Microsoft revealed a Minecraft spinoff game during its big annual video game showcase Sunday but also added to the evidence that the game industry's release slate for the rest of 2022 will be sparse.
Driving the news: Microsoft's 90-minute event ran in its usual mid-June Sunday slot in a week that normally would have kicked off the traditional E3 gaming trade show.
We're encountering lots more robots in our daily lives — delivering our food, pouring our drinks, mowing our lawns — but they're just a small glimpse of what's to come.
Why it matters: As brainy machines take over tasks as diverse as chopping vegetables, driving trucks and assisting the elderly, the human labor force will see major shifts in what jobs are needed.
If the metaverse becomes a popular way to hang out online, it could be a sort of hybrid of an open-world video game and 3D hangout, supported by entry fees or maybe ads.
Or it could be something very much powered by and in the spirit of cryptocurrency: a place with digital land that users truly own.
It could take eight to 10 years for the metaverse technology to become a mainstream reality. Now is the time to decide: What is the digital world we want? What do we want to bring over from today's internet, and what do we want to leave behind?
Holograms allow the display of a high-quality, three-dimensional digital representation of a person without the need for viewers to wear a headset.
State of play: It's more real than you might think. There are a variety of holographic display systems on the market and even more impressive technology within tech companies' labs.
The most immersive metaverse experiences all require new types of display technology to put images directly in front of the eye.
The big picture: Replacing computer and phone screens as the primary window onto a digital world won't be easy, thanks to limits on miniaturization and battery capacity.
The metaverse — the virtual dimension the tech world sees as the next big thing — won't have one big grand opening. Instead, it's coming to life in pieces all around us, in research-lab breakthroughs as well as within products available now.
Why it matters: These early glimpses give consumers, activists and legislators a chance to weigh in now on what they like and don't like, shaping the digital future alongside the companies building it.
Good afternoon, and welcome to our Deep Dive on how the metaverse will come together, piece by piece, and how much of it is being developed in plain sight.
Deep down, you know the truth: You are hopelessly addicted to the phone or iPad or computer you’re reading this on. It’s like puffing three packs of cigarettes, in the car, windows up, kids jammed in back. You know it's not great for you — or them.
Why it matters: Time for digital detox, friends. You don’t need to quit cold turkey — just dial it back.
