[KC] DEBRIEF WEEK 36 FRIDAY 09/10
DIGITAL TITANS
_Facebook unveiled its long-awaited smart glasses in partnership with Ray-Ban, entering a nascent wearables market with a focus on capturing photos rather than augmented reality. The social network on Thursday showed off the glasses, called Ray-Ban Stories—a direct rival to Snapchat’s Spectacles. The $299 Facebook glasses, which use EssilorLuxottica SA-owned Ray-Ban’s classic Wayfarer frame style, let users take photos and video, listen to music, and answer phone calls. While they lack AR, the technology that overlays digital content on the physical world, Facebook says it eventually plans to embed that functionality.“We are building towards AR glasses as the next computing platform,” Monisha Perkash, a product director at Facebook, said in an interview. “We see it as a very important first step towards that vision.” Facebook Launches Smart Glasses With Ray-Ban | Time
_E-commerce giant Shopify, the provider of an advanced software platform for online buyers and sellers with millions of registered merchants, has invested an undisclosed amount in Israeli e-commerce marketing firm Yotpo and will embark on a multi-year platform partnership with the company to help clients grow their businesses. According to a joint announcement on Thursday, the partnership will help drive Yotpo’s growth and product development trajectory as well as provide merchants with new ways to “connect with their customers and grow their businesses through innovative marketing tools and solutions.” The two companies will work collaboratively to develop better shopping experiences and improve relationships between merchants and their customers as part of Shopify’s new development features, according to the statement. Shopify invests in Israeli e-commerce marketing firm Yotpo
_Twitter currently 'Purchases' tab is only linked to digital tickets or subscriptions bought in-app but will display products purchased through the app in February. Customizable professional profile panels, which can display business info and shop carousels, are being tested with a small group of US businesses
_Fortnite. As part of Fortnite's live series, season 7 ends with ‘Operation: Sky Fire’ on Sept 12th at 4 pm. Players will join a strike team and sneak aboard the Mothership to deliver a final message to the aliens.
_Tik Tok allows companies using influencers to see audience demographics, growth trends, best-performing videos, and real-time campaign reporting (e.g. views, likes, shares, comments, engagement)
_Reddit. 'Conversation Placement' allows brands to place their product within post comment threads. The option also includes the CTA button to help drive responses. Reddit hopes this feature will allow brands to connect with audiences as exchanges are occurring.
_Roblox. As one of the frontrunners in the race to build the metaverse, Roblox is thinking ahead to what virtual worlds need. To that end, Roblox is taking careful but decisive steps toward weaving voice chat into the platform’s core experience.
_Facebook. Instagram’s launching a new ‘10 Days of Live Shopping’ event, which will feature a range of celebrities streaming product launches in the app, showcasing the capacity of live-stream shopping for connecting with Instagram’s audience.
_Verzuz has announced its next battle and it is between Ja Rule and Fat Joe. Set for September 14 in New York City, the two NY natives will go head-to-head for Verzuz’s second battle with a live audience.
_Discord has released a very weird video titled Discord – The Movie (2021) starring celebrities like Danny DeVito, Awkwafina, J.Balvin, Mr. Beast, and more. The unique video also features actual Discord users who the company says helped inspire the movie, which is centered around Awkwafina and others trying to explain to DeVito what the online text, audio, and video chat application is all about. Discord creates a short Film explaining itself With cameos From MrBeast, Marques Brownlee, Bretman Rock. The film was born on Discord — of course — after the company asked community members to join a Server to discuss their experiences and aspirations on the platform, which ultimately spawned the short film. (Servers refer to forums for communities or friend groups that are typically small and invite-only). Danny DeVito and Awkwafina star in a short film about Discord inspired by its users
_Google. Location-based pay is the newest conflict between workers and employers, as remote Googlers face a 25% salary cut. Google Threatening to Cut Remote Worker Pay, Signifies the Next Hybrid Work Battle
PEOPLE, MEDIA, CULTURE
_Cryptocurrencies have emerged as one of the most captivating, yet head-scratching, investments in the world. They soar in value. They crash. They’ll change the world, their fans claim, by displacing traditional currencies like the dollar, rupee, or ruble. They’re named after dog memes. And in the process of simply existing, cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, one of the most popular, use astonishing amounts of electricity. We’ll explain how that works in a minute. But first, consider this: The process of creating Bitcoin to spend or trade consumes around 91 terawatt-hours of electricity annually, more than is used by Finland, a nation of about 5.5 million. Cryptocurrencieselectricity.
_Prof Karl Moore of McGill University has published a new book - "We Are All Ambiverts Now," During the pandemic lockdown, Moore who is an extrovert learned how to cope as an "introvert" and then appreciated what this new side of him offered in self-contemplation, clearer thinking. He wrote this book thinking that the same happened to introverts who sought out more extroverted behavior. As a result, we have become "ambiverts". "As the economy reopens from pandemic-related lockdowns, Moore said that managers should talk to their teams about how the pandemic changed their workplace personas and practices. Employers should also embrace hybrid work schedules to take full advantage of the new skills and behaviors people developed, he added. "They should ask: What did we learn about ourselves in terms of how we do our tasks, the nature of our work, what we love doing, what we don't?" he said." We Are All Ambiverts Now,
_How TikTok is influencing music videos and keeping songs on the chart longer.Signature Moves With Sean Bankhead
_Jurors using virtual reality headsets to see the crime scene are nearly 87% more likely to agree on a unanimous verdict than those who only see photographs. Jurors
_F**YOUPAYME. 6 years ago, Lindsey Lee Lugrin, a budding social media creator and model, was given the chance to be featured in a Marc by Marc Jacobs ad campaign. She was paid $1,000. Ms. Lugrin was thrilled. But after seeing her face plastered on billboards and in ads across the internet, she realized she had undervalued herself. As she spoke with more influencers, who create social media posts for brands in exchange for payment or a cut of advertising fees, Ms. Lugrin became aware of other pay disparities. Male creators earned an average of $476 per post and women $348, according to an analysis last year by Klear, an influencer marketing platform. Ms. Lugrin, now 30, was determined to change that. So in June, she and Isha Mehra, 25, a former Facebook data scientist, introduced an app with an unprintable name: F*** You Pay Me. It functions as a kind of Glassdoor for influencers, where creators can leave reviews of brands they have worked with, share ad rates, and give and get other crucial information for negotiating sponsored content deals. The aim: to have creators be paid more equitably.The App With the Unprintable Name That Wants to Give Power to Creators
_Blau believes a new technology provides the investing tool he wanted back then. That technology is non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and on Thursday Blau announced he has raised $16 million to launch Royal, a new music platform that will let fans buy NFTs to share in royalties earned by their favorite artists.
_UCLA basketball player, Jaylen Clark, who is making history as the first college athlete to launch their own cryptocurrency. His decision to create his personal cryptocurrency, $JROCK via Rally, follows the NCAA’s recent NIL policy change.
_At the venice architecture biennale 2021, the Irish pavilion is bringing the physicality of data infrastructure to the forefront with the exhibit ‘entanglement’, addressing the environmental, cultural, and human impact of data. the pavilion aims to reframe the way we understand data production while exploring its impact on everyday life. it also aims to raise awareness about the materiality of the global internet and the cloud, which have infiltrated the Irish landscape through a vast constellation of data centers, fiber optic cable networks, and energy grids. Data art
_handson reimagines social distancing through interactive digital installation. The set-up examines how our psychological boundaries are fluid, adaptable, and ultimately meant to be damaged, such that our sense of house is widened via the interplay with others. In an attempt to reimagine the concept of personal space in post-pandemic cities, handson introduces a digital interactive installation as a public art piece. the project draws from the practice of social distancing and tracks five real-time pieces of information. first, the physical distance between people, then the speed users are moving in interactive space, and third, the size of personal space-changing when more persons enter. then the time they spent nearby, and last, the number of people being in close contact. handson reimagines social distancing through interactive digital installation
BRANDS
One of the most anticipated albums of 2021, Certified Lover Boy received the meme treatment from brands, fans, and critics, as the album cover left the internet buzzing. It became Spotify's most-streamed album in a single day on Friday, and Apple Music said it was the service's biggest-ever album debut. Drake is no stranger to internet culture, as he is often the subject of memes and viral moments – most notably from the Hotline Bling video that became the most ubiquitous Drake meme: An image of Drake gesturing in distaste, followed by one of him smiling in approval. While many brands joined in on the conversation, Adobe had one of the best creative responses with a group of women working with their creative tools.
MMM OF THE WEEK
_Video for new track Find My Way by Paul McCartney and featuring Beck sees de-aging technology reimagine Macca as a young singer. The video to Macca's new single featuring Beck has been co-produced by Hyperreal Digital, which creates "hyper-realistic" digital avatars - similar to the technology used to make deep-fakes." The technology to de-age talent and have them perform in creative environments like this is now fully-realized, even with one of the most recognized faces in the world," said Hyperreal chief executive Remington Scott.McCartneydeepfake
_ABBA. In the amazing turn of cultural events, ABBA is back… and now, they’re taking TikTok by storm too. The beloved Swedish pop quartet announced their return last week, teasing their first new music in almost four decades with a new website and a “Voyage” project on the horizon. On August 30, a verified ABBA account appeared on TikTok—within 24 hours, the page had racked up millions of streams. The first post was a video of a piano rendition of their hit, “Dancing Queen.”
OFF-TOPIC
_Tesla is losing more engineers to Apple for the Apple Car project. Apple Car : les départs s'enchaînent à la tête du projet concurrent de Tesla
_Tesla’s insane laser windshield wiper patent has been officially granted by the United States Patent Office this week. Filed in May 2019, the U.S. Patent Office granted the application, giving Tesla an exclusive right for the invention. Tesla has played around with several ideas for windshield wipers in the past. In fact, in February, the company had a patent approved for a new wiper design for the Roadster, which would utilize an electromagnetic linear actuator to rid the windshield of moisture. It would essentially move from one side of the windshield to the other with one wiper in one motion.Tesla's insane laser windshield wipers have been granted by US Patent Office