the resulting cacophony of independent virtual worlds to communicate with each other. Solving the problem of interoperability will entail the establishment of a raft of agreed technical standards and potentially a meaningful dose of government intervention. We will get a very small taste of what the latter may look like as the European Union interoperability requirements for messaging apps come into effect in the coming years.
As effective as "The Metaverse" is at describing the primary drivers and key elements of the billions being invested in what he refers to as "the next internet," it's less convincing on the claim that it will actually "revolutionize everything." The vast majority of economic value being generated today from these technologies relate to gaming applications. Although it is true that gaming is no longer primarily the province of antisocial teenage boys indeed the sector has now surpassed Hollywood and the music industry combined the relative paucity of compelling use cases beyond that makes one question just how truly revolutionary it will be. Indeed, for most of the other applications described or envisaged whether in medicine, education or otherwise it is less than clear that a full-blown metaverse is actually required.
What's more, for those of us concerned with the increase in anti-social behavior in the wake of a pandemic that discouraged face-to-face human interaction, the eventual rise of the metaverse elicits as much foreboding as awe. Ball is right to be focused on regulatory approaches to avoid corporate gatekeepers as dominant in the virtual as in the physical world. But an economically significant parallel universe that facilitates anonymity raises a host of regulatory and social concerns well beyond competition and innovation that require as much, if not more, attention.
Luckily, given how long it will be for the metaverse to become a reality, we have time to get its regulation right for a change. Anyone committed to trying to do that could do worse than starting with a copy of The Metaverse.
Jonathan A. Knee is a professor of professional practice at Columbia Business School and a senior advisor at Evercore. His most recent book is "The Platform Delusion: Who Wins and Who Loses in the Age of Tech Titans."
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New Doc We Met in Virtual Reality filmed in #VR exploring connections from love to loss, Coming to #HBOMAX July 27th #Trailer #WeMetInVR -…
Posted: at 9:00 pm
HBO Documentary FilmsWE MET IN VIRTUAL REALITY, from director Joe Hunting, debutsWEDNESDAY, JULY 27 (9:00-10:35 p.m. ET/PT)on HBO and will be available to stream on HBO Max.
You can be who youve always wanted to be.
#WeMetInVR, the first feature-length documentary filmed entirely in virtual reality, tells stories of love, loss, and unexpected connection within the world of VR. The @HBO original documentary premieres July 27 on HBO Max.
Synopsis:Filmed entirely inside the world of virtual reality (VR), this immersive and revealing documentary roots itself in several unique communities within VR Chat, a burgeoning virtual reality platform. Through observational scenes captured in real-time, in true documentary style, the film reveals the growing power and intimacy of several relationships formed in the virtual world, many of which began during the COVID-19 lockdown while so many in the physical world were facing intense isolation. Although remaining wholly within the VR domain of avatars and imagined worlds, the film has elements of humor, serendipitous interactions and unexpected events that characterize real life. WE MET IN VIRTUAL REALITY tenderly documents the stories of people experiencing love, loss and unexpected connection, expressing vulnerability around mental health struggles and questions about identity, offering a hyper-real journey into the human experience of an online world that may soon shape the future.
Featured Subjects:The film follows Jenny, an American Sign Language (ASL) teacher, dedicated to building a welcoming community for deaf and hard-of-hearing VR Chat users, and two long-distance couples growing their relationships in VR as they prepare to meet physically DustBunny; a fitness dance instructor building a career in social VR dance classes and her partner, Toaster; and DragonHeart & IsYourBoi, a couple who met through an exotic VR dance community where they are both performers.
Director: Joe Hunting is a filmmaker and documentary photographer working inside social Virtual Reality (VR), directing artistic films that blend reality and fiction through joyful immersive worlds. Prior to the yearlong production ofWe Met in Virtual Reality, Hunting released two short documentaries,A Wider ScreenandClub Zodiac, and the comedy seriesVirtually Speaking, all filmed inside VR.
Credits:HBO Documentary Films presents a Field of Vision presentation in association with Cinetic Media; a Painted Clouds production; directed, produced, edited and written by Joe Hunting; executive producers, Charlotte Cook, Bryn Mooser, Kathryn Everett; made possible with support from XTR.
ABOUT HBO HBO is home to the shows and films that everyone is talking about, from groundbreaking series and documentaries to the biggest blockbuster movies. SUBSCRIBE TO HBO Subscribe to the official HBO Channel for the latest on your favorite HBO series, movies, documentaries & sports specials: https://itsh.bo/youtube
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Our culture in the Second Amendment – The Hill
Posted: at 8:58 pm
The history of our country is a rebellious one. The U.S. was founded by brave individuals ready
and willing to take up arms when they felt the need to defend their God-given rights.
Economic exploitation, lack of political representation, and unfair taxation were among the reasons they did so.
Early Americans were ready to fight for justice and independence with the message to
Parliament and the monarchy,Dont Tread on Me. The right to keep and bear arms is not just written in our Constitution; it is embedded in American culture. It would not be accurate to compare our gun laws to that of other nations plainly due to how our founders formed our nation and the early spirit Americans held for independence.
While many of us have bared witness to attacks on our nation, we have historically not seen a foreign war on U.S. soil. Part of this may be attributed to our geographical location but as
Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto allegedly said, You cannot invade mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind each blade of grass.
Though factually unsubstantiated, the sentiment of the statement holds true. Whether our geographical location or our Second Amendment has prevented Americans from witnessing the horror of a brutal foreign war in our backyard, the right to defend ourselves as citizens could certainly be taken into consideration by our enemies wishing to do us harm.
Enemies to the U.S. are obvious. They are adversaries of democracy and individual freedoms.
Nations like Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran are among many countries who are actively anti-American. Pay attention dictators of these countries are watching carefully as the U.S.
grows weaker day by day under the Biden administration.
In nearly every facet of our society today we are failing. Our economy is experiencing the
worst inflation weve ever seen, our border is unsecure, we have lost our energy independence,
and our national security has grown weak. We witnessed a messy withdrawal from Afghanistan leading to the fall of their government with in a matter of days and billions of dollars in U.S.
equipment left behind. It has been one spectacular failure after another and our adversaries are
keenly aware of our inept leadership.
Now, many anti-Second Amendment individuals are begging the government to ban guns. It is intellectually lazy to believe this will curb gun violence. I urge those Americans to reconsider this position and help find a way to curb gun violence without disarming our citizens.
While elements of America may appear outwardly weak, our inward strength may be the only saving grace we have to protect freedoms and liberties.
Ralph Norman represents South Carolinas 5th District.
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