TREND REPORTS
(Infographic) Virtual Influencer Survey
[Business]
2022/04/14 09:05
Virtual influencers are fictional characters generated using computer graphics software and created to have their own personalities, interests, and unique personas. These digital characters have generated large followings on many different social media platforms including YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and more. The Influencer Marketing Factory has been seeing more and more virtual influ...
Pudgy Penguins, the Hot-and-Then-Not NFTs, Attempt a Comeback
[Investing]
2022/04/14 09:04
Virtual community has new owners with a ‘new roadmap’. Penguin owners hope for success like Bored Apes Yacht Club.Pudgy Penguins, a once hugely successful NFT project that got blown off course by drama that included the ousting of its founders, is attempting a comeback. Hopes are high in the newly energized community -- but in today’s crowded, up-and-down market for nonfungible tokens, it wi...
This WFH Accessory is Designed to Monitor Your Posture for Healthy Spinal Alignment
[Design]
2022/04/14 09:03
Uplift is a posture-monitoring desk accessory that broadcasts users’ real-time side profiles and posture-correcting suggestions.Working from home has done a number on our spinal alignment. As we crunch in work to meet our deadlines, we gradually hunch over the laptop to meet its screen without ever realizing how it affects our spines and postures. While physical posture correctors do exist, we...
(PDF) IFPI Global Music Report 2022
[Business]
2022/04/13 09:10
The global recorded music market grew by 18.5% in 2021, driven by growth in paid subscription streaming, according to IFPI, the organisation that represents the recorded music industry worldwide. Figures released today in IFPI’s Global Music Report show total revenues for 2021 were US$25.9 billion.Paid subscription streaming revenues increased by 21.9% US$12.3 billion. There were 523 million u...
The Microchip Implants That Let You Pay with Your Hand - Walletmor
[Tech]
2022/04/13 09:09
A microchip was first implanted into a human back in 1998, but it is only during the past decade that the technology has been available commercially. And when it comes to implantable payment chips, British-Polish firm, Walletmor, says that last year it became the first company to offer them for sale."The implant can be used to pay for a drink on the beach in Rio, a coffee in New York, a haircut...
FungyProof Raises $1M for NFT Quality Assessment
[Investing]
2022/04/13 09:08
CR3 Labs, the Boulder, CO-based creator of FungyProof, a provider of an NFT quality assessment platform, raised $1M in Pre-Seed funding.Backers included Cadenza Ventures, Hypersphere Ventures, ZMT Capital, Red Beard Ventures, HanDAO, Branson Bollinger, and Daniel Hwang.The company intends to use the funds to hire additional talent, expand its product offering with a crowd-sourced token review s...
(Paper) Simulated Human Eye Movement Aims to Train Metaverse Platforms - EyeSyn
[Tech]
2022/04/13 09:07
Virtual platform replicates how human eyes track stimuli from conversations to art galleries.A person's eye is tracked in a callout box as they play a simple video gameRather than collecting actual eye movement data, as seen here, Duke engineers have developed a set of “virtual eyes” that simulate the data well enough to train new metaverse applications.Computer engineers at Duke University h...
(PDF) BCG - It’s Time for Institutional Investors to Embrace the S in ESG
[Investing]
2022/04/13 09:06
Institutional investors were late to realize the alpha potential of clean tech and other environmental investments. They should avoid making the same mistake with social impact.A decade ago, few institutional investors believed that their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) funds could generate meaningful alpha—at least not in comparison with other classes of funds. But that mindset ha...
Head-Pinging Wearable Designed to Improve Users' Sleep - SleepLoop
[Tech]
2022/04/13 09:05
SleepLoop detects brain waves associated with the deep sleep cycle, then emits a clicking audio signal to help its wearer maintain that state.As we get older, it becomes more difficult not just to get to sleep, but also to reach and maintain a state of deep sleep. The experimental new SleepLoop device is designed to help, by emitting noises into the wearer's head.SleepLoop is currently in devel...
