Better mental health in the metaverse

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✨ Today in the Metaproof Daily

❤️‍🩹 Metaverse may improve mental health

❗ Godfather of AI: Control AI before it’s too late

🤝 China Mobile forms metaverse alliance

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Metaverse may improve mental health

A World Economic Forum (WEF) report released June 26 touts the metaverse as a tech tool to potentially tackle the growing mental health epidemic worldwide.

Mental health benefits from virtual shared spaces:

• These digital environments enable people to interact professionally and socially, enhancing the AR/VR tech-enabled immersion and chances to connect and engage.

• Gaming platforms figure in mental health treatment: DeepWell Therapeutics and Ninja Theory's Insight Project have developed video games that target depression and anxiety, while Mindful Metaverse by TRIPP uses VR-enabled guided mindfulness and meditation.

• New tech can combine with therapeutic neurotechnologies, including direct brain stimulation, to treat severe depression.

Experts, however, remain cautiously optimistic, as one of the US’ most critical public health concerns remains: excessive screen time and social media usage.

Meanwhile, AI’s rapid adoption could hurt workers’ mental health as companies use generative AI tools like ChatGPT at breakneck speed, burdening an already overstressed workforce.

Gen-AI, while unheard of just months earlier, is suddenly considered a threat to jobs: potentially losing them, creating change, or preventing them from rescaling to take a new position.

Godfather of AI: Control AI before it’s too late

Geoffrey Hinton, a prominent scientist and researcher in AI dubbed as the “godfather of AI,” calls for human action to control AI before it gets “smarter than us” as he spoke at the Collision tech conference in Toronto, which brought together 30,000+ investors, tech workers, and startup founders.

Warning that the risks tied to AI shouldn’t be dismissed as science fiction or fear-mongering, Hinton stresses the value of proactively considering and preparing for real AI risks, which he says isn’t just the threat of a takeover but also deepening widespread ills such as social inequality and fake news.

A study from MSCI, based on a March 2023 report from Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research, ranks US industries that are most exposed to AI-driven automation.

The industry with the biggest exposure? Office and administrative support (46%), trailed by legal (44%), architecture and engineering (37%), life, physical, and social science (36%), and business and financial operations (35%).

China Mobile forms metaverse alliance [Link]

China Mobile, in collaboration with 24 founding members including Huawei, Xiaomi, and Unity China, has formed an alliance to strengthen partnerships in areas such as metaverse content creation, extended reality (XR) terminals, computing networks, and technological research.

Liu Xin, the chief secretary of the alliance, has announced that they will enhance members' metaverse initiatives by establishing an investment fund under China Mobile, with a projected doubling of financial commitment to metaverse projects over the next 3 years.

This initiative comes amid growing focus on metaverse technology in China, as shown by mega development plans by multiple Chinese cities along with product rollouts by Chinese tech giants to rival ChatGPT and other US entities.

Argireline peptide: Beauty science in the metaverse [Link]

Lubrizol's metaverse AI platform features the Argireline peptide, known for its capacity to imitate the Botulinum toxin and generate an anti-wrinkle effect, ensuring that their metaverse development is focused on a compelling, results-driven ingredient.

Some benefits brought by this metaverse AI platform:

• Enhanced product performance

• Custom algorithms and deep learning methods

• Advanced data analysis capabilities

• Objective assessment of consumer satisfaction

Metaverse AI tech can potentially accelerate new product development, appealing to brands, formulators, and manufacturers.

Yet while indicators show significant revenue growth for the metaverse by 2030, its impact on the future of retail remains uncertain, given challenges around things like inflation, which may be cutting businesses’ metaverse investment short.

Quick Hits

🎮 Gaming

• Ubisoft formally announces its 1st blockchain game, Champions Tactics: Grimoria Chronicles, described as a PC-based PVP tactical RPG. (Link)

• Nakamoto Games integrates its platform into the curricula of premier Thai universities, part of which is a series of hackathons to experience blockchain gaming firsthand. (Link)

• The Elder Scrolls franchise is speculated to collide with the battle royale game Fortnite in an exciting crossover. (Link)

• Dragons or unicorns? Why Laguna Games rejected Game of Thrones to make the NFT game Crypto Unicorns. (Link)

• Blockchain game Battle of Three Kingdoms, under SEGA license, launches by end of the year. (Link)

• Game devs find an ally in new AI tools Unity Sentis and Unity Muse, largely designed to increase productivity and accelerate workflows. (Link)

🕶 Fashion

• Discover the Diablo IV fashion line, a game-themed denim collection available at a department store pop-up and highlights Diablo IV's Lilith and her dark aesthetic. (Link)

• A timeline of Adidas’ web3 journey and a stylish teaser of ALTs season two. (Link)

• Lacoste bets on blockchain-based loyalty. (Link)

• How retailers can right-size their inventory via AI. (Link)

• German fashion retailer Zalando sues EU over the landmark Digital Services Act, where it’s the only European company on the list designated as "Very Large Online Platforms." (Link)

• In conflict-ridden Congo, the 9th ed of the Liputa fashion show showcases creativity as an opportunity to inspire peace and coexistence across Africa. (Link)

🏀 Sports

• Tech for work and play: Soccer club FC Tampa Rangers teams up with AI to analyze player performances. (Link)

• Pixellot and the Handball Federation of Portugal (FPA) will launch an AI-automated OTT platform where all the games of the top leagues will now be livestreamed. (Link)

• Volley introduces AI-enabled racquet sports training to help pros and players get the most out of their game. (Link)

• How do you tell if someone can go pro? Major League Baseball scouts them using 2 iPhones and AI to identify potential. (Link)

• How African athletes can build their personal brands through blockchain and other web3 tools. (Link)

🎥 Media & Entertainment

• Film director Roland Emmerich creates a shared universe of TV, gaming, and web3 tomfoolery. (Link)

• Themed as Expanded Universe, Alternative Movie Posters (AMP)’s forthcoming NFT collection features movie poster artists. (Link)

• Kakao wins a gov’t contract to build a state-backed metaverse healthcare platform. (Link)

• Next-gen ventures like the metaverse, interactive livestreaming, and chat apps re-center the music industry around fans, making artists and biz more financially self-sufficient. (Link)

• TikTok covers the legal fees for TikTok creators who filed a lawsuit challenging Montana's statewide ban on the app. (Link)

• The 3rd installment of Mona Lisa: Metaverse Renaissance replicates Mona Lisa as an AI-driven avatar inside Sensorium's metaverse, performing electronic music DJ sets. (Link)

🖼 Art

• Art Blocks releases World Flag, a collection of 195 interactive visual art NFTs from Irish contemporary artist John Gerrard. (Link)

• The Asian digital talent makes waves in web3. (Link)

• Sotheby’s uses a Dutch auction format for the 1st time in its 300-year history for an on-chain digital sale of 500 unique artworks from artist Vera Molnar. (Link)

• 2nd FC Barcelona Masterpiece Empowerment inspired by Alexia Putellas sells for $300K+ at an OpenSea auction. (Link)

• Digital community platform Coordinape is rolling out CoSoul, allowing users to create a digital resume on-chain. (Link)

• Artist John Gerrard’s new NFT series confronts the climate crisis with stark depictions of "future deserts." (Link)

🤖 AI

• Billionaires and bureaucrats pit China against the US in the AI race. (Link)

• AI may be able to look for early signs of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. (Link)

• AI dominates at Cannes conversations with implications for ad agencies and creatives. (Link)

• Despite their fears, college administrators start to embrace ChatGPT. (Link)

• Japan’s new AI rules favor copycats over artists, experts warn. (Link)

• OpenAI brings the competition to DeepMind’s doorstep with a new London office. (Link)

• Databricks rolls out an AI assistant to help analyze business data. (Link)

💸 Funding & Partnerships

• South Korean telecom giant KT will invest $5.3B in AI by 2027. (Link)

• Celestial AI raises $100M to transfer data using light-based interconnects. (Link)

• The Sandbox partners with Metafight for a unique MMA-themed virtual experience. (Link)

• PlayMining GameFi platform partners with gaming blockchain Oasys to deploy layer 2 chain. (Link)

• Master English fluency: Israeli startup nabs $9.25M funding for a virtual AI tutor. (Link)

• Digital Arms partners with Barrett Firearms to launch the Barrett M82A1 NFT collection. (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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