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15 April 2023 Saturday
News
The Sandbox is an innovative project that brings together many key concepts from digital life. It combines play-to-earn blockchain games with an emphasis on metaverse concepts to provide an enjoyable user experience.
The Sandbox – What Players Can Expect
The Sandbox is an open-ended game universe designed to inspire users to craft their own experiences. Players earn SAND tokens by engaging with this world and supporting creators.
The Sandbox is a voxel-based world builder game that lets players craft their own creations – games, social hubs and anything else they can imagine! Players are free to explore this immersive environment that provides endless creativity!
The gameplay in The Sandbox centers around world-building, crafting, and physics. Pixel blocks contain over 200 individual physics components which interact to form complex creations.
The sandbox genre of games has evolved into an expansive open world experience. This type of play often relies on emergent or unstructured techniques and has the power to foster creativity, personal development and self-direction in players.
The Sandbox is a blockchain-based metaverse platform that utilizes non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to allow users to own assets and gaming experiences while also being able to monetize them and build up passive income streams.
NFTs are an emerging type of crypto asset that creates and guarantees ownership for in-game items, providing us with new ways to acquire art, build communities and generate wealth.
In The Sandbox, non-functional tokens (NFTs) are represented by voxels that represent different entities within the game such as an avatar, tool or piece of land built within it.
NFTs can be created using VoxEdit and uploaded to The Sandbox Marketplace before being converted to NFTs for use in games.
Sandboxes are natural toys that help kids develop both their hands and imagination. By touching, sculpting, and shaping sand into mini worlds, children are given a great opportunity to express themselves creatively while stimulating both hands.
A sandbox can also be used to play with other natural materials, like stones, twigs and shells, helping develop finger and hand muscles necessary for handwriting, sports, self-sufficiency tasks and more.
To begin your play in The Sandbox, first create an account with user name and email. Afterward, you’ll be asked to customize your avatar.
The Sandbox Metaverse comprises of 166,446 lands where players can create games and experiences of their own. Landowners who demonstrate excellence are rewarded for their efforts with special tokens granting access to exclusive experiences or other perks.
A sandbox is an interactive landscape where users can construct and alter locations freely, serving as an excellent way to explore various aspects of geography.
Geology students benefit immensely from using the sandbox, as it allows them to observe how gravity and tectonic forces impact landscape formation and development. Furthermore, this tool also serves to teach them about elevation changes.
Regulatory sandboxes provide a safe space to test new regulatory processes and can assist in developing innovative health technology assessment (HTA) methods, policies and processes.
Sandboxes are used in healthcare regulation primarily in high-income countries, though not extensively. The purpose of this review is to outline their use and assess its potential application in HTA policy and methodological development; furthermore, low and middle income countries should investigate adopting disruptive technologies through such an approach.
Edward Albee’s groundbreaking play The Sandbox explores family relationships and the American dream while touching upon issues related to ageing and life cycle.
Albee was inspired to write this play following his maternal grandmother’s death and wanted to challenge traditional family dynamics while suggesting that people should live their lives without interference from outside sources.
The Sandbox has established partnerships with 17 education institutes around the world, such as HKUST and HKDI. Their partnership aims to offer digital graduation ceremonies, scientific programs, and gaming events.
News
Disney announced on January 18 that as part of their restructuring plan they are closing down their metaverse division, which was formed in 2022 to explore new technologies using Disney’s extensive library of intellectual property. As a result of these plans 7,000 workers will be laid off.
Disney Cuts Metaverse Division
Bob Chapek, former CEO of Disney, appointed Mike White to head their team in February 2022, but its existence was short lived and lackluster. Tech users showed little enthusiasm for using Oculus headsets or the Metaverse; although billions were invested into such technology.
Disney CEO Bob Iger informed employees in a memo sent out last week of the company’s restructuring plans, including cutting the metaverse division as part of an overall restructuring effort. Iger stated that initial layoffs will begin this week to reduce workforce by 7,000 and save an estimated $5.5 billion.
Chapek initiated the metaverse division with a mission of developing new technology that could bring stories to life in ways never possible before, and help customers create a single avatar to access various digital worlds and experiences.
Iger may only have been back at the company for a short while, yet already he’s making significant changes. He refocused the company around three core divisions – Disney Entertainment, ESPN and parks and experiences — while searching for Fox assets to bolster those areas.
Disney, like other big tech companies, is facing increasing pressure to reduce costs and drop expensive projects that don’t generate immediate revenue. Accordingly, reports indicate it will close down Chapek’s metaverse division – another cost cutting measure Iger has been undertaking since returning to Disney.
Disney, in an effort to reduce costs and streamline operations, is taking steps towards streamlining their operations by disbanding a division that researched metaverse technology as part of a broad restructuring plan that will reduce employee headcount across their operations.
The metaverse, which allows users to interact through avatars, was once seen as an exciting technology that could help companies tell more engaging narratives. Unfortunately, its effectiveness has come under criticism as more of a gimmick than an effective tool, and may now be giving way to artificial intelligence technologies like Watson.
Variety reports that Disney has eliminated their metaverse division as part of a cost-cutting initiative. Led by Mike White, this division explored new methods of telling stories using technological formats within Disney’s vast catalog of intellectual property.
Disney CEO Bob Iger announced in February that as part of a larger restructuring plan, his company would reduce employment by 7,000 jobs as part of a restructuring plan. Iger stated that workers affected would first be informed this week; second round layoffs will occur during April; while final ones before summer commence are to occur before that. CNBC reports.
Disney’s reduction of its metaverse division may signal that they are reconsidering their approach to this technology and may instead shift focus onto other areas of development. At this stage, it remains too soon to say whether other tech firms will follow suit by disbanding their metaverse teams.
The Walt Disney Company has reportedly discontinued its metaverse division as part of a comprehensive restructuring that will see 7,000 jobs cut, according to reports in The Wall Street Journal. This 50-person team had been set up as the entryway into metaverse entertainment.
According to Mike White’s report, his team was charged with finding ways to tell interactive stories using Disney’s library of intellectual property. Additionally, they researched applications for fantasy sports leagues, theme park attractions, and consumer experiences.
Bob Chapek, former CEO at Disney, saw it as his personal mission to explore “next generation storytelling”.
After closing its division, Disney has made no indication of when or if it will enter the metaverse; their unwillingness reflects efforts that weren’t as successful compared to those from other companies.
Metaverse enthusiasts were left heartbroken at hearing of this news, as numerous major projects from companies like Facebook and Tencent had fallen by the wayside.
News
OpenAI, makers of the popular ChatGPT chatbot, has released a series of experimental plugins that enable it to connect to the internet. This new capability greatly enhances ChatGPT’s capabilities and addresses one major drawback.
Chat GPT
This extension could streamline tasks like shopping and planning travel without the need to visit multiple websites for research. Currently, the feature is in alpha testing and available to a select group of users; access will gradually be extended to more developers and ChatGPT Plus subscribers.
OpenAI, a US-based artificial intelligence (AI) firm, has finally released ChatGPT plugins that enable bots to connect to the internet. These features are currently available in Alpha to select developers and customers who have subscribed to their premium ChatGPT Plus plan.
ChatGPT now has access to the internet through a new web browser plugin, providing them with an expansive knowledge base that goes beyond their training data.
ChatGPT had previously been limited in its knowledge of dates and events that occurred prior to September 2021. Now, with this feature, it can retrieve information from the web and use that to answer user inquiries more efficiently.
Users will be able to install plugins from within the ChatGPT app itself. Initially, 11 plugins will be available, including tools that let users book flights and hotels through e-commerce platforms such as Shopify, Klarna and Instacart; plus travel search engines like Expedia and KAYAK.
The new plugins also include a code interpreter. This plugin offers an interactive Python interpreter in both a secure, firewalled environment as well as some temporary disc space. According to the company, this will allow ChatGPT to perform calculations and access third-party services seamlessly.
ChatGPT can now connect to the internet thanks to new OpenAI plugins. These enable the chatbot to access up-to-date data, run computations and utilize third-party services.
These plugins will enable the ChatGPT to extend its knowledge base, enabling it to make decisions on your behalf based on information not previously accessible during training. According to OpenAI, this new capability enables the chatbot “access up-to-date data that is too recent, too personal, or too specific for its training data.”
ChatGPT can access plugins developed by third-party sites like Expedia, KAYAK, Instacart and Milo to book flights, hotel rooms and even order takeout for you.
Additionally, the Shop plugin enables GPT to search for products from various global brands and compare prices. Furthermore, the OpenTable plugin enables ChatGPT to locate restaurants near you and reserve tables with just one click.
OpenAI is releasing these plugins gradually and will be monitoring for real-world usage, safety and alignment issues. At present, they’re only making them available to a select number of developers and ChatGPT Plus users; if you would like to be one of them, sign up for their waitlist!
OpenAI has officially unveiled a set of plugins that will enable its ChatGPT chatbot to connect to the internet for the first time. This enables it to retrieve information, interact with third-party websites and carry out other tasks beyond what its language model can handle.
On March 23, the company announced a “limited” alpha phase for their new feature. It is currently only accessible to select developers and ChatGPT Plus subscribers; however, they have stated their intentions of expanding access in the future to more developers.
ChatGPT uses this plugin to search and synthesize data from the web in order to provide better answers. It also cites its sources so users can confirm where the information came from.
ChatGPT now supports a host of new use cases, from booking flights to ordering food. The first partners who have developed plugins for ChatGPT include travel search engines Expedia and KAYAK as well as e-commerce platforms like Shopify, Klarna and Instacart.
Although having access to the internet is a welcome development, it also poses potential risks for AI systems. According to OpenAI, web-enabled ChatGPTs have been known to quote from unreliable sources or inflate their information with offensive material. To address this problem, they say they’ve implemented several safeguards informed by internal and external red teams.
News
Axie Infinity is a blockchain game built upon non-fungible tokens (NFTs). It provides players with an opportunity to earn money through its play-to-earn model.
How To Make Money in Axie Infinity
In Axie Infinity, players can purchase, sell, breed and battle NFTs known as Axies. These creatures form the core of the game and offer players one of the most lucrative ways to make money on Axie Infinity.
Axie Infinity is a game where you control an army of virtual creatures called Axies to fight other players. Each Axe has unique abilities that enable them to drain the health from opponents and win rewards for your efforts.
The game is powered by NFTs, which are gaming-specific tokens you can use to purchase Axies, digital land parcels and items in the game. Furthermore, you can breed Axies to create new ones!
Axie Infinity is part of the growing ‘play-to-earn’ trend in gaming, which brings together NFTs, cryptocurrency, and classic game play to enable gamers to earn substantial amounts of money from playing their favorite game.
Axie Infinity is a blockchain-based game that utilizes Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) to represent creatures, land plots and other in-game assets. Players can purchase these NFTs from an online marketplace and use them to breed, raise and battle Axies.
Sky Mavis created Ronin, an Ethereum sidechain which runs the game. It is supported by two native cryptocurrencies: Axie Infinity Shards (AXS) and Smooth Love Potion (SLP). These tokens can be staked to take part in platform governance as well as earning rewards for winning battles.
Axie Infinity generates revenue by charging 4.25 percent commission to users who buy and sell NFTs on its marketplace. It also collects fees from breeding Axies and other in-game activities, which are paid with Axie Infinity Shards or silky love potions.
Axie Infinity is a pay-to-win game in which players can purchase, breed and compete against one another to earn cash in-game via smooth love potions (SLP), as well as digital currency called Axie Infinity Shards (AXS). Players earn in-game currency through SLPs (smooth love potions), but also earn virtual assets like AXSs – digital coins generated from player activity within the game.
Each Axie is a non-fungible token (NFT), meaning it’s unreplaceable due to its unique data identifier on the blockchain. They come paired with two digital currencies: SLP and AXS, which can be traded for fiat money or other cryptos on popular exchanges.
Axie Infinity is one of the world’s most beloved games, built using blockchain technology. It boasts an engaging gameplay that draws inspiration from Pokemon mechanics.
Axie Infinity is a Pokemon-inspired metaverse game built on the Ethereum blockchain. It offers players a play-to-earn structure, enabling them to make money through buying, fighting, breeding and raising Axies.
AXS tokens, on the other hand, can be used for gaming rewards, staking fees and breeding costs. Furthermore, these resources can be exchanged for other cryptocurrencies on Axie Infinity Marketplace.
Though Axie Infinity can be an attractive way to earn cryptocurrency, it may not provide any real financial gains. The startup costs are high and prices for Axies for resale may fluctuate significantly.
Axie Infinity is one of the world’s most beloved Play-to-Earn (P2E) games and the first to pioneer blockchain gaming. Created by Sky Mavis, it provides captivating gameplay and lucrative earning opportunities to millions of players worldwide.
The game utilizes NFTs to build an ecosystem that allows players to monetize their in-game assets. It also has various modes that award players with Smooth Love Potions (SLPs) and Axie Infinity Shards (AXSs).
Axie Infinity is an accessible free-to-play game available across all major platforms such as PC, Mac, Android and iOS. Getting started with Axie Infinity doesn’t require any prior knowledge of blockchain networks or tech saavy skillset.
News
Last year, Facebook changed its brand to Meta, signaling an evolution in their vision. They now embrace the potential of a 3D virtual world – known as the metaverse – as their ideal.
Who Is Still Inside The Metaverse
The metaverse is a futuristic vision of an integrated technological world that houses assets, transactions and identities. This requires trust as digital technologies become new platforms for business growth and brand reputation management.
Animoca Brands, a Deloitte Tech Fast winner and featured in the Financial Times list of High Growth Companies Asia-Pacific 2021, is an expert in digital entertainment, blockchain technology and gamification. Committed to upholding digital property rights and building the open metaverse, they create products and platforms that enable users to trade or exchange digital assets.
Animoca Brands remains a prolific investor in non-fungible token (NFT) and metaverse companies, even during the crypto market’s downturn. Its holdings in Sky Mavis, Dapper Labs and OpenSea saw impressive growth throughout 2021.
Animoca Brands recently completed a $1.3 billion funding round for its new metaverse fund, Animoca Capital. The company plans to leverage this investment by bringing more well-known brands and IPs onto the blockchain. Furthermore, they intend to continue investing in NFT-related companies.
Nike has been a successful brand for decades, thanks to its effective marketing campaigns that helped it achieve high market share. Now a multibillion-dollar global force, Nike can invest in new products and technologies to stay ahead of the competition.
Nike is investing in artificial intelligence startups for improved product positioning and predictive customer shopping behavior. Furthermore, the company is discontinuing wholesale distribution and focusing on direct-to-consumer strategies.
Though Google Glass was a complete failure, there’s no denying the metaverse is having an exciting moment. According to McKinsey, 60% of consumers are eager to transfer their everyday tasks like shopping and working out into the metaverse.
Despite all of the hype, many major companies have yet to see a meaningful return from their investments in metaverse projects. While some, like Google and Amazon, have been able to build large user bases and make substantial profits off their investments, others are having difficulty making any money off them.
Walmart (WMT) is taking its first foray into the metaverse, launching two immersive experiences with Roblox, a popular metaverse mega-platform among young kids. Walmart said its offerings would bring its ‘isles’ to life in the virtual realm.
Walmart Land’ is the first experience and will feature a Netflix trivia game, live music and virtual merchandise that mirrors real-life products sold at Walmart stores. Users can also play games, compete in fashion competitions and earn “verch” that can be used for purchasing virtual goods.
Walmart announced the second experience, “Universe of Play,” as an “ultimate toy destination” in the metaverse. Players will use hoverboards to explore a world filled with Sharper Image drones that will guide them toward toys.
The metaverse is the next generation of 3-D digital spaces that utilize virtual reality and augmented reality technologies to create lifelike online experiences. It’s what many computer engineers believe to be the next evolution of the internet, and it’s rapidly becoming a reality.
Yet despite all the excitement, much of the metaverse is still developing, including interoperability standards, bandwidth and other crucial elements. While some technology needed for its operation is rapidly progressing, others could take years or even never materialize.
VR goggles and motion-capture gloves are already affordable to consumers, yet they lack the technical capability necessary for most people to use them effectively. Even if they were more accessible, many lack the technical ability necessary to navigate VR environments with realistic expressions, body language and voice quality.
Microsoft, the world’s largest software company, is investing heavily in the metaverse and creating its own VR platform called Quest. Furthermore, Microsoft plans to sell NFT products that will enable users to purchase and trade virtual goods within the metaverse.
