Category: Social

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NFT Creators: Good Cactus Frens

The NFT project, Good Cactus Frens, is coming up on the horizon. Launching in summer 2022, the project aims to mint 771 which will come with certain utilities, including mental health support for the holder. However, the primary goal of the project is to raise funds for charitable trust, Charity Water. Charity Water is a non-profit organisation that helps provide clean water to communities throughout the world.

To date, Charity Water has established 91,414 water projects, serving over 14 million people in 29 countries. Established by John Shevchenko Mongeau and Mahendra Canaguy, Good Cactus Frens hope to extend that reach through the use of community funding via an NFT collection. The collection will showcase a cactus, the oddly humanoid plant which of course stores water. The cacti will come with many traits based on randomisation.

We sat down with John, Mahendra, and designer Julia Sidlovska to discuss the project, the scope of fundraising and the future of NFTs. 

Charity Water supports communities across the world; each dot is a new source of clean water.

GMW3 – The NFT ecosystem currently suffers a lot of negativity, is it a daunting place to launch a new project?

JOHN – The first thing you said is, “there’s a lot of negativity associated” or there’s a little too much financial gain. “I want to flip this” to make money is enticing and you become very drawn into it. Some people think “oh my god, this is going to change my life”, but it’s kind of empty and you quickly see that.

We thought there should be something good that comes out of this, what about some actual semi-tangible utility and value? Let’s prove to the world that you could do good stuff with NFTs.

MAHENDRA – We thought, there’s so much potential and so many options; NFTs generate so much money that I think it’s a bit unfair to keep everything for ourselves and when we can donate. 

GMW3 – Do you feel that NFTs with utility have an opportunity to teach people they can be more than a PFP?

JULIA – I believe NFTs are a fun and innovative way to solve real-life problems. For example, artists would have struggled to sell their art in real life, as it’d be hard to get noticed. Whereas with the current technology and NFTs, it’s become a lot easier and it definitely gave art a whole breath of fresh air. 

As with GCF, we are solving even bigger issues, which is the lack of clean water, plus we bring mental health awareness. Our NFTs would not just be something that saves you time donating to charity – our collectors will get a lovely cactus as a way of saying thank you and as a memory as well. So for this project, NFTs serve as an element that will hopefully get more people to do something good for others and get something good for themselves in return like, one on one mental health counselling.

JOHN – I think the fact that we are going to create a real life impact and give people direct access to clean water is going be a big part of the educational bond. Showing that if you own a Good Cactus Fren you’ll get access to free one on one mental health support, too. It’s to show that this is more than an image, but it’s also a kind of passive key to unlock so many benefits. 

JULIA – I think NFTs will be split into two camps. One is the utility and material value NFTs and the other is art. In that sense they will remain simple pictures, although saying the latter would probably be offensive for the artist, haha.

GMW3 – Can you tell our readers how you came to choose Charity Water as the project receiving support from your community?

JOHN – Well, at first we thought about trees and replanting, but we quickly discovered the Woodies project. Then I realised that I have a bit of a connection at Charity Water, from some previous fund-raising. So, we got on a call with their blockchain team and the partnerships team. They were in full support right away. Our goal is to become an official partner over time.

In rough numbers, if we raise 100ETH from the mint, that’s around 12,500 people who will have clean water for 20 years.

GMW3 – Given the environmental impact of the Ethereum network, why did you choose to release GCF there, rather than on Solana or Tezos, for example? Was it due to the number of ETH users?

JOHN – Very, very good question. To be honest, at first, we were going to use Solana. In our minds, that was a no brainer, because of gas prices and the reduced environmental impact. But, the more we thought about it, you kind of alluded to it, it’s such a big market in the ETH world. Back in December, when we were planning this project we didn’t know that OpenSea would soon be signing more environmentally friendly networks.

MAHENDRA – I personally really like Solana, I buy a lot of NFTs from the Solana blockchain. And yeah, I’m pretty happy with those. But yeah, using ETH is great for the visibility of the project.

JOHN – We’re going to make sure that we knock down our NFT footprint. We’re looking at using Aerial as a solution to offset the whatever energy consumption there is with Good Cactus Frens, but you can only action that once you mint because you need the blockchain contract to identify transactions.

GMW3 – How did you settle on using the cactus as the star of your first project?

JOHN – we didn’t want to go with animals, as in, one that was not used yet. We thought about plants next and thought ‘oh, what about a cactus?’ Plus it also looks like it has a good human side.

MAHENDRA – Also cacti contain a lot of water and are often not using it. So that’s kind of nice. It’s a cute easter egg, like, a cactus has plenty of water it doesn’t need, so let’s give it out to others.

JOHN – And the cactus is actually perfect. We did some investigating and it’s a symbol of strength, resilience, community and motherhood. It felt fitting. Plus, when I worked with Charity Water previously, we saw footage of people carrying these huge jugs of water to their village, and it’s always mothers and little girls. So, the cactus checked several boxes.

GMW3 – Can you tell us a bit more about the designs and traits of the Cactus Frens?

JULIA – As for inspirations, GCF has references to various tv shows like breaking bad, or friends. We get the whole team to brainstorm on the traits so that we have a diverse variety of them. We definitely get inspired from other big projects as well. At the end of the day, we’re still a PFP project so have to match the standards.

We have an amazing artist onboard, who created this style that I think suits GCF and its mission perfectly. At this stage, we have almost all traits ready, but we’ll consult with our community to make sure we include all traits they want.

MAHENDRA – The Good Cactus Frens will be randomly generated based on the traits we’ve carefully selected, but we’re going to have some unique characters as well. We have maybe 10 or 15 that are going to be hand-drawn. These will be completely unique rather than having any traits or be randomly generated.

GMW3 – What does the future look like beyond Good Cactus Frens?

JOHN – Our goal is to have this be the first of many good oriented projects, social impact projects, charity oriented projects, and the vision is that we can maybe all go full time into this space.

MAHENDRA – The dream goal would be to build a studio, where we have the name and the brand. Then the idea would be to continue creating good social impact projects, because if this one works, why would we stop here?

GMW3 – Do you see your future community operating much like a DAO?

JOHN – We’re not coming out promising the world, we think ‘let’s keep this simple’, so that it’s digestible. And we will continue to build a team from our community –  at first, it was just four co-founders, but now I think we have five or six volunteers who came out of nowhere, they reached out on LinkedIn, Twitter because they love the project.

We want to work closely with the community; we will also have shark tanks for our Frens where they can come to us with suggestions like, ‘Hey, I have like an amazing idea for a charity’. It could be a charity or it might be that maybe the person wanted to create something new, for example, we saw a project where people created glass glasses with recycled plastic. Anything that has a good impact is welcome.

Good Cactus Frens launches 7/7/2022 at 1pm EST. The initial wave of 771 NFTs will be followed by a second wave which will collect 7,000 additional NFTs. Each Cactus Fren will directly benefit those who need an urgent link to clean water, as well as open up a mental health support network for the NFT holder. You can find the Good Cactus Frens on TWITTER, as well as DISCORD. 

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Women Shaping the Metaverse: A Personal Viewpoint

I guess it’s safe to say that I didn’t ever imagine writing a piece where I would actively position myself as a woman in tech. However, I suppose these are fast-changing times. In more recent years, it’s been great to realise that by being a woman in the tech field, I could one day play an important role in helping to change current statistics — as well as in educating audiences about the importance that equal representation will play in our future.

In this article, I’ll briefly describe how I was inspired to become a writer in the tech space. I’ll also go over some of the reasons why I hope the prospects of Web3 will encourage other women to find their place within the growing expanse of our tech world.

Years ago, I worked as one of three females at an AI company based in my home city of Toronto. Here, I was welcomed into a group that taught me a great deal about robotics, design, coding and other skills that felt quite far out of my wheelhouse. However, I was also given the opportunity to attend industry events with some of my peers. It was here where I learned a lot about the world of AI and ML.

While spending time in these communities, I learned a lot about the rapid pace of our technological development. I was fascinated. It felt exciting to be alive at a point in history where machines were now intelligent enough to replicate human thoughts, movements, speech and forms of judgement. These were concepts I had romanticised and enjoyed writing about as a youngster, having grown up a fan of popular movies such as Ghost in the Shell and Akira, and of renowned authors such as Philip K. Dick and Margaret Atwood.

With hidden awe, I remember watching leading AI researchers conduct engaging and interesting presentations. I was also introduced to strong, inspiring women who weren’t afraid to assume roles of leadership. Though it felt silly to admit, I so badly wanted to be someone who would one day get to harness some kind of innovative, pivotal development that entailed my research and passion. 

Like these talented researchers, I also possessed an important skill this entire time — my ability to write (one that my then-position wasn’t allowing me to fully exercise). While it even sounds like a small prospect today, I thought about how important it might be to play a role in educating the masses about the often confusing, dizzying parts of our world’s rapid digitisation. And in the wake of our even further-techified world post-COVID, the idea of this role feels even more important.

Mind you, I’d still love to learn Python and one day build some kind of hodge-podge mini-robot of sorts (as a sci-fi nerd, those things will always be on my bucket list). However, it feels rewarding to now be documenting and promoting knowledge about our world’s entry into Web3. I believe that Web3 and the metaverse will be one of the biggest pivotal changes of our lives, leading to a rapid expansion of the global economy and a change in the way we communicate, work, game, create and build. With all that being said, it feels even cooler to be writing about this stuff as a woman.

However, this brings me to my next part. Are there more spaces for women to find footing in the metaverse, one way or another? Will the growing digital economy and my own future create more opportunities for females?

After spending my own share of time in tech, it’s easy to see why some women might feel unwanted in the tech sector. A lack of visible female role models is one issue, while another might be the proliferation of inappropriate content being shared with the fraction of women who do participate in the gaming space.

Furthermore, career-related statistics also haven’t helped women feel welcome in the tech industry. According to 2020 reports, only 20% of tech jobs at Microsoft and 23% of tech jobs at Facebook, Google and Apple were made up of women. Data has shown that the tech world is still pretty male-dominated, with much of its development being driven by the gaming industry — a sector that is still predominantly male-centric.

I do think we are seeing some change, however. Recently, it’s been great to learn about Zepeto, a growing metaverse platform that now boasts over 2 million users worldwide. A reported 70% of these platform users are female. This is a sharp contrast to that of other immersive platforms (such as Roblox), which is mostly made up of male players.

I believe that in order for there to be healthy representation within the metaverse immersive tech will need to be an attractive career prospect for everyone in future generations. With that being said, I think further education and discourse on this subject matter is a great way for this concept to be furthered in Web3. Like all paradigm shifts, new concepts can be perplexing and difficult to understand when they’re in their early stages. If we can educate the masses about the ways of the metaverse, I think it makes sense for us to leverage education about equal representation in tandem.

My hope is that the larger, more decentralised economy the metaverse will create will also carve out far more opportunities for women with all types of skills and abilities — be it coding, writing, drawing, speaking or whatever else. With this, I also hope that underrepresented groups will find it easier to shape, build and make the next phase of the internet a more enriched and equitable space.

In all, I look forward to documenting how women and people from all corners of the world will help shape the metaverse in the days ahead. Stay tuned for more featured pieces, interviews and more!

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What Might Office Culture Look Like in the Metaverse?

Almost two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, there’s no doubt that this seemingly neverending crisis has shifted how our societies work and connect with one another. It’s also rapidly accelerated the adoption of various integral technologies — particularly XR technology, blockchain, NFTs and Web 3.0 — the next phase of the internet that will bring us closer to the metaverse.

The term “metaverse” has existed for many years now, having first presented itself in Neal Stephenson’s iconic 1992 sci-fi novel Snow Crash. The idea of a metaverse is that it is a virtual space that appears to be completely real and three-dimensional, allowing for a more immersive and interactive experience for connected users. In a matter of months, it’s also become one of the biggest buzzwords of our current era — especially after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced his plans to rebrand the company name to Meta and turn the social media giant into a leading metaverse platform.

Microsoft tycoon Bill Gates has also recently shared his belief that within two or three years, most remote meetings will take place in the metaverse. While we can’t be certain that we are headed into the metaverse on such a proverbial bullet train, we do know that in due time, much of our professional and social lives will soon find footing within the next phase of the web.

As our work lives carry on, what might office culture look like in the metaverse? Here are some of the key changes we can expect to see in the not-so-distant future.

VR Work - PR Image Factory
Photo by © PR Image Factory – Shutterstock.com

More personalised remote connections

It seems that remote and hybrid work is here to stay — albeit, still through “flat-screen” applications such as Zoom, Slack and Google Meet. As functional and familiar as these applications have become, their “two-dimensional” experiences haven’t quite managed to replace the efficiency of meeting with people in-person (an ordeal that has led to the now popularly coined term “Zoom fatigue”). 

While employees seem to have enjoyed the idea that they can work from anywhere, prolonged periods of remote meetings have also made workplace cultures feel more bland and impersonal. Without things like body language or sharing similar settings, remote work has offered less room for people to form organic, human connections. Humans are spatial learners who learn most efficiently by doing — which explains why it can be harder for us to feel like we’re really in the presence of our colleagues or friends when speaking to them over an ordinary video chat. 

Leading brands, such as Meta and Microsoft, believe we can improve the art of connecting remotely in the metaverse. Cognitively, the use of VR and metaverse platforms are likely to make us feel more focused and present with our connections. And instead of speaking with coworkers over a “flat” screen, multiple parties will be able to experience more immersive, life-like meetings that will simulate the sensation that everyone is in the same place and time.

In an effort to make remote communication easier for employees, Big Tech platforms have started unveiling more immersive communication tools. Facebook (or Meta) has already explored the idea of an early metaverse platform in their early metaverse platform Horizon Worlds, where users can use their Oculus Quest headsets to access and hold meetings in VR. 

Microsoft’s new Mesh Teams software also combines mixed-reality capabilities found in Microsoft Mesh — a platform that allows for people in various locations to create digital avatars of themselves, collaborate within a shared virtual space, chat with one another, complete projects inside shared documents and much more.

Fit Studio
Photo by © Fit Ztudio – Shutterstock.com

More enhanced collaboration software for employees

With a massive rise in remote and hybrid working, several technology firms have seen opportunities to offer more enhanced digital collaboration solutions for teams. Collaborating on projects in real-time also presented itself as one of many post-pandemic challenges, with employees often struggling with logistics or team communication while working on projects simultaneously.

3D design platform Gravity Sketch has recently launched its innovative LandingPad virtual collaboration room, making real-time collaboration between professional designers and teams much easier and more accessible through VR. Users have the ability to create personal collaboration rooms, invite team members and design at scale in 3D. There are also functions that allow for in-app voice conversations, the ability for users to edit others’ work and the ability to move around projects at scale.

NVIDIA also recently made its popular metaverse-building Omniverse software free for individual creators and artists to access in 2022. Omniverse has been a leading contender in the growing collaboration software market, with downloads from over 50,000 creators and counting. So far, Omniverse has been adopted as an industry-standard within a range of different sectors — such as the robotics, automotive, construction, media and architecture industries.

When we think about what collaborating in the metaverse may look like 10 years from now, platforms like Omniverse are leading the way. With its stunning interface and cross-disciplinary functions, NVIDIA has taken input from several developers, customers and partners to produce real-time renderings and interactive workflows that, well… work.

More diverse and inclusive teams

Working in a metaverse office, as opposed to a physical office, means there are zero limitations on who can access it. In our post-COVID era, we may remember a time when we would only seek employment in markets where we were restricted to the job market that was tethered to our home city or our physical location. Those who choose to work remotely can already wave goodbye to the days of spending two hours commuting to get to work on time, or feeling pressured to relocate for the sole purpose of seeking employment.

Companies that adapt to metaverse technology should also consider how this will impact their diversity and inclusion targets. A non-physical office or remote team will allow them to hire nationally or internationally, providing them with greater access to global talent.

Final thoughts

According to recent research released by Owl Labs, nearly half of the UK population believes that working in the metaverse will be an asset to workplaces. 52% of respondents also claim to be confident that the metaverse will “bridge the gap between in-person and remote workers by creating a more immersive environment.”

A smart idea for workplace vendors may be to consider implementing a metaverse strategy that will well-position them to access new opportunities offered by Web3. This may include staying on top of metaverse products — or looking into more streamlined integrations between space reservation interfaces and collaboration platforms.

Either way, the emergence of the metaverse is an exciting time for workplaces — offering many possibilities for companies to improve their workflows, advance their collaborative capabilities and hire more diverse talent. These possibilities, combined with the optimistic view from survey respondents, suggest that we will soon see more immersive, embodied office environments come to life.

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How VR MMO Zenith Is Being ‘Built For VR’ First And Foremost To Feel Like You’re ‘Living A Different Life’

Zenith: The Last City from Ramen VR opened up pre-orders recently which included closed alpha access, but had to close them from the surge in demand. We recently spoke with Ramen VR CEO, Andy Tsen, to get the latest on the game’s upcoming release.

Zenith: The Last City—A True VR MMORPG

Zenith: The Last City is slated to hit PC VR, PSVR, Quest, and non-VR PC this year and aims to be one of the first truly “massive” persistent online game worlds in the same vein as something like World of Warcraft, EverQuest, or Final Fantasy XIV. Or, in other words, a real VR MMO without compromises. Perhaps not on the same scale as Ready Player One just yet, but certainly channeling that anime-style JRPG aesthetic of Sword Art Online and .hack//sign a bit.

“Zenith is a virtual reality MMO and it has kind of a JRPG East Asian aesthetic,” said Tsen during an interview with UploadVR. “It’s kind of sci-fi fantasy and we want people to be able to come into the world and just explore and have a really positive, fun kind of RPG experience that they wouldn’t have on any other platform except one built for VR. We really think that this is the stuff that people have been wanting for a long time and that’s why we set out to build it…MMO is a term that has been really liberally used especially in mobile,” said Tsen. “And when I say MMO, what I’m trying to say is an MMO in the sense of something like WoW or Final Fantasy XIV, where it will be a large world where you can have thousands of people per shard. Our eventual goal, of course, is to make it even bigger and tie the different shards together to have this infinite world, but we’re starting with just a regular MMO and a regular shard which by itself is hard enough.”

In late 2019 Ramen VR raised over $280,000 via Kickstarter and has since secured additional outside investment to build a team that can work on a game like this. From the footage I’ve seen and what I’ve heard when speaking to the developers, it sounds like they’re on the right track.

“We’re building a full-scale VR MMO; it’s basically a lot of uncharted territory,” said Tsen. “I’m actually a big fan of Orbus and the guys at ATT (A Township Tale). Everybody has their own take on what a VR MMO should be. But what we’re really trying to do is create a top-notch extremely polished core game loop that is really, really fun to play that feels a lot more polished and a lot deeper. That’s our fundamental goal; to create an experience where it feels both familiar to MMORPG players as well as completely unique being in the space of VR itself.”

 

zenith vr mmo combat pic

Early in the game’s development Tsen described the combat as inspired by Beat Saber, but what he meant by that was just that it was real-time action based, not turn-based or target-based like a lot of MMOs typically are. If you wanted to draw comparisons to another VR game, the closest example is probably Until You Fall.

“Zenith is going to feel a lot more like an action RPG than something like Final Fantasy XIV or World of Warcraft where they are basically spreadsheet simulators where you’re pressing macros and you’re doing the whole hotkey dance,” said Tsen. “In Zenith, you literally have to parry enemy’s attacks, throw fireballs, you can slow time, and so on. Of course, all of this is tied together by a gorgeous environment where we’ve spent thousands of hours creating unique props and content and just building a world that feels fully alive and immersive.”

On paper, it sounds similar to what they’ve done in OrbusVR, the first-ever VR MMO. However, that game is a bit more simplistic in its design and visuals, which explains why they were able to launch as early as they did. From what I’ve seen, Zenith seems to aim for taking things up several notches. You can see a lot of that on display in this 30-minute long unedited pre-alpha gameplay video the developers published.

“One of the most important things about VR is a sense of presence and I think that that’s something that other genres outside of VR, where MMOs can’t really reach,” said Tsen. “And so for us, it’s all about that feeling of physical embodiment in the world. That’s why we introduced our recent Population One-style gliding, we have climbing, we have full-body IK. These are things that will make the players feel like they’re really in the world living a different life essentially.”

Zenith: The Last City still does not have a specific launch date or month yet, but presumably they’re aiming to get it out this year. The Closed Alpha period kicks off in April—you can find more information on that here. We’ll keep you posted with more on Zenith as we find out details and will publish more excerpts from this interview (as well as the full interview in its entirety) later this week.

Let us know what you think of Zenith down in the comments below!

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Celebrate New Years In VRChat At A Virtual Times Square, Complete With Fireworks And Ball Drop

You can jump into VRChat right now for a digital New Years celebration across the globe. The New Years Eve party is live right now in both the PC version and Quest version of VRChat complete with musical performances, a ball drop, and fireworks.

You can watch the party happening live on Twitch as well for a preview if you’d like courtesy of VirtualBass, or join in for free on PC, PC VR, or Quest.

Within the Virtual Times Square there are musical performances to enjoy, 16 different community storefronts you can actually enter, the Great Pug rooftop lounge is of course featured with an excellent view, and more.

Earlier this week we awarded VRChat with the ‘Most Improved Social VR Platform’ designation specifically for things like this. Granted, VRChat hosted a similar party last year too, but this is just a single point across a year-long trend of helping people adapt to and accept life under pandemic lockdown restrictions.

Virtual parties like this are never going to actually equate to the real thing, at least not in the near future, but it still does a great job of approximating social interaction within a shared physical space unlike anything else out there. It also helps that I can wear a Spongebob avatar if I want.

vrchat new years 2021 banner

You can check out either the PC / PC VR version of the NYE Party world or the Quest version. Follow the VRChat NYE Twitter for up-to-date information on the festivities.

Download VRChat for PC here or Quest here.

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Celebrate New Years In VRChat At A Virtual Times Square, Complete With Fireworks And Ball Drop

You can jump into VRChat right now for a digital New Years celebration across the globe. The New Years Eve party is live right now in both the PC version and Quest version of VRChat complete with musical performances, a ball drop, and fireworks.

You can watch the party happening live on Twitch as well for a preview if you’d like courtesy of VirtualBass, or join in for free on PC, PC VR, or Quest.

Within the Virtual Times Square there are musical performances to enjoy, 16 different community storefronts you can actually enter, the Great Pug rooftop lounge is of course featured with an excellent view, and more.

Earlier this week we awarded VRChat with the ‘Most Improved Social VR Platform’ designation specifically for things like this. Granted, VRChat hosted a similar party last year too, but this is just a single point across a year-long trend of helping people adapt to and accept life under pandemic lockdown restrictions.

Virtual parties like this are never going to actually equate to the real thing, at least not in the near future, but it still does a great job of approximating social interaction within a shared physical space unlike anything else out there. It also helps that I can wear a Spongebob avatar if I want.

vrchat new years 2021 banner

You can check out either the PC / PC VR version of the NYE Party world or the Quest version. Follow the VRChat NYE Twitter for up-to-date information on the festivities.

Download VRChat for PC here or Quest here.

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Dragon Ball Movies And 30+ Paramount Titles Coming To Bigscreen

The Bigscreen team has shared some updates on new content and features coming to the platform in the next month, including the addition of three Dragon Ball movies.

On Sunday, September 12, the three latest Dragon Ball anime movies will premiere in Bigscreen:

  • Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods — 10am PT
  • Dragon Ball Z: Ressurection ‘F’f — 3pm PT
  • Dragon Ball Super: Broly — 7pm PT

In addition to the premiere screenings, the movies will be available to rent on-demand from Bigscreen’s movie rental catalog. The Dragon Ball films will be available for users in the US, UK, Canada, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand for $3.99 each.

There’s also a tie-in Dragon Ball contest with some tickets to the Dragon Ball screenings up for grabs. To win, users simply need to find all seven Dragon Balls in the mini game posted to the Bigscreen Twitter and Facebook pages at 8am PT on September 2. The first to complete the game and the person to complete it the fastest (on their first attempt only) will win a free ticket to the screening.

However the Dragon Ball movies aren’t the only titles being added to the rental catalog — Bigscreen is expanding its partnership with Paramount Pictures and adding over 30 new movies available as on-demand rentals. This includes the legendary Godfather trilogy and the Mission Impossible series, as well as Jackass 3D, which will be the first 3D movie to premiere in the United Kingdom.

The team will also launch an accessibility update, adding English Closed Captions for the deaf and hard of hearing community. Bigscreen is also currently developing support for hand tracking on the Oculus Quest, which the team hopes will allow users to communicate in ASL (American Sign Language) while using Bigscreen.

Just last week, Bigscreen added DLNA support, allowing users to remotely stream video and audio content from their media server into the app.

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Facebook Horizon Invite-Only Closed Beta Will Start In The ‘Coming Weeks’

Facebook Horizon, the social VR app planned for Oculus Quest and Rift, is hitting its closed beta invite-only testing phase later this year. You can sign up now to be added to the waitlist as invites will begin rolling out “in the coming weeks” according to today’s Oculus blog post. Alpha testing began in March. You can find more information on the official Facebook Horizon website.

After spending a little bit of time inside Facebook Horizon earlier this week, I’d say the closest comparison would be Rec Room from indie studio Against Gravity. They both feature similarly whimsical art styles, a heavy focus on in-app game creation, and heavily incentivize being social with others in VR.

The big difference obviously is that Horizon is, naturally, backed by Facebook and is exclusive to Oculus devices like the Rift and Quest. Rec Room is made by a small studio, but is cross-platform on all PC VR headsets, Quest, PSVR, desktop non-VR, PS4 non-VR, and even non-VR mobile devices.

Like most user-generated content focused experiences, Facebook Horizon will live and die by the quality and quantity of good content. There seems to be a high ceiling for the types of games and worlds people can create, so it all comes down to whether or not creators will want to build for this platform instead of for others.

When using Horizon, you’re required to link your account to your Oculus actual Facebook account. However, in-game it will still only show your Oculus ID, not your real identity. There are plenty of safety and privacy tools as well, such as a personal safe space bubble, blocking and reporting features, as well as parties and friend invites to navigate. Accessing and playing content seemed simple, but the building tools will definitely take a lot of practice to master.

There isn’t a firm date yet for the invite-only Facebook Horizon beta, but they’ve at least said it will be here in the “coming weeks” so not much longer. Perhaps sometime near the Facebook Connect (formerly known as Oculus Connect) digital event on September 16th would make sense.

Let us know what you think down in the comments below and don’t forget to sign up for the waitlist right here since the beta is invite-only and check out our feature interview story from Oculus Connect 6 last year on Horizon’s features and focus.

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Bigscreen Video Player Adds DLNA Support For Wireless Streaming

A new update for Bigscreen is available now, adding wireless video and audio playback through DLNA protocol support. Plus, an unreleased blockbuster movie is set to make a simultaneous debut across Bigscreen, physical cinemas and digital platforms.

Back in June, the addition of a video player to Bigscreen was a welcome addition for many users, especially on Quest. It allowed users to play video files natively in the app without streaming their entire desktop view. However, this feature only supported playing files stored on your device, but this new update adds DLNA protocol support, allowing for wireless streaming.

Users with a DLNA media server (or those using one with optional DLNA support, such as Plex) should now be able to access all their files in Bigscreen when connected to the same network as the server. This is of particular interest to Quest users, as it means they won’t have to transfer potentially large video files onto the Quest’s limited storage in order to watch them in Bigscreen.

Additionally, Bigscreen announced that a new movie studio with “thousands of 2D and 3D movies” will be partnering with Bigscreen soon. Even more exciting news is that an unreleased blockbuster movie will be available (presumably for a paid fee) in Bigscreen on the same day it becomes available in theaters and on other digital platforms. With many cinemas around the world closed, it’s nice to see Bigscreen acknowledged as a viable release platform alongside traditional VOD and physical options.

Bigscreen will also roll out a friends system in the coming months, as well as remote desktop support (coming out of beta) for ultra low-latency PC to Quest streaming. There’s also new environments, avatars and a paid membership plan on the way.

The Bigscreen’s DLNA update is available now.

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Bigscreen Update Adds Videoplayer For Native Video File Playback

A new Bigscreen update launching today adds the capability to play local video files stored on a device in Bigscreen, even when offline. The feature also supports synchronized multi-user online viewing sessions, provided each user has the same video file stored on their own device.

Bigscreen has always been one of the leading applications for watching movies and videos in VR, with various environments and online multi-user capability. Bigscreen currently allows users to stream and view their entire Windows desktop in VR, including any videos or applications running on the computer. The app also offers ticketed official movie broadcasts in their virtual cinemas, which is run in participation with major movie studios.

However, this new videoplayer feature is slightly different and designed with mobile headsets like the Oculus Quest in mind. It allows users to pull up any video file, stored locally on the headset itself, to watch in Bigscreeen. Even if the user is offline, Bigscreen can be used to watch local video files, transferred onto the Quest from a computer, in any of the various environments on offer. The feature supports many video file formats and codecs, even including 3D video files.

There’s also online capabilities, allowing you and your friend to start an online session and watch a synchronized version of the same video, just like you would in any other Bigscreen experience. However, to do so, each participating user will need to have the same video file stored locally on their own device — the videoplayer doesn’t support streaming or sharing the file.

You’ll also be able to use the videoplayer feature in conjunction with other Bigscreen features, like desktop screensharing. So, on PC VR, you can now have a local video file playing in an environment while also using the desktop screenshare feature at the same time for other things.

The Bigscreen Videoplayer update is free and launches today.

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