Bits and pieces from the Metaverse

The EU threw a 'gala' launch party for its €387,000 metaverse - and just '6 people' showed up

The European Commission's Foreign Aid Department recently hosted a gala in the metaverse to try and raise awareness among younger audiences about their important humanitarian work. However, apparently only six people made a digital appearance initially at the event. The department spent appr. €387,000 on its metaverse platform, which was designed to promote the EU’s Global Gateway initiative, which hopes to see a €300 billion investment in building new infrastructure across a variety of countries. > Read more

Adidas releases digital fashion for NFT holders

Adidas has released an exclusive 16-piece digital collection of outerwear. Current NFT holders were airdropped pieces at random, and were offered the choice to reveal the item and have their avatars wear the piece, or sell it without discovering the identity of the item. The collection also includes clothing details that would be impractical or even impossible in the physical world, such as iridescent, crystal-like hoodies. Individual items can only be purchased on NFT marketplaces from those owners who have decided to sell, and the floor price immediately after the drop was roughly $1,200 per mystery item. > Read more

Metaverse Fashion Week to return next year

Metaverse Fashion Week (MVFW) will be returning in March 2023 and will now include physical-digital bridges, support for brands, and, interoperability between virtual worlds. This means that digital collections will be able to migrate between digital platforms other than Decentraland. This year’s MVFW was an experiment, however organisers now hope to provide brands with more time to develop infrastructure for successful executions. The theme for MVFW23 is “Future Heritage” and the participants will be announced in January. > Read more

Apple Forces Coinbase to Disable NFT Transfers on Its Wallet App

Apple has blocked Coinbase’s latest app release on IOS devices until their NFT transaction feature is disabled. NFTs are subject to a 30% tax on each app store transaction, a condition which Coinbase is not prepared to meet. Apple has reportedly claimed that “gas fees required to send NFTs need to be paid through their In-App Purchase system”. However, Coinbase refutes this claim, stating that this is not possible. This controversial in-app purchase fee has also angered many crypto advocates and has even been likened to censorship. > Read more

Business schools explore teaching in the metaverse

Many European institutions for higher education have begun stepping into the metaverse in an attempt to make learning more interactive, and also take advantage of new commercial opportunities. At Neoma Business School in France, students can experience the metaverse as avatars in a virtual campus and the school has also developed virtual reality case studies that submerge students in actual corporate dilemmas. While some schools cite data privacy and protection concerns as barriers to bringing business education into the metaverse, many schools are keen to embrace this new technology in order to prepare students adequately for the future. > Read more

Meta is expanding its use of AI face scanning to verify users’ age on Facebook Dating

Meta will expand its use of AI face scanning to Facebook Dating, Meta’s dating app. This expansion of their face scanning technology, which is already in use on Instagram, will be used to prompt users to verify whether they are over 18 years of age, as required by their terms and conditions. This new requirement is designed to try and prevent children from accessing specific features designed for adults. The data is shared with a third-part-company, Yoti, which uses facial feature to estimate users’ age, however users are not supposed to be individually identified. > Read more