This Week in the Metaverse (W06.2023)

Weekly news roundup + latest on Into The Metaverse podcast: A conversation with Sandy Carter - Senior Vice President at Unstoppable Domains

Hey, Yon here! Welcome to Into The Metaverse. My mission is to help you understand what is the metaverse, how it will impact our lives, and what opportunities it unlocks. If you are a marketer, entrepreneur, investor or simply a curious professional, Into The Metaverse is for you. Subscribe to get access to every letter and podcast show that I publish.

Here’s what I’ve got for you this week:

1. Latest on Into The Metaverse podcast: A conversation with Sandy Carter - Senior Vice President at Unstoppable Domains

2. Weekly news roundup

Let’s dig in!

(1) Latest on Into The Metaverse podcast: A conversation with Sandy Carter - Senior Vice President at Unstoppable Domains

Sandy Carter is Senior Vice President and Channel Chief at Unstoppable Domains. The company, which recently raised $65M Series A led by Pantera Capital at a $1B valuation, creates NFT domains that give people control of their data. Each Unstoppable domain is a cryptocurrency address which serves as the user’s login to the decentralized web, and in a sense can act as a user’s universal username. Sandy and her team are responsible for driving new partnerships and integrations.

Previously Sandy was Vice President for Strategic Partnerships and Channel Chief at Amazon Web Services, and prior to that was the General Manager of Ecosystems and Startups at IBM.

We cover in detail digital identity and its importance according to Sandy, how Unstoppable Domains educates and informs people on how they can establish a next generation online identity, Sandy’s journey from IBM to Amazon Web Services to Unstoppable Domains and why it is so important that we have en ever growing diversity in the teams that are building the future of the Internet.

Listen to the episode on: Apple / Spotify / Anchor.

Watch:

Where to find Sandy Carter:

• Linkedin, Twitter, Website

(2) Weekly news roundup

Platforms & Technologies

• The original startup behind Stable Diffusion has launched a generative AI for video

• Microsoft announces new A.I.-powered Bing homepage that you can chat with

• Meta Pursues Teen Users as Horizon Metaverse App Struggles to Grow

• Inside Meow Wolf's Living, Breathing Metaverse

• Exploring the Spatial Computing Spectrum: From 3D to Simulation

• UFC champ Alexander Volkanovski has VR sparring session with Mark Zuckerberg

Brands

• How brands are using the metaverse and NFTs despite lack of crypto ads

• Dave & Busters announces the launch of a virtual world on Roblox

• Hermès wins case against Metabirkins over digital NFTs, Rothschild to appeal

Funding

• Light Field Lab Raises $50M To Bring SolidLight Holograms Into The Real World

• Latent Technology raises $2.1M to blend AI and game animations

• Accenture invests in Forma Vision to bring 3D volumetric video to the metaverse

People

• Boss level: meet the women shaking up the gaming industry with style

• Google AR head Clay Bavor leaving the company after 18 years

• There’s already a gender gap in who’s leading the metaverse

• Gen Z’s gaming habits foreshadow the metaverse

Opinions

• What will the future of cars be like? Video games may have the answer

• Harry Potter’s warted legacy

• But Why VR?: The Fallacy of Inevitability

• How the metaverse is helping fashion brands improve customer interactions

Investing

• Investors remain bullish on the metaverse

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