Players like Nevan Hagarty mourn the shutdown of beloved online game servers such as Halo 3, highlighting the emotional connection to virtual communities. The article explores how players cope with the loss of these digital spaces, drawing parallels to real-world closures and discussing the impact of corporate disputes on games like World of Warcraft in China.
Evangelical organization Cru is adapting traditional evangelism practices to virtual reality platforms like VRChat, using avatars to connect with users and share their faith. Missionaries engage in conversations and invite people to virtual church services, facing both acceptance and criticism.
Meta is reportedly developing "Arena," a points-based prediction market app for politics, sports, and world affairs, following its costly metaverse venture. This move into a regulated but growing market presents both a strategic pivot and potential regulatory challenges, given Meta's past with financial products.
A wave of companies, from the start-up launched by artificial intelligence “godmother” Li Fei-Fei to the largest Chinese tech firms, are racing to introduce their latest approaches to world models – an emerging field aimed at extending AI beyond language processing to learning from and comprehending physical reality. Alibaba Group Holding on Thursday unveiled Happy Oyster, which it called an open-ended world model designed for real-time and “flowy” virtual world creation and interaction,...
