Ben Erwin

Creator of the WebXR Awards. Creative Technologist for the Immersive Web, WebXR, Spatial Computing, Volumetric Video. Digital Polymath, Autodidact

[Ben Erwin @powersimple]

I gave this talk at @ARealityEvent on June 18th on Why Open Wins. Thanks to @sonyahaskins for the opportunity to talk about one of my favorite topics.
https://t.co/WoQGYGe7ew

[Ben Erwin @powersimple]

@utopiah OFFS. Say it ain't so.

[Andy Fidel 🔜 AWE @AndyFidel_]

Mission Responsible 2
Sunday, Dec. 8th in @engage_xr

👉 https://t.co/nUm9VkPRRC

Conversation among leading minds on ethics in the #Metaverse, ft. @kentbye @brittanheller @whoisgallifrey @fromthehip @juliesmithso @schussler @powersimple

[Ben Erwin @powersimple]

Please upvote my #SXSW2025 panel
https://t.co/A2VTmBgrgj

[The Polys - Immersive Awards @ThePolyAwards]

Please upvote @powersimple's session for #SXSW2025 to represent @Metaverse_Forum with "𝗘𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: 𝗔 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁. https://t.co/TrLnLYdEVZ + please upvote friends panels in comments

[Ben Erwin @powersimple]

If you're going to be at @ARealityEvent, please come see my talk, WHY OPEN WINS where I'll explore case studies and success stories of why history is on the side of open.

[Ben Erwin @powersimple]

Let's be clear, The Sphere has no peer. I went with brother @Keyframe_Ent , who bought me a beer. If you are near, spend your money without fear, because 18K resolution is really darn clear. #TheSphere #18kResolution #CES2024

[gfodor.id @gfodor]

Now that’s what I’m talking about

[Ben Erwin @powersimple]

@NathieVR FPS games squander the potential of the medium.

[Tony Parisi @auradeluxe]

WHAT IS THE METAVERSE?

Part Three

After glancing sidelong at this important question for the last few years— after all, who would dare look directly into the fire?— I have decided to tackle it head-on. A treatise and a podcast later, I feel like we have framed the question well, and had several enlightening conversations about why it matters.

We Metaverse, it would appear, so that we can connect, communicate and create.

A through line for me is the idea that the progression of Internet technology is an evolution of media types, and as such, we can’t understand where this is all headed without looking at it through the lens of media theory. In other words, the next wave of human communication comes with associated advances in media.

Every day, more and more of our interactions take place online, virtually - rendered to digital media in order to be stored, sent to one another, experienced together, annotated, improved upon; intermediated via digital infrastructure that delivers it to us at our whim.

But these media are not simply ephemeral units of messaging, such as voice and text; they are objects to be experienced, possessed, bought and sold. Virtual goods. Digital artifacts. A book, a song, a photo, a painting… And now, thanks to real-time 3D, these can also be a sculpture, a table, a blow dryer, a dress, a pair of sneakers, and even a space or place… surely more things in heaven and earth than were ever dreamt of - digitally.

And they are not confined to only simulacra of physical things— though being able to walk through a digital twin of a building or interact with a photorealistic 3D model of a product is amazing in itself and has myriad applications. These 3D creations can also be completely fantastical, the stuff of video games, CG movies and such. Dragons, elves, entire worlds with impossible physics. Nearly anything we can imagine. They can mimic the real world, attempt to replace it, or simply enhance it, depending how they are delivered, from fully immersive virtual experiences to mixed and augmented reality enhancing our IRL.

Every day, the tools to create these wonders get cheaper and more powerful; the hardware gets faster; and the creators become more skilled. Add AI to the mix, where whole environments can be created with a few prompts, and soon, we’ll be flooded with amazing 3D content. Digital twins of everything. Millions of synthetic worlds, objects, creatures. Agents and NPCs to cater to our every whim, and keep us company round the clock.

We are the cusp of another breakthrough in media. It’s truly magical!

But as we have learned, magic cuts both ways.

The origin of the word medium is middle - in between.

The very media we use to connect (bind), to communicate (share) - that we create (bring into existence)… they are just that: creations. As verisimilar and compelling as 3D and XR can get, these objects, spaces and characters aren’t the actual things that they are intended to represent. As Joe MacMillan famously said, “It’s not the thing… it’s the thing that gets you to the thing.”

Therein lies the beauty and the danger. We’ve seen what happened with social media. That very thing that promised to connect us nearly tore us apart.

What will happen when all this 3D Metaversey stuff takes hold? Especially when we can bring it into existence with a thought, a few words? Will be be as gods… or will we be further enslaved, trapped by our creations?

#Metaverse #web3 #NFTs #AI #SpatialComputing

[Looking Glass @LKGGlass]

A hotly anticipated release coming your way this afternoon — Image to Hologram conversion (previously known as 2D to 3D converter) is now available directly on https://t.co/U1lpDGtWak Make any image 3D with just a click of a button and see it natively on you browser or as a hologram on your Looking Glass.

We think you'll love it. Go give it a whirl 🍥

🎥 Watch the video ⬇️

[ellie🌸 @ptrpaws]

Meta Quest 3 unboxing 😊

[Ben Erwin @powersimple]

Happy Birthday to my favorite Vorlon.

[herbst @hybridherbst]

Big news for glTF and USD!
I'm very happy to announce: Asset Explorer

A web app that will help to bridge the gaps between @glTF3D and @openusd.

https://t.co/4X8jB4OZF3

✨File feature info
✨Download USDZ conversions
✨View USDZ in the web
✨AR on Android, iOS, visionOS
🛠️WIP!

[Diego @dmarcos]

Enjoy minimalism and deep understanding of the code you use? 🧘

I wrote a tiny standalone C++ to WASM starter template.

- No build system (just bash)
- No Emscripten
- No external dependencies (compiler included)
- 26 lines of C++ and 54 of JS

https://t.co/zo82bLdccn

[Alex Coulombe @iBrews]

OoOoo #UE5 #AppleVisionPro #VisionOS

[Ben Erwin @powersimple]

@auradeluxe There are faces on that tree.

[Ben Erwin @powersimple]

@pjcozzi @webxrawards @LKGGlass @CesiumJS @shawninvents @ArturoJReal Thank you Patrick. I greatly admire the product, the company, the team, and the value system you have built. It was a great pleasure to visit.

[Ben Erwin @powersimple]

@rp1platform’s coming out party was epic.
@seangmann @yinch @webxrawards

[carlos austin @cpaustin2000]

Happy to be part of this historic moment in a dream of small team creating a metaverse that can grow as a community for all of us @rp1platform @powersimple @seangmann @danieldbryant

[Ben Erwin @powersimple]

@king__deluxe @cpaustin2000 @rp1platform @seangmann @danieldbryant Steam needs a good WebXR browser
@valvesoftware @igalia @briankardell @LjunggrenDaniel

[Dr. Rana el Kaliouby @kaliouby]

Thank you @xrmasiso & @javier_masis for hosting me (and inspiring Adam!). And thank you @powersimple for moderating our panel w/ @anna_wexler & @twi_mar! I also loved spending time w/ @jdthamores & @MdeBettencourt ♥️♥️
#AI #innovation #diversity #neuroscience /3