Amazon launches Anywhere

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Emerging tech trends like AI, VR, and web3 are disrupting the fashion world at breakneck speeds.

Once a week, the Metaproof team will break down the top stories, feature expert Q&A’s, and serve up the hottest links tracking tech’s impact on the fashion industry.

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1/ Amazon could be hiding Anywhere (Link)

Amazon’s new Amazon Anywhere shopping experience lets you shop for real-world goods inside a video game.

Unveiling a few details Tuesday, Amazon lets users try the new feature inside Niantic’s just-launched Peridot game. Here’s how it works:

1. Link your Amazon account in Peridot.

2. Explore buying things like shirts and a Peridot-themed pillow inside the app. When it comes to the shirts, for instance, you can specify details like fit type, color, and size.

3. Once you’ve made your selection, the app will show you the final price and an estimated delivery date before checkout.

Amazon Anywhere is the retail behemoth’s attempt at giving shoppers an easy path to purchasing physical products, unlike in current virtual worlds limited to buying virtual currency and in-game digital items.

2/ Epic CEO mocks ‘metaverse is dead’ notion — 600M coming to the ‘wake’ (Link)

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney takes to Twitter to make fun of a recent Business Insider article, titled “RIP Metaverse, we hardly knew ye,” suggesting the metaverse had run its course.

In a nutshell, the article cites Meta’s VR platform Horizon Worlds as a failure in living up to its “grand promise” of becoming the future of the internet. It also mentions Decentraland and Yuga Labs’ Otherside as metaverse examples that have seemingly fallen short of their hype, the author claiming investors have instead turned their focus on generative AI.

Sweeney was quick to retort, rather wittily, suggesting there are 60M users across virtual world platforms such as Fortnite, Minecraft, Roblox, The Sandbox, and VR Chat.

Epic Games itself has big stakes in the metaverse, in April 2022 announcing a $2B funding round to accelerate its metaverse agenda.

3/ Meta is making life even harder for its metaverse creators (Link)

Meta announces that creators using its Horizon Worlds platform will no longer have the ability to create dedicated events, a decision that has surprised and disappointed some creators.

Effective immediately, new events cannot be created, though existing events scheduled after the announcement will proceed, and certain official events will still receive promotion.

Meta justifies this change by emphasizing its focus on improving the platform's overall quality and acknowledging that the previous event creation tool did not meet the community's needs.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg has designated 2023 as the "year of efficiency," while the Reality Labs division anticipates an increase in operating losses compared to the previous year.

Meanwhile, investors have expressed concerns about Meta's significant investments in the metaverse amid a challenging advertising sector and its impact on revenue growth.

4/ How can organizations prepare for generative AI? (Link)

Amid the growing excitement surrounding ChatGPT and generative AI, conversations around its risks and challenges abound.

Baker McKenzie's 2022 North America AI survey highlights the lack of expertise and oversight in organizations regarding AI-related risks, with the following key findings:

• Only 4% of C-suite level respondents consider AI risks to be "significant." Less than half of the respondents have AI expertise at the board level.

• Lack of oversight and expertise hinders organizations' ability to manage AI risks.

• Unchecked algorithms can perpetuate bias and discrimination, while data privacy breaches and IP considerations pose added threats.

• All relevant stakeholders, including legal, C-suite, boards, privacy, compliance, and HR, should be involved in decision-making processes, with a Chief AI Officer (CAIO) on board.

🏃‍♂️ Quick Hits

🎮 Gaming

• Ubisoft taps the strengths of its neurodiverse employees in game dev’t, where some 18% of industry pros identify themselves as neurodivergent. (Link)

• 6 GamesBeat Summit 2023 sessions tackling the future of web3 games. (Link)

• Development studio Melon, newly acquired by Super League, specializes in building experiences in Roblox and has worked with brands like Chipotle, Mattel and PacSun. (Link)

• A Blair Witch Project producer is turning the Mandala comic into a web3 game. (Link)

• Claiming to be the1st 3D Earth metaverse on web3, this platform offers a digital twin of the planet with NFT ownership to boot. (Link)

🕶 Fashion

• French carmaker Renault launches NFT-infused RACING SHOE5 sneakers starting May 15. (Link)

• Digital fashion house MNTGE links upcycled physical Levi’s jeans to NFTs with NFC. (Link)

• Bershka and FFFACE.ME debut Wearable Art, touted as a world-1st semi-digital clothing collection. (Link)

• From LV to Bottega Veneta, tech firm Ordre Group is powering the luxury space with NFTs. (Link)

• House of Blueberry’s Katherine Manuel talks about current investor interest in digital fashion, and how digital and physical fashion benefit each other. (Link)

🏀 Sports

• The McLaren Formula 1 team offers fans exclusive free NFTs for each race of the 2023 season. (Link)

• Sports tech is bustling with life, but is the bigger sport business ready for a VR-AI future? (Link)

• Warner Bros. Discovery Sports enters the NFT space. (Link)

• New Layer-1 blockchain Chiliz Chain launches in a bid to help move sports from web2 to web3. (Link)

• Learn the next big thing for AR in sports with the free Metaverse Essentials: Building the Future course. (Link)

🎥 Media & Entertainment

• Spotify reportedly deletes thousands of AI-generated songs. (Link)

• How is immersive filmmaking changing the entertainment industry? (Link)

• T-Mobile champions 5G via its XR broadcasting accelerator. (Link)

• British group Easy Life enters the metaverse with startup Xone with their “dream house,” a virtual world for fans to visit on their phone. (Link)

• Spotify rival Anghami doubles down on AI with an AI-powered podcast and newsroom. (Link)

• LinkedIn plans to cut 700+ jobs and close its app for those seeking jobs in China. (Link)

🖼 Art

• NFT brand Pudgy Penguins raises $9M for IP play. (Link)

• Web3 marketplace O-MEE presents Plastic Futures, showcasing Italy's top NFT artists at Rome's Mecenate Fine Art Gallery.(Link)

• Binance’s NFT marketplace adds support for Bitcoin NFTs. (Link)

• Hofa Gallery presents “beyond the screen” AI and digital art exhibition in London. (Link)

• NFT Worlds rebrands to become Topia. (Link)

• Yuyu’s GAG exhibition unveils in Paris as a bold, provocative critique of modern society’s power dynamics. (Link)

🤖 AI

• University of Florida scientists employ AI to simplify hepatitis C and SARS-CoV-2 testing. (Link)

• Doctors are using AI to draft messages without telling patients; AI researchers warn of errors creeping in. (Link)

• Amazon is venturing into AI-based ads. (Link)

• BacterAI prompts robots to conduct autonomous scientific experiments - as many as 10,000 per day. (Link)

• AI could threaten the search ad market but also yield better search results, shopping experiences, and entertainment offerings. (Link)

• In Abu Dhabi, generative AI is crafting new drug solutions for cancer, COVID-19, and rare diseases. (Link)

💸 Funding & Partnerships

• Mysten Labs collaborates with 11 gaming partners to launch games on Sui. (Link)

• Bagging $4M in funding, Vibe unveils its NFT platform, promoted to create a "paradigm shift" in the NFT-to-product market. (Link)

• SymphonyAI partners with Microsoft to enhance its vertical AI software apps, leveraging Microsoft Azure AI services. (Link)

• Telangana has become the first Indian state to launch a State Robotics Framework, initiated by the minister in the metaverse. (Link)

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All content on this newsletter is for informational purposes only and does not aim to serve as or replace expert investment advice.

📈 If you are a startup building in the metaverse / web3 ecosystem and are raising capital, please reach out to Sfermion. Sfermion is an investment firm focused on accelerating the emergence of the metaverse 📈

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