Moxy Hotels, a chain of stylish hotels owned by Marriot, today announced the Moxy Universe, Play Beyond, an augmented reality (AR) experience that allows guests to interact with the hotel in a variety of unique ways.
Starting now until the end of the year, visitors can use their mobile devices to explore 12 Moxy Hotels from Shanghai to Tokyo using a virtual avatar. Ahead of their stay, guests can use the Moxy mobile app to begin customizing their digital persona with different outfits, accessories, and hairstyles. ...
Upon arriving at the bar of the hotel, which doubles as the front desk, guests can scan a QR code to view “holographic projections” and snap a few selfies with their avatar. unlock at least five challenges that will have them exploring every part of the hotel from their bedroom to the gym. ...
PhilNote: Inworld AI is in the 2022 Disney Accelerator program.
... Inworld AI is a company building a tool to create brains that experience creators can put into virtual bodies to populate the metaverse – whether that’s games, simulations for enterprise and education, embodied chatbots in immersive retail environments, or whatever else you can think of. ...
So, what is it, exactly? Inworld AI’s product consists of two main components. There’s the engine, that does the work, and a creator studio that lets users manipulate the engine to fit their needs. ...
The creator studio, which I was shown in a remote demo, consists of text inputs, toggles, and sliders. There’s also a special panel of controls for experimental features including audible pauses and expressive movement. ...
Looking at the engine component, there’s a lot that an Inworld AI character can do that a user doesn’t have to program. For example, the characters can recall past conversations. They can also access the internet to contextualize information and responses.
But, don’t be too afraid – the characters have “filters” that prevent them from profanity or harmful speech. ...
Inworld AI makes the “brain” but they don’t make the “body” – or even provide tools for it. The characters created in the platform can be inserted into avatars created in programs like Ready Player Me and MetaHumans. ...
... The René AR glasses feature a handful of unique features designed to enhance live performances. This includes two light ambient sensors capable of projecting AR background effects on-stage in real-time. They can also be used to alter the color of an actor’s costume and visualize live audio spoken during a performance.
As if that weren’t cool enough, there’s an adjustable magnifying glass built into the right lens that allows the wearer to zoom into the performance for a better look. ...
In addition to visuals, René also provides several interesting options for controlling your audio experience. A bone conduction transducer built into the arms of the device allows you to adjust the volume of certain audio elements. Users can select what sounds they’d like to prioritize at any moment, such as music or an actor’s voice.
The René AR glasses can be rented for Broadway performances via the TKTS ticket office. ...
Walt Disney Company published an announcement on Wednesday that explains the Disney Accelerator program has picked six companies to join this year’s class initiative that plans to target a few different technologies. “This year’s Disney Accelerator class is focused on building the future of immersive experiences and specializes in technologies such as augmented reality (AR), non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and artificial intelligence (AI) characters,” the entertainment company’s blog post details. ....
MATIC, Polygon’s token, responded to the news right away. In less than seven hours, the price of MATIC increased by nearly 25 percent, returning to a five-week high of over $0.65. The best-performing large cap is MATIC.
As of the time of publication, the price of MATIC had somewhat decreased; it is currently trading at $0.6208 on the main spot trading platforms. Even yet, it continues to be the coin with the best performance among all large-cap cryptocurrencies. ...
A graduation on Thursday in New Bedford certified 12 workers through virtual reality training to work on the Bay State’s Offshore Wind Project.
The course led by VINCI Virtual Reality and Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (SRGE) teaches students how to install and work on wind turbines. ...
This is the first group of students – in the world — certified to work on the wind turbines using virtual reality training. ...
The group of newly certified workers are one step closer to working on the Offshore Winds project, which include Mayflower and Vineyard Wind, set to be completed by 2025.
David Min Facebook post: What we've been up to:The Burbank, California-based entertainment giant chose six companies to participate this year in the Disney Accelerator program, and they all involve immersive experiences and technologies, the company said in a statement Wednesday. Participants in this year’s program include FlickPlay, a social-media app that lets users unlock non-fungible tokens tied to real world locations; Obsess, which helps brands create 3D virtual stores on their websites; and Red 6, which makes a headset that can be used to tap artificial reality experiences in active, outdoor settings.Previous participants in Disney’s program, launched in 2014, have included Epic Games, maker of the Fortnite game and the Unreal Engine computer graphics tool.
All companies named seem to have some links to Web3 with Flickplay offering a social app that enables users to discover NFTs tied to real-world locations that they can experience and share via AR.
On the other hand, Inworld helps developers create interactive, AI-driven characters for immersive experiences, while Lockerverse is a Web3 platform empowering creators to tell culture-defining stories delivering unique experiences.
Obsess offers brands an experiential e-commerce platform to launch 3D virtual stores on the metaverse and their websites, while Red 6 has developed and patented a headset that enables users to interface with high-performance environments outdoors.
Polygon is one of the leading L2 Ethereum scaling solutions in the market allowing developers to launch massive dApps like blockchain games and NFT marketplaces without compromising on the speed and low gas fees offered by proof-of-stake L1 blockchains. Polygon was the only blockchain platform named for the 2022 Disney Accelerator Program.
Disney launched its web3 and metaverse campaign earlier this year with a patented technology that allows users to interact with 3D objects without wearing a VR headset.
The CEO of data analytics firm Palantir, Alexander Karp, addressed European politicians precisely two weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine in February. He stated in an open letter that since the war was imminent, Europeans needed Silicon Valley’s assistance to update their arsenals. According to Karp, countries in Europe must embrace “the relationship between technology and the state, between disruptive companies that aim to loosen the hold of established contractors and the federal government ministries with funding” if they want to “remain strong enough to defeat the threat of foreign occupation.”
The call is being answered by the military. The creation of a $1 billion innovation fund by NATO was announced on June 30. The fund would invest in early-stage businesses and venture capital firms that are working on “priority” technologies such as automation, big data processing, and artificial intelligence. The Germans have set aside little under half a billion within a $100 billion budget infusion to the military for research and artificial intelligence since the conflict began, while the UK has created a new AI policy exclusively for defense. ...
AI war chest
The push for greater AI in defense has grown louder and louder over the past few years as the Maven issue fades into history. Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, who served as the NSCAI’s head, has been one of the most vocal in his calls for the US to embrace military AI more quickly. The NSCAI urged the US military to invest $8 billion annually in these technologies or risk falling behind China in a study published last year detailing actions the US could take to catch up to China in AI by 2025.
A Georgetown Center for Security and Emerging Technologies research estimates that the Chinese military invests at least $1.6 billion yearly in AI. According to Lauren Kahn, a research fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, there is already a significant push to catch up in the US. The US Department of Defense requested $874 million for AI in 2022, according to research published in March 2022, even if that amount does not cover all of the department’s AI initiatives.
... Because natural laws in the metaverse are editable in a way they are not in the real world, they can also reflect our moral judgements.
For example, no natural law prohibits Alice from stealing Bob's car. Because she is physically able to steal the car, our legal system needs to identify her, prove that she committed the crime, establish some punishment and attempt to make Bob whole again by returning the car or ordering restitution. The physics of the metaverse could absolutely restrict Alice from taking Bob's car. In effect, there is a new natural law in that metaverse: you cannot exercise control over another's possessions. Alice can no more easily violate that law than we can escape gravity's pull.
As another example, Carlton formally promises to buy Derek's virtual home for 0.001 bitcoin (BTC) if the price of 1 BTC exceeds $30,000 within the next 90 days. The entire transaction lives in the metaverse's digital realm: crypto currency is being exchanged for digital real estate upon a triggering event. Such transactions are the basis of smart contracts, and there is no opportunity to breach because the agreement automatically executes, as would computer code. Carlton and Derek's transaction becomes part of the fabric of their metaverse's legal system, and executes automatically if the triggering event occurs. ...
We can do in the virtual world what we can never hope to accomplish in the real world – we can bend the virtual world's parameters to match our moral judgments and build a space that by its nature executes our understanding of what is just and fair. ...
... “Nope World” is available for free in Meta’s Horizon Worlds app on the Quest 2 virtual-reality headset. According to Variety, “the experience begins with ‘Monkeypaw Productions: All Aboard,’ in which you find yourself as a passenger on the Monkeypaw train—featuring Easter eggs from Peele’s Nope,Get Out, and Us.”
In “Nope World,” visitors can interact with other fans (up to 11 at a time in a single instance), play minigames, and discover interactive elements, “including playing records, riding a motorcycle, and a getting sucked up into the sky by an ominous-looking storm cloud.”
Despite the partnership with Monkeypaw, the Horizon Worlds creators weren’t given any insider info on the film, so don’t worry about (or expect) any spoilers. “We’ve watched the [Nope] trailers so many times and got to bring in elements that we loved,” creator Matt Torres said. “It’s a great place to hang out and experience what it’s like being at Haywood Ranch.” ...
... With practical approaches to everything from writing a strong statement of AI ethics principles to creating teams that effectively evaluate ethical risks, Ethical Machines is the one guide you need to ensure your AI advances your company's objectives instead of undermining them.
