It was the week of dueling meetings. First of all, Nerd Woodstock, Nvidia GTC, It's back after a five-year hiatus due to the pandemic, and it's the right size for the world's third most valuable company. Dozens of miles away in San Francisco, the annual Game Developers Conference brings together developers and executives from across the gaming world, and even though the industry is still reeling from the post-gaming fallout, it's now home to TV. , streaming services celebrated this business of trivializing movies. Pandemic slowdown.
Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang has launched what the company calls the “Woodstock of AI.” Fans commanded the stage like rock stars, but it would be more accurate to describe it as a nerdy Woodstock. Nvidia has been a big winner in the AI field and is now the third most valuable company in the world, after Apple and Microsoft, with a value of $2 trillion. I met him at his Siggraph, and he radiated ambition and optimism as he rolled out his advanced H100 Hopper chip, purpose-built for AI applications.This week, Nvidia announced a chip called Blackwell
This provides significant benefits for both training and running AI models, while also reducing costs and energy consumption. That's not all. The fans were there for 90 minutes. NVIDIA's Project GR00T promises to revolutionize humanoid robots. This AI system acts as a “brain,” teaching the robot to understand commands, copy human movements, and develop new abilities. Top robotics companies are already participating. NVIDIA also released support tools for robot training and AI workload management. This breakthrough could finally bring cutting-edge AI from the digital realm into the physical world, creating robots that interact with us in smarter and more intuitive ways.
The state of Unreal at Game Developers Conference (GDC). Epic Games creates Unreal Engine, the platform on which the most graphically demanding AAA PC and console games are created. They are also responsible for Fortnite, a rapidly developing metaverse. Their State of Unreal talk is one of GDC's most anticipated events. This year, his CTO, Kim Librelli, made the announcement. Epic has invested heavily in user-generated content platforms such as Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN). The creators created over 80,000 of his UEFN islands and earned a payout of $320 million. Epic Games Store will be coming to mobile later this year and will include major franchises like Star Wars. We detailed the evolving Lego Fortnite and the integration of metahumans into his UEFN to easily create realistic characters. Unreal Engine 5.4 promises significant performance improvements, especially for rendering and animation.
Saudi Arabia aims to become a major player in the artificial intelligence (AI) field with a planned $40 billion investment fund. This huge amount is dwarfed by even the largest funds in the United States, and ranks second in the world after Japan's SoftBank. The move highlights global AI efforts and the country's ambitions to diversify its economy. Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund is in talks with top Silicon Valley companies, including Andreessen Horowitz, about possible partnerships. If the fund is successful, Saudi Arabia will become the world's largest AI investor, signaling its commitment to the technology and its push for a bigger role in geopolitics.
A recent report from Bloomberg suggests that Apple is in talks with Google to use Gemini AI models for future iPhone features. Industry experts see this as a sign that Apple's own generative AI development may be lagging behind its competitors. But this potential deal also shows that Apple prefers partnering with established tech giants like Google and OpenAI rather than relying on emerging startups.
XREAL, the top-selling consumer AR glasses brand, flexes its muscles at GDC 2024. The company demoed new AR games including: landing force, table trench And we introduced the XREAL Hub, a charge-and-play adapter that extends gaming sessions. XREAL's lightweight and stylish glasses won't fool you into thinking they're just ordinary sunglasses. It's a screen extender that mirrors your smartphone as a virtual big screen for gaming and media consumption, and has sold over 300,000 units, making it the world's most popular AR glasses, excluding meta Ray-Bans. I am. Must have a display. For developers, the upcoming XREAL Air 2 Ultra enables advanced spatial computing and his 6DOF experience.
It should be better for productivity applications. Electronic gaming pioneer Johnny would like to express his gratitude to Mr. Monsarrat. landing force, A location-based outdoor RPG that has been in development for a long time made its debut at the XReal show. This mobile AR walking game goes far beyond the use of GPS in Pokémon Go.in landing force , lay out a 2D role-playing game landscape throughout your backyard or any space you want to play. It's now in the app store.
Bloomberg reported that the PlayStation 2 has stopped production. Hmm. I predicted this. There aren't many Playstation 5 game consoles that are compatible, but every console owner who wants VR already has it.
Talespin was acquired by strategic investor Cornerstone. Talespin, a developer of enterprise XR learning technologies, has been acquired by its strategic partner and distributor Cornerstone OnDemand (NSDQ: CSOD), a publicly traded provider of web-based enterprise training software. Talespin had previously secured $40.5 million for him in three rounds in 2018, 2020, and 2022. This is his second(?) success story co-founded by Talespin CEO Kyle Jackson. OpenDrives, Turner, Disney, and Lucasfilm.
Runway and Musicmatch partner on AI music generation Musicmatch's upcoming feature Lyrics to Video will be powered by Runway Gen-2.
Agog co-founders bet big on the social benefits of AR, VR, and XR. Co-founded by technology veteran Chip Giller and philanthropist Wendy Schmidt, Agog envisions XR connecting creators, policymakers, and ordinary people for a better future. This new nonprofit specializes in immersive experiences, and its name comes from an old word meaning “wide-eyed wonder.” Agog funds storytelling projects, research, education, and advocacy on the potential of XR. Agog believes the immersive nature of XR can foster understanding in unique ways that traditional media cannot. Initial projects explore themes of youth mental health, protection and social change.
AI was a big topic at SXSW 2024, but very few video projects actually used the technology. One exception is Adam Cole's “Kiss/Crash” installation, a traditional video art piece for those familiar with the genre. This short film focuses on a romantic kiss interspersed with footage of a vintage car crash. As the pace quickens, the images become increasingly sexual, almost pornographic, all set to Ritchie Valens' “We Belong Together.” This combination evokes his dreamy 1950s vibe with a dark, Lynchian twist.
One of our favorite AI art and animation creators, Nice Aunties, was on a roll this week.
This short cinematic AI piece “The Twilight Zone Cabbage and the King” was a discovery.
This column, formerly called “This Week in XR,” is also a podcast It will be hosted by writer Charlie Fink, former studio executive and Red Camera co-founder Ted Shirowicz, and Magic Leap founder Ronnie Abowitz. This week's guest is entrepreneur Dai-Wei-Lei Dai, the legendary founder of Novell. You can find us on Spotify, iTunes, and YouTube.
what we are reading
VR will open up more worlds, and more worlds will move to VR. (Fast Company)
freedom of computing (Steve Newcombe/Substack)
Top 100 Gen AI Apps (a16z blog)
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