DeepMind's Breakthrough in Computing, Apple's Vision Pro Gesture Controls, Meta's VR Update

🚀 Big Tech

1) Apple Is Making Developer Betas Free and Accessible to Everyone (3 minute read)

Apple has announced it will make its developer betas, including those for its spatial computing platform, freely available to everyone. This move is expected to democratize access to its platforms and increase the speed of innovation.

2) Meta Testing Instagram Reels in Quest VR (2 minute read)

Meta is experimenting with Instagram Reels in virtual reality. The company aims to bring its short-form video service to the Quest VR platform, opening up new forms of VR content for users.

3) Zuckerberg Responds to Apple Vision Pro (2 minute read)

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, has responded to the announcement of Apple's Vision Pro. He hinted at significant advancements in Meta's own spatial computing efforts and stated that Apple’s Vision Pro has no "magical solutions" that Meta has not thought of, and "costs seven times more".

🥽 Spatial Computing

4) These Are the Gestures for Apple Vision Pro (2 minute read)

Here are the gesture controls for the new Apple Vision Pro. The headset comes without VR controllers and is controlled only by eye, hand tracking and voice.

5) Meta Quest 3 Cooling Performance (3 minute read)

Meta's Quest 3 gets a cooling upgrade, helping to boost overall performance. The result: up to 45 percent higher CPU performance in some cases.

6) Apple Vision or Dystopia? (4 minute read)

Apple's Vision Pro, with its unprecedented capabilities in spatial computing, is igniting discussions on whether the tech giant is ushering in a revolutionary future or moving towards a dystopian reality.

7) Samsung Electronics speeds up development of new XR device in face of Apple (3 minute read)

Samsung Electronics is accelerating its efforts to develop a new XR device to be released as early as this year.

8) Spatial Computing: A Revolution 16 Years in the Making (7 minute read)

Spatial computing, a technology that blends digital content with the physical world, has been in development for 16 years and is now on the cusp of revolutionizing industries, from gaming and entertainment to enterprise applications.

9) New Cycle XR (2 minute read)

We are entering the next boom cycle of XR, as marked by Apple’s recent announcement into the spatial computing space.

🥽 Tech Innovation

10) Niantic and 8th Wall Roll Out New Tools and Mixed Reality Experience (3 minute read)

Niantic and 8th Wall have launched new tools and a mixed reality experience aimed at providing developers more options to create immersive, real-world metaverse experiences.

11) DeepMind's AlphaDev Discovers Faster Sorting and Hashing Algorithms

DeepMind's latest AI system, AlphaDev, has unveiled faster sorting and hashing algorithms, representing a notable advancement in computer science. According to a paper published in the science journal Nature, AlphaDev's newly discovered algorithm boosts efficiency by 70% for sorting short sequences of elements and around 1.7% for sequences exceeding 250,000 elements, compared to the algorithms in the C++ library. These algorithms, used trillions of times daily by developers worldwide for data sorting, storage, and retrieval, will now enable faster sorting of search results, leading to significant time and energy savings when implemented on a large scale.

12) PhotoRoom and Google Cloud Partner to Democratize Generative AI Photo Editing (3 minute read)

PhotoRoom has partnered with Google Cloud to democratize the use of generative AI in photo editing. This partnership aims to provide accessible and advanced photo-editing capabilities to a broad range of users.

13) GPTeam: A Multi-Agent Simulation (5 minute read)

Langchain introduces GPTeam, a multi-agent simulation system that leverages language models to drive conversational agents. The platform aims to allow developers to train AI bots capable of engaging in complex dialogues, with the ultimate goal of fostering more natural and intelligent interactions between AI and humans.

⛓ Web3 and Metaverse

14) Nike and EA Sports Collaborate to Integrate Swoosh Virtual Creations into EA Sports Experiences (3 minute read)

Nike has teamed up with EA Sports to incorporate its "Swoosh" virtual goods (NFTs) into various EA Sports experiences, heightening the growing interest and expansion of interoperable web3 strategies.

15) NHL Launches Dynamic Metaverse Experience on Roblox (2 minute read)

The National Hockey League (NHL) has launched a dynamic metaverse experience on Roblox, allowing fans to engage in an immersive and interactive hockey experience in the virtual world.

16) Puma Plots NFT Sneaker Drop with NBA's LaMelo Ball and Gutter Cat Gang (3 minute read)

Puma is making strides into the world of NFTs by planning a sneaker drop in collaboration with NBA player LaMelo Ball and the Gutter Cat Gang. The move marks another major sports league embracing the potential of non-fungible tokens and digital assets as a means of fan loyalty and engagement.

17) Web3 is Transforming the Music Industry: Here's How (4 minute read)

Web3 is ushering in a transformation of the music industry. The decentralized, blockchain-based nature of Web3 allows for greater transparency, ownership, and revenue-sharing possibilities for artists.

18) NFT Inspect Introduces New PFP Discovery Tool for Twitter (2 minute read)

NFT Inspect has unveiled a new discovery tool for Profile Picture (PFP) NFTs on Twitter. The tool will make it easier for users to find, inspect, and verify the ownership of NFT-based profile pictures on the platform.

19) The Creator Economy is Moving to Web3 (4 minute read)

The creator economy is shifting towards a Web3 friendly framework. As more creators adopt blockchain technologies, the possibilities for peer-to-peer interaction, ownership, and monetization are expanding.

💰Funding and Startups

20) Nvidia Invests in Google-Linked Generative AI Startup Cohere (4 minute read)

Cohere, an enterprise-focused generative artificial intelligence startup, has raised $270 million in a Series C round of venture capital which includes AI giant Nvidia. Cohere makes AI tools that can power copywriting, search and summarization.

21) Pomelo Care Raises $33M in Seed and Series A Funding (1 minute read)

Pomelo Care, a digital healthcare platform, has successfully raised $33 million in Seed and Series A funding rounds. The funding will enable the company to expand its services and solidify its presence in the digital health sector.

22) Matrixspace Raises $10M in Series A Funding (1 minute read)

MatrixSpace, an AI-centric company specializing in radar technology, has successfully raised $10 million in a Series A funding round. The company's technology facilitates the real-time identification and data collection of objects, with no cloud access required. They're developing a compact radar system that provides advanced integrated outdoor surveillance in 4D, tracking size, location, and movement of objects over time. This technology is set to be made accessible to a wide variety of public and private entities.

23) Hyperplay Raises $12M for Cross-Chain Web3 Game Launcher (3 minute read)

Hyperplay, a blockchain gaming company, raised $12 million for their cross-chain Web3 game launcher. This funding will allow Hyperplay to further integrate blockchain technology into the gaming sector and provide gamers with a more seamless and decentralized experience.

24) Aave's Lens Protocol Raises $15M to Build the Decentralized Social Web (4 minute read)

Aave's Lens Protocol has secured $15 million in funding to build a decentralized social web. This financial backing will help the protocol to foster a more open and equitable internet where users have greater control and ownership over their data.

25) Monster API Raises $1.1M in Pre-Seed Funding (1 minute read)

Monster API, a California-based machine learning (ML) platform, has secured $1.1 million in pre-seed funding. The company provides a globally available platform for generative AI, leveraging unused computing power from decentralized crypto and gaming systems. The funding will be used to expand operations and reach. The platform simplifies access, tuning, and training of ML models and reduces costs via its decentralized computing approach.

🎓 Academic Papers and Research

26) A Deep Reinforcement Learning Framework for Autonomous Driving with Discrete Actions (5 minute read)

This paper proposes a novel deep reinforcement learning (DRL) framework for autonomous driving. It showcases an efficient and robust method for training driving policies, aiming to increase safety, efficiency, and overall performance of autonomous vehicles.

27) Self-Supervised Vision Transformers with DINO (5 minute read)

This academic research discusses the advancements in self-supervised Vision Transformers (ViT) using DINO (DIstillation of knowledge with NO labels). It offers an in-depth look into the revolutionary self-supervised learning method that can provide significant improvements in visual recognition tasks.

28) How Dopamine Signals Contribute to Temporal Perception (7 minute read)

This research examines how dopamine signals contribute to temporal perception in the brain. It provides insights into how our neural systems perceive and manage time, which can have significant implications in understanding brain disorders such as Parkinson's and ADHD.

29) Understanding GPT Tokenizers (5 minute read)

Simon Willison presents a comprehensive guide on how GPT tokenizers work. Tokenizers, the essential element in any language model, play a crucial role in breaking down text into tokens that the model can understand. Willison delves into the specifics of how tokenizers function within GPT models, facilitating a deeper understanding of these AI systems.

30) Digital Tool Spots Academic Text Spawned by ChatGPT with 99% Accuracy (4 minute read)

Researchers at the University of Kansas have developed a digital tool that can identify academic text generated by ChatGPT with an impressive accuracy of 99%. This technology could help differentiate between human-generated content and AI-written text, enhancing authenticity and integrity in academic and professional writing.

31) Where Imagination Lives in Your Brain (6 minute read)

This piece from Scientific American delves into the latest research exploring the neural basis of imagination. The findings suggest that the process of imagining is not just confined to a specific area in the brain, but rather a complex network of regions working together. This understanding could lead to advancements in AI, helping to create more creative and imaginative systems.

⚡️ Quick Bytes

• VIVE XR Elite NEW FEATURES & UPDATES

• AWE USA 2023: Retail, E-Commerce & Advertising: Why AR is the inevitable Future of Commerce

• Play with Apple Vision Pro

• Black Mirror Creator: ChatGPT Writes Like Sh*t

• A novel type of neural network is helping physicists with the daunting challenge of data analysis

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