This week in the ➡️ #Metaverse - Issue #20

A weekly roundup of what’s happening in the digital land(scape). Metaverse ethics, governance and interesting trends from crypto, gaming and regulation.

What's going on:

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida continued calls for Web3 technology integration.

While metaverse platforms Decentraland and The Sandbox both have below 1,000 daily active users, they each have over $1 billion in valuation. So who's actually using the metaverse right now?

Meta’s flagship metaverse app Horizon Worlds is struggling because of too many bugs and not enough employees testing it, the company’s VP of Metaverse, Vishal Shah, said in leaked memos.

The Walt Disney Company encompasses theme parks and some of the world's best-loved entertainment brands. All of this makes it a perfect fit for the much-hyped metaverse, which promises to blend the real and the virtual to create cutting-edge entertainment experiences.

My way or the hardware:

There are two major semiconductor companies that battle for the crown of the metaverse chipmaker: Qualcomm and Nvidia. Find out which one to buy.

Magic Leap today announced that its next generation enterprise augmented reality platform, Magic Leap 2, is now commercially available.

HTC today teased what’s confirmed to be the company’s next VR headset, something the Vive-creator says will be “something big… we mean small.” There’s not much to go on for now, only a tweet which shows a piece of the headset in question with the subtitle “Go small or go home.” No name, no price, …

The WTF award of the week goes to...

The counterculture publication is also revamping its series with its first "volume 2" in 45 years, all while leaning on NFTs and blockchain.

Gaming news:

Blizzard is aware of cosmetics and other items missing from collections

EU antitrust regulators are asking games developers whether Microsoft will be incentivised to block rivals' access to "Call of Duty" maker Activision Blizzard's best-selling games, according to an EU document seen by Reuters.

Nearly 7,000 people across five countries took part in a Web3 gaming survey, which looked into what may be holding back Web3 gaming from wider adoption.

I Am Not A Robot: AI news

Boston Dynamics and 5 other major robot makers promise they won't weaponize their robots. What you do with them, well...

Among the great challenges posed to democracy today is the use of technology, data, and automated systems in ways that threaten the rights of the American public. Too often, these tools are used to limit our opportunities and prevent our access to critical resources or services. These problems are well documented. In America and around…

For Science!

Yann LeCun, machine learning pioneer and head of AI at Meta, lays out a vision for AIs that learn about the world more like humans in a new study.

Meme corner:

BDMTS!!!

Ending nugget:

"First of all, we should design our national strategy to develop of our digital economy in the Web 3.0 era, utilizing NFT and crypto assets, and position it as a pillar of growth for new capitalism.

In order for our country to demonstrate leadership in this new and enormous frontier, we should reflect on the lessons learned from the Web2.0 era lead by GAFAM, and immediately gather collective wisdom from the public and private sectors and take action.

For this to happen, strong political leadership and clear commitment are required above all. From this perspective, we recommend that a minister be appointed to be in charge of Web 3.0, and that the government sends a clear message to develop and advance Japan’s national strategy for the Web 3.0 era."

NFT White Paper - Japan’s NFT Strategy for the Web 3.0 Era

It's lonely in the Metaverse