Photo by Evelyn Paris on Unsplash

Icelandverse, metaverses, NVIDIA Omniverse, getting FRKE with LEGO, AirTags new functionality in iOS 15.2 beta, thoughts to text and more.

The full compliment of co-hosts start things off with a metaverse world so real, you can actually go there on a plane.  Icelandverse by Visit Iceland is a very funny take on the recent announcement video by Meta.  There are several additional metaverse articles in the show notes.  The co-hosts also discuss Nvidia’s new platform for creating interactive AI avatars called NVIDA Omniverse. 

Next up, Michael, Andy and Michael talk about the sale of Weta Digital’s VFX division to Unity and marvel at the high purchase price.

Then, an Inc article about LEGO’s customer service captures the attention of the co-hosts.  The mnemonic from LEGO is FRKE, which stands for fun, reliable, knowledgeable and engaging. Michael R says that he’s taken advantage of the customer service to request a missing part of his space shuttle build.  And speaking of big builds, LEGO is offering some exciting and expensive builds such as the Creator Expert LEGO Titanic and the Star Wars AT-AT.  

Following up on an earlier episode’s AirTags discussion, there’s an update in the most recent iOS 15.2 beta that allows the user to discover items that can track you via Find My.  Also in the Apple ecosystem, Vanarama imagines what an Apple Car might look like based on the patents Apple has filed.  

Following an intriguing tweet on thoughts to text, the co-hosts cover a couple of upcoming movies and a game to close out the show.

Seen another interesting metaverse you’d like to have an in depth discussion?  Let us know over at @gamesatwork_biz ! 

Thanks for listening!

Selected Links

Some said an open-world experience this immersive wasn’t possible. But it’s already here. And you don’t even need silly VR headsets. Introducing, ✨Icelandverse✨#icelandverse pic.twitter.com/b1cf1REKl9— Inspired by Iceland (@iceland) November 11, 2021

Visit Iceland — https://www.visiticeland.com 

The New York Times article: Are We in the Metaverse Yet? — https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/10/style/metaverse-virtual-worlds.html?referringSource=articleShare 

Quartz article: The metaverse will mostly be for work — https://qz.com/2083099/the-metaverse-will-mostly-be-for-work/ 

The Atlantic article: Hey, Facebook, I Made a Metaverse 27 Years Ago — https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2021/10/facebook-metaverse-was-always-terrible/620546/ 

The Verge article: Nvidia wants to fill the virtual and physical worlds with AI avatars —