The Metaverse has become a major trending topic for governments, sports icons, and militaries as new technologies continue to surface daily, leading to promising new use cases and future opportunities.
No longer limited to enterprises and consumers, multiple groups across sectors topped headlines and social media channels last week, indicating a huge spike in activity related to the Metaverse.
In case you missed it, here are the top stories from last week. Be sure to also stay posted with our newsletter by visiting https://www.xrtoday.com/sign-up/ for further updates!
Catalonia Launches CatVers Metaverse Project
The autonomous region of Catalonia revealed it had created a Metaverse project with funding up to €20,000 from the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce.
The Catalan Blockchain Centre (CBCat) developed the CatVers project to promote the region’s cultural, economic, and historical achievements as well as future projects.
It also plans to host virtual meetings, festivals, exhibitions, and other major events for universities and organisations in the sovereign shared space.
Royal Danish Air Force to Expand VR Training Capabilities
Danish VR aviation training firm VRPilot announced last week it would rapidly expand its training modules at Royal Danish Air Force (RDAF) centres, following a partnership with the Karup Air Base Flight School, which aim to train T-17 and T-6 aircraft with immersive solutions.
The trainer will allow students to prepare for further education at the Texas-based Sheppard Air Force Base with the hyper-realistic flight simulator in a bid to expedite pilot training.
Additionally, students will use the platform as a stepping stone before continuing training at the Sheppard Air Force Base in Texas, USA.
SteamVR Beta Improves Meta Quest 2 Gameplay
Valve Corporation recently improved its SteamVR beta to resolve persistent issues with Quest headsets from Oculus. According to release notes, Valve updated the Beta to prevent dropped connections while tethering to PCs, increasing the stability of the platform while gaming.
Meta’s lineup of Quest devices topped 39.62 percent of all devices used on the platform, an increase from last year, with the Quest 2 gaining a massive share of the platform’s total usage.
Chinese Lab Reaches Breakthrough in 6G Research
Chinese media reported last week Purple Mountain Labs, a research and development (R&D) organisation, broke world records in real-world 6G speeds.
According to the Beijing-backed facility, the tests reached connectivity of up to 206.25 gigabits per second, shattering 5G wireless speeds with a twenty-fold increase.
The tests, used for research purposes, achieved an impressive 360-430 gigahertz in speeds with a bespoke communications system. The news comes as several countries and regions, including China, the United States, South Korea, and Europe have begun researching potential 6G technologies.
USPTO Awards Disney Virtual World Metaverse Patent
The Walt Disney Company received an award in December from the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to build immersive amusement park rides without the need for AR devices.
The potential “virtual-world simulator” tool could track mobile devices to project 3D overlays across shared spaces, walls, and other objects, according to a report from Cointelgraph last week.
