WEEKLY TREND
Brands Using Digital to Add Real-World Content
FACEBOOK MARRIES DIGITAL-PHYSICAL WORLDS
Facebook’s Bizarre VR App Is Exactly Why Zuckerberg Bought Oculus
Many scratched their heads three years ago when Facebook acquired Oculus for a steep $3 billion. Now, we’re beginning to understand Facebook’s VR ambitions with Spaces, the beta app for the Rift that’s a manifestation of that union. Announced at Facebook’s F8 developer conference, Spaces lets Rift users hang out together in a personalized and private virtual room, collaborate on 3D digital art, and interact with many forms of Facebook content–photos, videos, text, and so on. By leveraging Facebook’s ubiquity in day-to-day life, Spaces promises to make virtual reality more personal, and more relatable, than it’s ever been: “It’s sort of a magical canvas for shared experiences.”
Here’s What Mark Zuckerberg Told Us About The Wild Things Facebook’s New Camera Will Do
Facebook’s been busy this week. In addition to launching Spaces, Facebook announced that it is working on a crazy camera platform that lets users overlay digital experiences on the real world. Save the Snapchat comparisons; Camera Platform, as the company calls it, is a major bet that the camera will become the first augmented reality platform. Sure, there are cool picture effects. But this is about Facebook fully inserting itself in the real world. Imagine viewing pieces of digital art affixed to a blank wall, or playing a digital game overlaid on a tabletop: “Facebook is so much about marrying the physical world with online. When you can make it so that you can intermix digital and physical parts of the world, that’s going to make a lot of our experiences better and our lives richer.”
PALE BLUE DOTCOM
Explore The Planet With The Brand New Google Earth
Google Earth was always kind of amazing, especially when you consider the gargantuan task of photographing the entire world (check out the video below to see how Google does it). Google went a step further this week with a major Earth update that not only redesigned the interface, but also added rich textual and visual content from partners such as BBC Earth, NASA, and the Jane Goodall Institute. Parts of Google Earth now act as a curated magazine that houses stories from these select partners, giving users the ability to learn about everything from wildlife and ecology to points of interest and even views from space. So check it out and feed your wanderlust with the new and improved Google Earth.
More News About Google Earth:
VIDEO: Google Earth’s Incredible 3D Imagery, Explained
Everything you can do with the new Google Earth
BLOOMBERG ANNOTATES THE INTERNET
Bloomberg Adds Context to News Articles with “Rap Genius for News”
It’s more important than ever to get your news from a variety of authoritative and trusted sources. Bloomberg Media is seizing this opportunity to give readers more context with Lens, an article enhancement tool that goes wherever readers do, automatically grabbing data from Bloomberg and other sources about those objects and gently alerting the reader that there’s data to see. For instance, if you’re reading a story about Tesla from your favorite national newspaper and activate Lens, Bloomberg will deliver additional data, context, and relevant news about the companies and executives named in the piece. Think Rap Genius for news.
YOUR WEEKLY DOES OF INSPIRATION
VIDEO: Cassius ft. Cat Power Pharell Williams | Go Up
The Flagpole Sitta Lip Dub Turns 10
