Hi Spatialists, welcome to the third edition of Spatial News™. Here is some entrepreneurial encouragement for the middle of the week:“Everything started as nothing.” – Ben Weissenstein, founder and CEO of The Entitled Group. (I’m pretty sure that goes against the First Law of Thermodynamics but, whatever – be encouraged!)
The unexpected health impacts of wearable tech
On LinkedIn Healthware International pointed me to an engaging article by The Verge about the Apple Watch’s influence on healthcare in the areas of cardiology, sleep, and sports. Here are some interesting takeaways:
Doctors don’t “actively” recommend the wearable for monitoring irregular heart rhythms or sleep patterns because false positive readings and varying accuracy, respectively, can cause unnecessary anxiety for patients.
Other doctors want people to be more mindful of their exercising, their reasons for exercising, and their performance and to avoid tracking because it’s “not healthy for some patients”.
(I think I’m seeing a pattern here...)
Besides doctors’ recommendations (or the lack thereof), people are growing more aware that wearables like the Apple Watch are “more entertainment than data”.
Crypto of the Caribbean
Last week the Caribbean island-nation of Barbados made the news for buying virtual land in Decentraland and setting up an actual embassy. Did you know that Barbados is also spearheading digital currency in the region?
Last year, Barbados-based startup Bitt announced the creation of a digital Barbadian dollar, a digital asset pegged to the value of its real-world counterpart and that could be traded on its blockchain platform… Now, however, other central banks in the region are joining the project – the platform will soon also handle Aruban florins and Bahamian dollars.
Keep your eyes on the Caribbean. We’re not only known for pirates and piña coladas (invented by a Puerto Rican pirate btw). The region will continue to make big, block-y waves. Now, I’m just waiting for Puerto Rico to join the party with their own Blockchain experiments and bring the virtual salsa (invented in Cuba, but who’s counting).
A Black Friday message from Krista Jäntti, CEO of Exthereal
Instead of searching for the best Black Friday deals for new clothes, why not try the DRESSX app? It’s fun and playful, and you can try on clothes you couldn't have in real life.
Did you know that 92 million tonnes of textiles waste are created each year? The number is going to be 134 million tonnes by 2030 if we don't start to change our consumption habits now.
We can learn to fulfill our need for something new and trendy digitally while also investing in a sustainable, classic style in real life. Start changing your mindset today, and we can reduce the amount of textile waste.
Read Dazed magazine’s article about the next generation of “cyber designers” that will be dressing the denizens of the metaverse like DressX and Valentin Karabanov (both of whom will be speaking at the Exthereal conference next week).
The Marketing Director of MeKiwi will be speaking at the Exthereal Conference 2021.
What is the metaverse for the fashion and game industries?
How can fashion brands utilize the gaming industry’s knowledge and tech for better marketing?
Begüm Doğan, the Marketing Director of the biggest Finnish VR game development & publishing studio VRKiwi by MeKiwi will have an exciting keynote about how game makers are shaping the future of fashion & consumer relationships.
That’s all, folks! See you in next week’s Spatial News™. Please share your feedback with us so we can improve the quality of our newsletter. Thank you for reading, and, remember, you are spatial!