Vision Pro immersive travel 🏞️, Digital twin vacation homes 🏝️, Louis Vuitton's 6K digital mini trunk 👝

_{Sign up | Advertise}

Your weekly dose of what’s happening in spatial technology

📈 Markets & Business

Apple Vision Pro tipped to be on 10 million faces within 3 years (Read time: 4 minutes)

Apple's Vision Pro headset, despite its high price tag, is projected to reach a significant market presence, with estimates of 10 million units sold by 2026. This ambitious goal reflects Apple's strategy of integrating augmented reality technology into mainstream consumer markets, potentially replacing traditional devices like the iPhone. The report, however, suggests cautious optimism, considering the challenges of high production costs and consumer adoption rates.

Matterport Signs Multi-Year Partnership with Vacasa to Provide Digital Twins for International Portfolio of Vacation Homes (Read time: 2 minutes)

Matterport and Vacasa announce a partnership to use Matterport's Digital Twin Platform for virtual tours and property management. This collaboration aims to enhance the vacation rental experience with immersive virtual tours and efficient property management, showcasing Matterport's ability to revolutionize property marketing and operations globally.

🕴️ Big Tech

Apple Vision Pro: This ‘travel’ feature lets you escape your chaotic life (Read time: 2 minutes)

Apple's Vision Pro headset showcases its virtual reality capabilities through a "Yosemite" environment, offering users an immersive nature-based VR experience. Although similar functionalities exist in other VR headsets like Meta Quest, the Vision Pro's higher resolution enhances the experience. This feature highlights the dual capabilities of Vision Pro in both augmented and virtual reality, reinforcing its position as a multifaceted device in the tech market.

Huawei’s rumored Apple Vision Pro competitor to ship with flagship specs (Read time: 3 minutes)

Huawei is reportedly developing a mixed reality headset as a competitor to Apple's Vision Pro, featuring a flagship chipset and an innovative heat dissipation system. This development, while still speculative, suggests an escalating competition in the MR headset market. Huawei's entry, along with its sub-brand Honor, could introduce more affordable alternatives in the spatial computing arena, potentially democratizing access to advanced mixed reality technologies.

Pinterest begins testing a ‘body type ranges’ tool to make searches more inclusive (Read time: 3 minutes)

Pinterest is taking significant steps towards inclusivity with the testing of a new tool that allows users to filter searches by different body types. Initially focusing on women's fashion and wedding ideas, this feature is powered by Pinterest's novel body type technology, which identifies various body types using computer vision. This development aligns with Pinterest's commitment to addressing body size discrimination and promoting body diversity. The addition of this technology to Pinterest's "inclusive AI" portfolio, which includes skin tone ranges and hair pattern search filters, has already improved representation of different body types in women’s fashion-related searches in the U.S. by fivefold.

📱 Tech Innovation

Varjo's Auto-Focus XR-4 Mixed-Reality Headset Boasts Specs to Rival Apple Vision Pro (Read time: 3 minutes)

Varjo, a Finnish tech startup, introduces the XR-4, an industrial mixed-reality headset for PCs, promising higher resolution and multifocal passthrough camera technology. Though primarily for industrial use, the XR-4's features such as 4K resolution per eye, Mini-LED displays, and advanced lidar sensors present a significant advancement in mixed reality tech. It also includes new controllers co-developed by Razer, offering a more seamless experience. Priced at $3,990 for the regular model and $9,990 for the auto-focus Focal Edition, Varjo's XR-4 positions itself as a cutting-edge alternative in the high-end mixed-reality market.

Louis Vuitton is selling a €6,000 digital mini trunk by Nicolas Ghesquière (Read time: 3 minutes)

Louis Vuitton delves deeper into the Web3 realm with the launch of a "phygital" trunk bag designed by Nicolas Ghesquière. This NFT-based accessory, named the Via Tile Trunk, combines the iconic Louis Vuitton damier motif with digital innovation. Priced at €6,000 and limited to 200 pieces, it's available exclusively to Louis Vuitton Treasure Trunk NFT holders. The trunk exemplifies a seamless blend of physical and digital luxury, reflecting the brand's evolving strategy to integrate Web3 and NFT elements into its high-end fashion offerings.

🚀 Launches

Amazon’s new Echo Frames are lighter, louder, and start shipping next week (Read time: 2 minutes)

Amazon introduces the third-generation Echo Frames, focusing on improved design and functionality. These smart glasses, which integrate Alexa voice assistant, offer enhanced features like better battery life, more bass in audio, and stylish design options. Priced at $269.99, with a $75 discount for early preorders, the Echo Frames represent Amazon's commitment to integrating smart technology into everyday wearables, prioritizing functionality over visual augmented reality features.

Makers of popular Dream by Wombo AI app launch a new app for AI avatars (Read time: 4 minutes)

Wombo, known for its AI-generated art app Dream by Wombo, introduces Wombo Me, an AI avatar app that transforms a single selfie into various lifelike avatars. Distinct from existing AI avatar apps, Wombo Me offers a swift and streamlined experience, generating images almost instantly from just one selfie. The app aims for a fun approach, allowing users to experiment with different personas, hairstyles, and even enchanted characters. With options for both free and paid avatar packs, Wombo Me offers versatility and quality, aiming for long-term user engagement and social interaction capabilities.

Luma AI launches Interactive Scenes v1.2 bringing clearer than ever Gaussian Splats, approaching Luma NeRF quality and advances to Sky & Background Quality for spectacular outdoor scenes. 🖼️

🎁 Sponsor Giveaway

Score your free NHL Breakaway pack!

🦄 Startups & Fund Raises

Farcana, a United Arab Emirates-based gaming startup, received an investment from Animoca Brands. The amount of the deal was not disclosed. The company intends to use the funds for the enhancement of it and its integration within the Bitcoin ecosystem.

Thirdverse raises $8M to continue its investment free-to-play and premium virtual reality games. The latest round brings the VR company’s total funding to $38 million.

 🥼 Research

Smart glasses could boost privacy by swapping cameras for this 100-year-old technology 

Researchers at Cornell University have developed PoseSonic, a sonar-based technology for smart glasses that enhances privacy and accuracy in tracking user movements. Using micro sonar and AI, this technology creates an echo profile image to track body movements without the use of cameras, offering a more private and efficient alternative to current AR smart glasses. PoseSonic's innovation signifies a potential shift in wearable technology, focusing on user privacy and cost-effectiveness.

⚡️ Quick Bytes

👀 3D Scanstore’s new HD Body Capture technology is getting SCARY good:

Upscaling Lara Croft from PS1 to super high resolution with Magnific AI:

Checkout this VPS AR navigation concept:

Here’s a demo of converting a 3D Gaussian Splat to a Realtime LCM painting:

Checkout this early prototype of Looking Glass’ new hologram monitor:

Rate Today’s Edition

Want to Sponsor This Newsletter? 🤝

Advertise with Metalyst to get your brand or startup in front of the Who's Who of metaverse tech.

Our 6K+ readers are folks who love tech stuff – they create things, and invest in cool ideas. Your product could be their next favorite thing! Get in touch today.

Was this newsletter forwarded to you, and you’d like to see more?