Emerging Tech Round Up 4-8-24
Emerging Tech Round Up 4-8-24
A roundup of activity in emerging technology
Brand Activity
Coachella Launches NFT Enabled Quests
The popular music festival Coachella has launched an app called “Coachella Canvas” where users will be tasked to complete specific tasks or go to specific locations in order to receive a stamp
Stamps can be traded in for perks such as drinks or VIP access
This will all be done on the blockchain with stamps as NFT’s, however the consumer will be none the wiser and there is no need to set up anything crypto related to participate
Beyond simply being a fun activation, these quests will allow the Coachella organizers to gain insights into the behavior and interests of attendees who choose to participate
The choice of implementing blockchain technology was not done as a PR move, rather a Coachella spokesperson was quoted saying “Fans don't know or care that it is an NFT, but an NFT is useful for us because the fan's privacy is still protected, but we can know more about what people want to do on the festival side,” he said. “It's like a new version of a web browser cookie”
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US Government Sues Apple
The US Government has launched an antitrust lawsuit against Apple, alleging it has created an illegal monopoly on smartphones that stifles innovation and keeps prices artificially high
The lawsuit also takes aim at how Apple products don’t offer inter-functionality
For example, the only smart watch that will pair with an iPhone is an Apple Watch
Other examples include the non inter-functionality of iMessage (the famous green vs blue text bubbles), limiting 3rd party contactless payment options in order to drive customers to Apple Pay, streaming, and more
This is a grand and sweeping lawsuit that targets many of Apple’s core businesses.
The lawsuit has been compared to the government’s anti-monopoly case against Microsoft almost 25 years ago
Apple claims that the government is misinterpreting the law and vows to vigorously defend itself in court
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Nike Launches New Fortnite World
Nike was one of the first brands to take advantage of the Fortnite UEFN platform releasing their own custom map titled “Airphoria” last year
The experience was primarily supporting a product launch of Nike’s Airmax shoe
The experience had players participate in a scavenger hunt for Nike products and was only available for a limited time before the activation disappeared
Nike’s new map is called “Airphoria 2 Enter the DN Dimension” and is supporting the upcoming product launch of the Nike AirMax DN
The experience has light story telling elements and introduces a new character/IP called Max
Max is uploading a precious new element to the DN shoes that is unstable and opens a portal to another dimension
Players must embark on a parkour solo experience to collect four air chambers that activate the sneakers
Nike also supplemented this activation with two new skins that were purchasable in the Fortnite official store titled “Airphorian” and “Eclipse”
This map followed in the same vein as the last Airphoria and was only available for a very limited time
It never had more than 700 concurrent players and the strategy of a single player experience within the UEFN system could be questioned as being ineffective
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Telegram Enables On-platform Ad Purchases Via Crypto
Telegram has had a long relationship with the TON blockchain, with Telegram actually participating in the initial development along side founder Nikolai Durov
Telegram has recently further cemented this relationship by allowing users to purchase ads on their platform using $TON, the native token of the blockchain
In true web3 spirit the owners of the channels in which ads will appear will receive 50% of revenue generated via ads purchased with Telegram collecting the remaining 50%
As of now, channel owners can already participate in the profit sharing but the ability to cash out these tokens is still a couple weeks out
Telegram has stated this profit sharing model is only possible due to the incorporation and ease of use of crypto currencies
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AI
Microsoft is Testing Chatbots to be Used in Xbox Customer Support
Everyday AI is more interlaid into our everyday lives, sometimes in ways we may not even notice… In the future it will probably be quite hard to identify while online who is human and who is AI
Microsoft is currently exploring this frontier with the use of Chatbots doing customer service, specifically for those who are experiencing technical problems with their Xbox
Microsoft is going a step further and personifying this AI as a animated character that users will be able to type and talk to
The character will then provide troubleshooting tips for players
What this character will look like remains to be seen, though a possible mockup has leaked
Microsoft is no stranger to AI solutions within its gaming portfolio
Blizzard has confirmed it uses AI in World of Warcraft to help make armor fit various character body types, a task that used to be painstakingly boring for their designers
Over at Call Of Duty they are using an AI tool to track and ban toxic players and has seen an 8% decrease in repeat offenders since the tool has been in use
This follows Klarna’s strong chatbot case study: https://www.klarna.com/international/press/klarna-ai-assistant-handles-two-thirds-of-customer-service-chats-in-its-first-month/
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OpenAI Can Recreate Human Voices
OpenAI now has a couple products that they are holding off releasing to the general public due to the possible ramifications of their potential misuse
The most prominent being Sora, their text to video AI tool that generated some jaw dropping clips
The newest product that they are not releasing to the general public due to the possibility of misuse is a text to voice application that can mimic any voice in the world
Currently titled “Voice Engine”, this product can create synthetic voices or recreate someone’s voice off of just 15 seconds of recorded audio
Once a voice is cloned the user will be able to get that voice to say anything they want
Open AI had planned to allow a select few developers to test the product this month, however after considering the ethical implication the company has decided to hold off
While one can definitely imagine all the possible implications of how this technology could be misused, there are some interesting benefits to take into consideration
For example, those who lose their voice due to disease could train a model to speak in their original voice
Another benefit is the ability to translate your voice into any language in the world
To hear the examples Open Ai has released click here
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Metaverse / Gaming
Elixir Games Raises $14M from Industry Veteran
Elixir Games aims to be a crypto gaming store that helps launch developer’s projects; the web3 version of Steam or Valve
Elixir Games has just announced they have raised $14M for the continuing development of their platform, with the majority of those funds coming from veteran gaming developer Square Enix who is behind the popular Final Fantasy franchise
Elixir already has an impressive offering, boasting 130 titles on its platform and 500,000 registered users
The idea of a central hub in which to play crypto games is something Square Enix is bullish on as they also lead a fundraising round for Elixir’s main competitor Hyper Play
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Popular Trading Card Game Announces Massive Raise
Parallel is a popular trading card game built on the Ethereum blockchain and is similar in style to popular games like Magic the Gathering or Hearthstone
Parallel recently announced a new game that will live on the Solana blockchain as well as a whopping $35M
The raise included some impressive players including VanEck, Solana Co founders, Pudgy Penguins founder Luca Netz, and more
This comes after Parallel raised $50M from Paradigm in 2021
Parallel plans to use this money to continue their open beta of their trading card game, Parallel, expand their ambassador program, launch the free to play beta on both Epic Games and Steam, as well as create a mobile version of the game
They will also use the funds to continue development of their Solana based game which they are calling a “generative AI survival simulation game”
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Web3 Native
Doodles Announce Mysterious Project with Pharrell William and Lil Wayne
Doodles announced they are working on an animated film called Dullsville and the Doodleverse
The animation will be handled internally by Golden Wolf, the animation studio Doodles purchased in 2021
Here’s what is known so far:
The film will be directed by Doodles artists Burnt Toast
The project will also release a soundtrack under Doodles Records, a new LLC
The soundtrack will feature music from Lil Wayne, Pharrell, and Coi Leray, and three animated music videos will accompany the sound track
Lil Wayne and Coi Leray will also voice characters in the central animated film.
How and if this will tie into the main Doodles NFT collection or if holders will have a chance for premium perks within this activation has yet to be revealed
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Pudgy Penguin and VanEck Team Up to Take Over Wallstreet
In a fun but wholly unexpected surprise VanEck and Pudgy Penguins took over the NYC stock exchange on Friday, April 5th to ring the closing bell for the weekend
Pudgy Penguin imagery was hosted on all the screens within the trading floor and even on the elevator digital displays when entering the building
Other crypto projects also showed up but none were as heavily featured as Pudgy Penguins
On another part of the trading floor VanEck put a huge display of a variety of real crypto twitter posts
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Crypto
BNB offers $1M for Memes
Memecoins offer little intrinsic value usually, except for the ability to trade them, however they do massively benefit the blockchain they are built on, often onboarding new users and bringing traffic and volume
The two most popular Blockchains to trade memecoins are Solana and Ethereum,
Binance is tired of being memeless and is offering a million dollars in hopes to cure their lack of memes
BNB is offering a challenge to developers: deploy memecoins
If in a month total volume of all memecoins on the BNB chain has exceeded $30B in trading volume then the top 10 coins will split the million dollars
This initiative received a lackluster response when announced with Solana Cofounder replying, “You cant buy culture”
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Sam Bankman Fried is Sentenced
Sam Bankman Fried, the disgraced exchange founder who stole billions of dollars from his customers, has finally been sentenced
While many were hoping for a life sentence due to the brazen nature of his crimes, equally as many thought it likely that he would be given a slap on the wrist as has happened for similar white collar crimes in the past
The Judge split the difference and gave Mr. Fried a 25 year sentence
The Judge cited Sam’s lack of remorse and refusal to take responsibility as a factor in his sentencing
He of course plans to appeal both his conviction and his sentencing
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