New Tech Innovations Fuel the World Ahead
Emerging Tech Roundup — May 6
The Quantious team’s top picks for timely trending news in the tech world.
This week in tech: XRHealth brings its autism-treating technology to the US, Snap gives creators more in-app tools, Snapchat adds additional AR shopping tools, more funding is raised for financial analysis AI, details are leaked on Meta’s new headset, Serie A broadcasts its first soccer game in the metaverse and Instagram plans to test out a full-screen feed.
AR/VR technology is now being used to treat autism
(VRScout, April 27)
XRHealth is now bringing its technology to U.S. patients, offering treatment for the effects of autism. The technology allows patients to have televisits with therapists that can help reduce stress and anxiety, polish memory and mobility capabilities and more. The televisits also include physical occupational therapy and behavioral exercises, along with progress reports, posing a promising method of help for autism patients.
Snap gives creators more edit tools
(The Information (paid), April 28)
After recently announcing a partnership with Cameo, Snap has proved to be invested in giving their creators the platform and tools they need to flourish. They introduced Director Mode, which will include features like green screens, dual-camera recording for 360° recording and more. Snap is hoping to soon ramp up its creator marketplace, as it is only in the beginning stages now.
Snapchat’s new AR shopping tools are a game-changer
(VRScout, May 1)
Snapchat has enhanced its AR shopping capabilities and now offers 3D try-on functionalities, which users do not have to purchase products to use. Additional new features include separate pages for favorited products, recently viewed items, and products added to cart.
Accern lands $20M for AI that analyzes financial documents on the web
(TechCrunch, May 2)
Mighty Capital and Fusion Fund have helped Accern reach $20M in funding for their financial analysis AI tool. The tool can make financial forecasts, provide insights on credit risk, performance, fraud prevention and more after scanning blogs and other publications. Accern plans to hire over 20 employees this year and expand into new markets with the new funds.
Meta’s Project Cambria VR headset likened to ‘a laptop for the face’
(Engadget, May 2)
Internal documents from Meta have been leaked and suggest that its headset could be available for purchase as early as fall 2022, with three headset releases to follow shortly after. The price is expected to rise, offering a higher resolution and enhanced avatars.
Serie A comes to the metaverse: First soccer league to broadcast a match
(Marca, May 5)
Italian-based Serie A will be broadcasting its soccer game to a broader audience, leveraging the metaverse. Viewers can interact with the metaverse-based game and now include fans in the Middle East and Africa. The match will be between AC Milan and Fiorentina and will be broadcasted in The Nemesis metaverse.
Instagram is testing a TikTok-like full-screen feed
(The Verge, May 3)
Instagram’s head Adam Mosseri confirmed that it is testing out a new screen format that will be a vertical, full-screen format, similar to TikTok. As Instagram pushes its users to use the app for video creation, the new format is expected to encourage creators to post videos in addition to photos. The existing buttons on the app will move around a bit, but videos will be “front and center.”
