8 Feb 2022 | AWE Team
Monthly Spatial: January 2022
Monthly Spatial

Monthly Spatial


The Monthly blog post below highlights

the news we captured in the previous month.

The AWE Weekly Spatial is a newsletter that curates the most exciting news within the XR industry each week. If you are not yet subscribed or wish to stay up to date with the VR/AR/MR happenings make sure to subscribe to the Weekly Spatial for the most relevant news delivered to your inbox every Friday. 


January 2022 Highlights


Metaverse & NFTs

Platforms and Tools

Hardware

Events

Spatial Insights

  • What does this device’s holiday sales say about VR’s fate in 2022? (ARInsider)
  • How much revenue will immersive ad placement drive in 2022? (ARInsider)
  • What do regular folks think about the Metaverse? (ARInsider)
  • How long will the metaverse hype last? (ARInsider)

XR Market

Metaverse & NFTs

  • Microsoft to Acquire Activision Blizzard to Take On the Metaverse. (Microsoft)
  • VR/AR Investments Increase Just As Metaverse Talk Heats Up. (CrunchBase)
  • Social NFT Minting Platform, Dropp GG Raises $8M. (Auganix)

Enterprise

  • CareAR Announces Acquisition of MagicLens Will Extend Its Service Offering by Bundling Rich AR Content Created By MagicLens’ 3D Toolsets And Domain Expertise to Provide a Visual AR Experience for Industrial and Physical Products. (Auganix)
  • Apprentice.io Scores $100M Funding for AR Tech. (Fiercepharma)
  • South Korean VIRNECT, Company That Offers A Range Of Industrial XR Solutions from Remote Collaboration to Facility Digitalization And Monitoring Raises $30M in Series B funding. (Auganix)
  • Metaphysic, AI Startup Behind Tom Cruise Deepfakes, Raises $7.5M. (VentureBeat)

Platforms & Tools

  • VR Game Studio Alta Raises $12.4M to Further Develop Proprietary Content and IP, Expand the Team and Position the Game for New Platforms. (VentureBeat)

Hardware

  • Mojo Vision Raises Additional $45M to Support Further Development of Mojo Lens, Its Early Stage Smart Contact Lens. (Road to VR)

Entertainment

  • AmazeVR Secures $15M to Bring Immersive Concerts to VR. (Road to VR)

Launches & Announcements

Metaverse & NFTs

  • Meta Plans to Fuse Its Metaverse Apps & Make Them More Accessible. (Road to VR)
  • PwC Enters Metaverse Race with Digital Land Purchase. (XR Today)
  • Alibaba Plans Metaverse Push with AR Smart Glasses.(XR Today)
  • Kippo 2.0 Pivots Gamer Dating App to the Metaverse. (VentureBeat)
  • South Korea Is Building Its Own K-Pop Metaverse. (VRScout)

Enterprise

  • Smart Contact Lens Company Mojo Vision Announces Partnerships with Several Fitness Brands. (Auganix)
  • Tony Xu, Co-Founder and CEO of DoorDash, Joins Meta’s Board of Directors. (Auganix)
  • TeamViewer and NSF Partner to Help Digitize the Food Industry with Augmented Reality Solution ‘EyeSucceed’. (Auganix)
  • Deloitte Launches Unlimited Reality Services. (Deloitte US)
  • Report: Apple’s First AR/VR Headset Faces Delays. (Ars Technica)
  • Meta Materials Joins LaSAR Alliance for Augmented Reality Wearable Devices. (META)
  • Nextech AR Solutions Joins Khronos Group as a Contributing Member. (Auganix)
  • Chinese Big Tech Firms Led by Tencent, Baidu Among World’s Top-Ranked Filers of VR, AR Patent Applications as Metaverse Interest Surges. (South China Morning Post)
  • Immersive Tech Announces Development Agreement with HTC to Further Develop Its Hyper-Immersive VR Technologies. (Auganix)
  • PTC and Schaeffler Announce Strategic Alliance to Accelerate Digital Transformation Roadmap. (Auganix)

Hardware

  • ThirdEye Announces New ‘Razor MR Glasses’ Consumer Mixed Reality Device. (Auganix)
  • Panasonic Automotive Unveils Driveable AR HUD 2.0 with Patented Eye-Tracking System at CES 2022. (Auganix)
  • Phiar Technologies Working with Qualcomm to Transform Automotive Cockpits with Spatial AI-Powered AR HUD Navigation. (Auganix)
  • Panasonic Subsidiary Shiftall Unveils Lightweight MicroOLED VR Headset for Consumers. (Road to VR)
  • Vuzix Launches M400-C AR Smart Glasses. (XR Today)
  • CES 2022 Honors Kura Gallium AR Smart Glasses. (XR Today)
  • Ultraleap Launches Next-Gen Camera. (Ultraleap)
  • Linux-Based Standalone VR Headset Boasts PC Specs with a Price to Match, Kickstarter Coming Soon. (Road to VR)
  • Metalenz Unveils PolarEyes Sensors that are 1,000 Times Smaller than a Human Hair. (VentureBeat)
  • Meta's New Supercomputer Could Improve Its VR & AR Tracking. (UploadVR)
  • TriLite Trixel 3 Projection Display System for AR Glasses Demo at SPIE Photonics West. (Auganix)
  • Beyond Imagination and GelSight Announce Pilot Study Into Tactile Sensing in Robots Controlled Via Virtual Reality. (Auganix)

Software

  • Cubism Passthrough Update Available Now For Quest Headsets. (UploadVR)
  • NVIDIA Omniverse is Now Freely Available to Creators. (VRFocus)
  • 8th Wall and Ericsson Emodo Partner to Enable Ad Solution that Embeds Interactive WebAR Content Directly Inside Ad Units. (Auganix)
  • Gleechi Announces Availability of its VirtualGrasp Technology to Enable Developers to Add More Natural Hand Interactions to VR Experiences. (Auganix)

Platforms, Tools & Services

  • Cavrnus Announces 2022.1.0 Release of Its Extended Reality Collaboration Platform. (Auganix)
  • Nextech AR Launches Shopify App For 3D Model Making. (Business Wire)
  • Viveport Launching NFT Marketplace Vive Bytes This Month. (VRScout)

Education

  • Full Sail University To Create Virtual Production Studio. (ARPost)
  • University of Cambridge and Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Partner with GigXR to Create Mixed Reality Medical Simulation Training. (Auganix)

Training, Gaming & Entertainment

  • Sony teases Horizon: Call of the Mountain for PSVR 2. (VentureBeat)
  • Hitman 3's PC VR Support Arrived On January 20. (UploadVR)
  • nDreams reveals new Studio Elevation for AAA and VR titles. (VentureBeat)
  • Disney Patents “Virtual World Simulator” Which Is AR Without Headsets. (Boardwalk Times)
  • Sony Encourages Global Game Jam Participants to Embrace VR. (GMW3)

Healthcare

  • Rendever Announces Worldwide Availability of Its New ‘RendeverFit’ Virtual Reality Social Fitness and Wellbeing Platform for Seniors. (Auganix)
  • Crozer Health Becomes the First Hospital to Utilize ThirdEye’s Mixed Reality Smart Glasses and RespondEye Platform for First Responders. (Auganix)

Marketing, Advertising & Experiences

  • Nike Launches In-Store Activation that Invites Customers to Experience Sports in New Ways. (8th Wall)
  • BT Launches Exciting New Immersive Experience. (ar.rocks)
  • Meta Abandons Oculus Branding On Twitter. (UploadVR)
  • This VR/AR Art Exhibit Is Environmentally-Friendly. (VRScout)
  • Lost Recipes Review: Refreshing & Educational VR Cooking. (UploadVR)

Summaries & Forecasts

  • Reality Check with Tom Emrich: Looking Back at Augmented Reality in 2021. (LinkedIn)

AWE.LIVE Recordings

AWE Nite NYC: 2022 Kick Off with Auggie Award Winners

AWE Nite LA: XR in Education

Rock the Metaverse Event Series


AWE Talks

AWE Talks: Snap & Deloitte Validate AR Marketing's Promise by Mike Boland 

AWE Talks: Unity Unlocks Immersive Brand Marketing by Mike Boland 

AWE Talks: Boeing Brings AR to Air Force One by Mike Boland


AWE Featured Recordings

ALL AWE USA 2021 Recordings Available on YouTube

We are still in AWE after experiencing AWE USA 2021 both virtually and in-person. In case you missed a talk, panel or demo from AWE USA 2021, recordings from all tracks are available on our YouTube Channel. Check out some fun demos and interviews from AWE as well. Want more AWE goodness? Make sure to subscribe to our channel!


For more AWE content check out our YouTube Channel

 
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