📔 Weekly Journal: CES Special
[6 min read] Your weekend guide to getting ahead on the digital frontier. Today, the usual market news as well as some of the exciting bits from Consumer Electronics Show 2025
Welcome to this week’s Weekly Journal 📔, your guide to the latest news & innovation in emerging technology, digital assets, and our exciting path to the Metaverse. This is week 110 of the 520 weeks of newsletters I have committed to, a decade of documenting our physical and digital lives converge.
New subscribers are encouraged to check out the history & purpose of this newsletter as well as the archive.
- Ryan
🌐 Digital Assets Market Update
To me, the Metaverse is the convergence of physical & virtual lives. As we work, play and socialise in virtual worlds, we need virtual currencies & assets. These have now reached mainstream finance as a defined asset class:
🔥🗺️ 7-day heatmap below, showing the current share of the market for the top cryptocurrencies, and their change in price over the last week.
🎭 Crypto Fear and Greed Index is based on volatility, social media sentiments, surveys, market momentum, and a few other bits and pieces.
🗞️ Interesting news from this week
Nvidia Unveils AI-Powered Tools and Partnerships: At CES 2025, Nvidia introduced the GeForce RTX 50 series GPUs, featuring the AI-driven Blackwell chip, promising significant advancements in rendering capabilities. The flagship RTX 5090 is priced at $1,999, while the RTX 5070 is available for $549. Additionally, Nvidia launched ‘Cosmos’ AI models for generating photorealistic videos to train robots and autonomous systems more efficiently. Collaborations with Toyota and Aurora were also announced, focusing on autonomous vehicle technologies utilising Nvidia’s DriveOS. Furthermore, Project DIGITS, a $3,000 desktop supercomputer designed for AI developers, was unveiled, capable of running models with up to 200 billion parameters without cloud infrastructure. Read more here: apnews.com.
Smart Glasses Emerge as the Next Big Thing: CES 2025 highlighted the growing interest in smart glasses as the potential successor to smartphones. The Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, a collaboration between Meta Platforms and EssilorLuxottica, were showcased, featuring built-in cameras, audio sensors, and AI-driven functionalities like object identification and translation. Analysts predict a significant rise in smart glasses shipments, with a compound annual growth rate of 7.6% leading to 2.3 million units by 2028. Companies like Nvidia and Apple are also exploring this emerging technology, indicating a shift towards more integrated and wearable computing devices. Read more here: investors.com.
AI Takes Centre Stage Amidst Skepticism: Artificial Intelligence was a dominant theme at CES 2025, with major brands unveiling AI-integrated products across various sectors, including advanced TVs, smart home appliances, and electric vehicles. However, there is growing concern among consumers about the overuse and vagueness of the term ‘AI.’ Many attendees expressed frustration over the lack of clarity regarding the actual benefits of AI in these products, with only 24% of consumers finding AI helpful. This year, the focus is on ‘agentic AI,’ promising more personalised and anticipatory assistance, aiming to demonstrate AI’s genuine value and practical applications. Read more here: news.com.au.
👓 Read of the Week: "CES 2025: The Trends That Matter”
This article from Mastercard Newsroom explores the key trends at CES 2025, including developments in spatial computing, AI applications, sustainability tech, and vehicle technology. It provides insights into how these innovations are set to reshape various industries and impact consumer experiences in the near future. Read more here: newsroom.mastercard.com.
🎥 Watch of the week: “Verge: Best of CES”
CES 2025 has wrapped up, and after days on the show floor, Verge reporters have selected the year’s most exciting tech innovations. From next-gen gaming handhelds and bendable screens to AI-powered smart home gadgets, smart rings, and futuristic EVs, this video highlights the top picks from the show.
AI 🎨🤖🎵✍🏼
In the Metaverse, AI will be critical for creating intelligent virtual environments and avatars that can understand and respond to users with human-like cognition and natural interactions:
Spaid’s Innovations in Geospatial AI: Spaid, a leader in Geospatial AI, unveiled two groundbreaking solutions at CES 2025: the award-winning ‘AI2RE: Image to 3D Geospatial AI Metaverse’ and the anticipated ‘OpenAI-Integrated Geospatial Information Platform.’ These technologies aim to revolutionise 3D cadastral mapping by creating detailed 3D models from images, significantly reducing mapping time and enhancing efficiency. The OpenAI-Integrated Platform allows users to visualise and interpret complex geospatial data through an intuitive 3D map interface, eliminating the need for cumbersome software setups. These innovations are set to transform the geospatial sector, offering reliable and stable metaverse environments for governments. Wow 2025 is going to be wild!
That’s all for the free version this week! If you have any organisations in mind that could benefit from learning about emerging technology, be sure to reach out. Educational workshops are one of many consulting services I offer.
DCA With Me 🤑
Dollar Cost Averaging is an investment strategy in which an investor regularly invests a fixed amount of money into a particular asset/asset class at regular intervals, regardless of its current market cycle. By doing so, the investor can reduce the impact of market volatility and potentially earn a better return over time. Motto = time IN the market beats trying to time the market
To experiment with this, I invest $50 NZD into a Digital Asset every week. Each week I will choose an asset that seems underpriced in the short term and has positive long-term potential. My timeframe is 3-5 years. I don’t give financial advice but if you want to follow along with me you can use my easycrypto.co.nz referral link to support this newsletter. Let’s dive into this week’s pick:
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Metaverse Field Guide to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.