Yon is once again joined by Lisa Bernard to discuss the most important and interesting news stories related to the Metaverse in this week’s edition of Yon & Lisa Talk All Things Metaverse . During their conversation they discuss Open AI’s release of GPTs and the eventual marketplace that will house them, the new AI Pin from Humane and if it could potentially replace our smartphones, and the launch of the e.l.f. UP! Experience on Roblox. Chapters : Open AI Unveils GPTs and a Marketplace (00:2...
Nov 13, 2023•18 min•Season 1Ep. 77
This week Yon welcomes Dylan Collins into the metaverse. Dylan is the Founder and former CEO of SuperAwesome, and has spent his career building and operating in the digital media space, generally with an eye towards youth audiences. His experience building for youth audiences and watching the market adapt and evolve with them over the years has given him great insight into the topics of today’s episode. During their conversation, Yon and Dylan discuss the genesis of SuperAwesome, the changes in ...
Nov 07, 2023•41 min•Season 1Ep. 76
Yon is once again joined by Lisa Bernard to discuss the most important and interesting news stories related to the Metaverse in this week’s edition of Yon & Lisa Talk All Things Metaverse . During their conversation they touch on President Biden’s new Executive Order on AI, news coming from the UK AI Safety Summit, Humane launching their new AI pin, and more. Chapters : President Biden’s Executive Order on AI (00:50) UK’s AI Safety Summit (05:05) Humane Launching Their AI Pin (09:35) Artists...
Nov 06, 2023•20 min•Season 1Ep. 75
Known by many as the man who popularized the term Web 2.0 in the aftermath of the dotcom crash, Tim O’Reilly is back on the podcast this week to discuss the best case business models behind the next iteration of generative AI and the metaverse. Aside from being notorious for coining the term Web 2.0, Tim is the CEO and Chairman of O’Reilly Media and a partner at early stage venture firm O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures. His book, WTF: What’s the Future and Why It’s Up to Us , explores what technology...
Oct 31, 2023•54 min•Season 1Ep. 74
With the rollout of Unreal Editor for Fortnite (UEFN) earlier this year, Epic Games made it clear that their long term ambitions for Fortnite are to make the transition from game to platform. In today’s episode of Into the Metaverse, Yon is joined by game industry analyst David Taylor to discuss how things have gone for UEFN thus far and the overall challenge that comes with making that big jump from game to platform. During their conversation they dive into the numbers on how UEFN has performed...
Oct 27, 2023•35 min•Season 1Ep. 73
This week Yon welcomes back Unanimous AI CEO & Chief Scientist, Louis Rosenberg, for part 2 of their conversation on AI and its influence on the metaverse. Having earned his PhD from Stanford, Louis has been a pioneer in the fields of augmented reality, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence, with over 300 patents in these fields to his name. Louis’ background as both a scientist and business leader make him the perfect guest to talk to about the possibilities of AI and how it will int...
Oct 25, 2023•29 min•Season 1Ep. 72
Yon is back to discuss the latest news items surrounding the metaverse. He is joined this week by 3-time Emmy award winning reporter and Web3 journalist, Lisa Bernard. In this week’s edition of Yon & Lisa Talk All Things Metaverse , the two cover Nvidia’s recent ChatGPT experiments, how Disney can bring their IP into the metaverse, Apple’s place in the AI race, and much more. Chapters : Introducing Lisa (00:25) Autonomous AI and Nvidia’s ChatGPT Experiments (00:50) How Disney Will Bring Its ...
Oct 24, 2023•14 min•Season 1Ep. 71
This week Yon welcomes Unanimous AI CEO & Chief Scientist, Louis Rosenberg, into the metaverse. Having earned his PhD from Stanford, Louis has been a pioneer in the fields of augmented reality, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence, with over 300 patents in these fields to his name. Louis’ background as both a scientist and business leader make him the perfect guest to talk to about the possibilities of AI and how it will integrate with and influence what ultimately becomes of the met...
Oct 18, 2023•31 min•Season 1Ep. 70
Yon is once again joined by Priya David Clemens to discuss the most important and interesting news stories related to the Metaverse in this week’s edition of Yon & Priya Talk All Things Metaverse . During their conversation they touch on Microsoft completing its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, answer the question if Silicon Valley can create fun, discuss Roblox launching on Playstation, and much more. Chapters : Microsoft Completes Activision Acquisition (01:12) Microsoft’s Strategies Pe...
Oct 17, 2023•15 min
Yon is once again joined by Priya David Clemens to discuss the most important and interesting news stories related to the Metaverse in this week’s edition of Yon & Priya Talk All Things Metaverse . Yon opens by sharing his thoughts on the terrorist attacks against Israel before he and Priya dive into their conversation covering safety for children in the metaverse, managing access to experiences, and reactions to recent announcements from Microsoft, Meta, and Apple. Chapters : Thoughts on th...
Oct 10, 2023•15 min
It’s been a busy week in the world of the metaverse, capped off by a fascinating display of the next generation of 3D avatars as Mark Zuckerberg and Lex Fridman recorded a podcast fully in their Codec Avatar form via a Meta Quest headset. To break this and all the latest news down, Yon is once again joined by Priya David Clemens in this edition of Yon & Priya Talk All Things Metaverse . During their conversation, Yon & Priya cover what we saw and learned from Zuck’s podcast appearance, t...
Sep 29, 2023•18 min
This week Yon welcomes Dan Sturman into the metaverse. Dan is a world class technologist, having spent time leading software and engineering teams and departments at IBM, Google, and Cloudera, before taking on his current role as CTO of Roblox nearly four years ago. Coming off of all of the news and announcements made at last weekend’s Roblox Developers Conference 2023 (RDC23) it’s an incredible time to get to chat with Dan about all things Roblox and metaverse. During their conversation Yon and...
Sep 14, 2023•49 min
This week Yon welcomes Sam Peurifoy into the metaverse. Sam brings a wealth of knowledge and an investment lens to the podcast, as he is a partner and the head of interactive at Hivemind Capital, a Web3 and blockchain technology focused investment firm. During their conversation Yon and Sam discuss if the fictionalized nightmare of corporate overlords running the metaverse is realistic, talk about what actually took place during the first wave of Web3, break down how open source software can wor...
Aug 29, 2023•26 min
This week Yon welcomes Tian Lim into the metaverse. Tian currently serves as the VP of Product at Roblox, with a specific focus on creators. Prior to Roblox, Tian’s career path featured high level roles at companies like Google, Hulu, Sony, Microsoft, and more, giving him a deep knowledge of where the world of gaming and virtual communities has been, where it stands today, and where it may be headed in the future. During their conversation Yon and Tian discuss the democratization of creation too...
Aug 22, 2023•44 min
This week Yon welcomes John Linden into the metaverse. Currently the CEO of Mythical Games, John has formerly been President at Seismic Games overseeing such games as Marvel’s Strike Force, and Studio Head at Activision overseeing multiple iterations of the Call of Duty franchise. With this extensive background in the gaming world, John is one of the best people to speak with about what has and has not worked in this industry and where things may be headed. During their conversation Yon and John...
Aug 15, 2023•51 min
In this episode Yon welcomes Aiden Slavin into the metaverse. Aiden leads the Metaverse Governance team at the World Economic Forum, where he and all of the metaverse related teams at WEF have been hard at work researching and writing a five part series of reports on building a responsible metaverse that have just begun to be released. During their conversation Yon and Aiden delve into data privacy in the metaverse, the need for metaverse literacy, how different generations will adopt and intera...
Jul 26, 2023•28 min•Season 1Ep. 62
In this episode Yon welcomes Connie Kuang into the metaverse. Connie leads the Metaverse & Generative AI Value Creation team at the World Economic Forum, where she and her team have been hard at work researching and writing a five part series of reports on building a responsible metaverse that have just begun to be released. During their conversation Yon and Connie discuss what value creation in the metaverse looks like, key challenges in bridging technological gaps, why access to new techno...
Jul 25, 2023•32 min•Season 1Ep. 61
The last few weeks have been incredibly exciting as Yon and the Supersocial team saw the launch of Piñata Smashlings, their collaboration effort with toy company Toikido to build a new brand that combines a gaming experience and community with the physical world of toys, trading cards, and more. With this launch happening, it felt like the perfect time for Yon to welcome Darran Garnham, Founder and CEO of Toikido, into the metaverse. During their conversation Yon and Darran first discuss the ove...
Jul 18, 2023•34 min•Season 1Ep. 60
This week Yon welcomes Itamar Benedy into the metaverse. Itamar is the co-founder and CEO of Anzu, the world’s most advanced intrinsic in-game ad solution for mobile, PC, console, and the metaverse. Anzu’s goal is to put players first and help advertisers reach audiences in a non-disruptive and highly engaging way. As Itamar states, “the metaverse is the digital twin of the physical world,” and he and his company are on the forefront of bringing an ad and marketing experience to the metaverse th...
Jul 12, 2023•31 min•Season 1Ep. 59
Yon is once again joined by Priya David Clemens to discuss the most important and interesting news stories related to the Metaverse in this week’s edition of Yon & Priya Talk All Things Metaverse . In this episode, Yon & Priya react to the latest hyperbolic article claiming the metaverse is dead, discuss the opportunity Roblox affords its young developers, reflect on the Niantic layoffs, and much more. Chapters: Reacting to The Nation article, Lessons from the Catastrophic Failure of the...
Jul 07, 2023•18 min
This week Yon welcomes Jonathan Pan into the metaverse. Jonathan is the Head of Product at Store No. 8, the incubation arm of Walmart. Between his current role and his prior stops at companies such as Riot Games, Amazon, and Meta, Jonathan has built a long track record of working in and on emerging technologies where he can let his passion for building content and teams thrive. During their conversation Yon and Jonathan discuss how emerging technologies will both contribute to and complement the...
Jul 05, 2023•33 min•Season 1Ep. 57
This week Yon welcomes back to the show former co-host Matthew Kanterman to catch up on everything that is going on within the metaverse today and what has transpired over the past couple of years since they originally launched the podcast. Long-time listeners will quickly recognize Matthew as he was here at the inception of the Into the Metaverse Podcast back in 2021 as co-host for the first iteration of the show. Matthew currently serves as the Director of Research for Roundhill Investments wh...
Jun 22, 2023•36 min
Yon is once again joined by Priya David Clemens to discuss the most important and interesting news stories related to the Metaverse in this week’s edition of Yon & Priya Talk All Things Metaverse. In this episode, Yon & Priya go in depth on Mark Zuckerberg’s response to the Apple Vision Pro launch, open source vs closed source approaches to building ecosystems, LVMH and Epic Games partnership announcement, and much more. Chapters : Zuckerberg’s Response to the Apple Vision Pro Launch (00...
Jun 21, 2023•18 min•Season 1Ep. 55
Yon is once again joined by Priya David Clemens to discuss the most important and interesting news stories related to the Metaverse in this edition of Yon & Priya Talk All Things Metaverse . In this episode, Yon & Priya go in depth on the release of Apple’s Vision Pro device, discussing its potential use cases, why Apple is smart to focus on entertainment elements first, the reasons behind calling it a spatial computer instead of a virtual reality device, and much more. Chapters : Apple ...
Jun 14, 2023•18 min•Season 1Ep. 54
I had the absolute pleasure of being joined today by Cathie Wood, the founder, CEO, and CIO of ARK Invest. Cathie built a decades-long track record of success in the investment world by using thematic strategies focused on innovation before rising to national prominence when she founded her own firm in 2014, ARK Invest, where she and her team focus solely on investing in disruptive innovation while adding new dimensions to research. Through an open research approach, Cathie believes ARK can iden...
Jun 07, 2023•53 min
Yon is once again joined by Priya David Clemens to discuss the most important and interesting news stories related to the Metaverse in this edition of Yon & Priya Talk All Things Metaverse . In this episode, Yon & Priya cover the decimation of Metaverse real estate values, the emerging job market in virtual design, why we all need to calm down about AI replacing humans, and much more. Chapters : Episode Intro (00:00) Metaverse Real Estate Values Plummet (00:45) Different Motivations Brin...
May 31, 2023•25 min•Season 1Ep. 52
It’s a very exciting day for Into the Metaverse as Yon is joined by Priya David Clemens to launch a brand new segment of the show called This Week in the Metaverse . Priya is the host of the Emmy-award winning news discussion program, KQED Newsroom, and a longtime network news anchor and reporter who has most recently begun to focus her journalistic eye on emerging technology. Every week she will be joining Yon to discuss the most important and interesting news stories related to the Metaverse, ...
May 24, 2023•33 min•Season 1Ep. 51
Joining me today as we celebrate our 50th episode of Into the Metaverse is Justin Hochberg, founder and CEO of Virtual Brand Group. Justin is a metaverse brand builder focused on IP and fashion. He has had a multi-national career as a senior executive in technology and entertainment companies, with a proven track record in creating and leveraging content, IP, brands, and industry insights into new revenue streams through emerging technologies and partnerships. We cover in detail what are the rig...
May 18, 2023•41 min•Ep. 50
Joining me on this episode is Timoni West, VP & GM of Digital Twins at Unity, in what is likely one of the most fascinating conversations I had on the podcast. Timoni is responsible for Unity’s cloud apps and services in industrial, automotive, commercial, and business markets, delivering value for customers moving into real time, simulation, reconstruction, and rendering. She runs a P&L with a team of 230+ people. Prior to this role, she was vice president of emerging tools and augmente...
May 02, 2023•46 min
Joining me today is Michael Kennedy, an advisor and public speaker on rapidly evolving metaverse and modern / hybrid work technologies and best practices. His focus is transforming the workplace to deliver increased productivity and business outcomes while improving organizational culture to attract and retain the best employees. "the way I define the metaverse is really around the enterprise metaverse - an evolving set of enabling capabilities. To create more immersive employee, customer, and i...
Apr 20, 2023•44 min
