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Fans of Marvel’s animated series What If…? will soon be able to dive into the alternative timelines of the MCU using immersive VR.
In an exclusive, free limited release for Apple Vision Pro users, Marvel Studios and ILM Immersive have teamed up to create What If…? – An Immersive Story, the first-ever interactive Disney+ original. The mixed reality experience brings characters like Wong the Sorcerer Supreme and the Watcher into people’s homes in an hour-long narrative-driven show.

Users will meet variants from across the Multiverse, be faced with decisions to make about the Infinity Stones and hold the future of reality in their hands. From the look of the trailer, moving your hand can create portals, just like Wong and his sorcerers, but there appear to be many more opportunities to quite literally get hands-on with the characters from the MCU – and their variants.
“This project touches upon the cornerstone of the desire that our studios share to constantly experiment and innovate, and thanks to the capabilities of Apple Vision Pro, we get to place you directly inside a Universe that means so much to us all,” said executive producer Shereif M. Fattouh. “I can’t wait for fans to become the hero in this completely new way.”

Marvel’s What If…? An Immersive Story release date
What If…? – An Immersive Story will be available for a limited time only from Thursday, May 30. It will be a limited release exclusively to the Apple Vision Pro, with no word of it coming to any other platforms.
ILM Immersive, who partnered with Marvel Studios for this project, has also worked on home VR experiences such as Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge and the Emmy-nominated Vader Immortal: A Star Wars VR Series, as well as location-based experiences like Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire and Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Damage Control. These titles demonstrate its existing relationship with Disney and its related IPs, suggesting there are further possibilities for more creations down the line.
Featured image: Marvel Studios
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Price leaks for the Samsung Galaxy Ring are disappointing fans – and not just because they’re higher than first thought.
Reliable leaker Yogesh Brar has shared an expected US price for the Samsung Galaxy Ring at $300-350 on x. Rumored to launch sometime in the summer of this year, that lands the Galaxy Ring in the same price bracket as the luxury brand of Oura Ring (which starts from $299).

Samsung Galaxy Ring as of now is priced at Rs 35k in India.
US price in the $300-350 range
Pretty expensive piece of tech..
— Yogesh Brar (@heyitsyogesh) May 22, 2024

However, it’s not just the relatively high price that’s causing a stir but also the rumors, as reported by Android Authority, that the smart ring will require a subscription, as well as the upfront cost. This monthly subscription is expected to be less than $10 a month but requiring ongoing payments is an increasingly unpopular choice in a market where there seems to be a subscription for everything. It’s not yet clear whether this will be a mandatory subscription or merely access to a premium plan with more health insights.
It’s not an unusual choice, however, with Oura, Google, and Apple all offering similar subscriptions for their wearable tech.
What to expect from the Samsung Galaxy Ring
Although the Samsung Galaxy Ring is officially still under wraps, it’s expected to be announced at the next Galaxy Unpacked, rumored to be scheduled on July 10. It’s thought to come in nine ring sizes and a range of colors, offering wearers access to potential health monitoring.
While nothing is yet confirmed, the Samsung Galaxy Ring is thought to offer insights into a range of data, from resting heart rate and sleep quality to stress levels and exercise routines.
The new wearable should integrate with the existing Samsung Health app and could integrate with other wearables, like the range of smartwatches. A heart rate sensor is par for the course at this point in wearable progress but more advanced options could include blood pressure monitoring and aFib detection.
Featured image: Samsung
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The latest update to the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses means you can share photos directly to Instagram with just one push of a button.
While posting to Instagram Stories isn’t a laborious process usually, the Meta team has made it even quicker and more spontaneous for those looking to share in-the-moment snippers with followers.
The Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses are a collaboration between designer Ray-Ban and Meta. They have a HD camera installed, along with open-ear speakers, a touchpad, and a power switch.
Once you’re wearing the Ray-Ban Meta glasses you just have to hold down the button on the frame until the white light flashes.
Now, the Meta update means you can simply say ‘Hey Meta, share my last photo to Instagram’ or even ‘Hey Meta, post a photo to Instagram,’ and it’ll do so hands-free.
The feature may not be available to everyone straight away as it’s being rolled out gradually.
Other hands-free capabilities have been added too, like the addition of being able to play Calm’s guided meditation or self-care content directly to the glasses. Again, this works in a similar way to the new Instagram feature as you just speak it into existence.
Audio from Amazon Music can be streamed directly to the smart glasses too, with the wearables being able to play a recommended playlist curated to your liking.
Could Meta soon be bringing out AR glasses to add to its current line up?
At the end of February, a report surfaced from Business Insider which suggested that Meta could showcase and demo its first true augmented reality glasses at the fall developer conference later this year.
These are different from the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses and the Meta Quest headsets and are known internally as ‘Orion.’
In 2023, Meta announced a roadmap ahead of its plans to release AR glasses in 2027. But before then, there could be a third generation of Ray-Ban smart glasses in 2025 which could come complete with a ‘neural interface band.’
Featured Image: Via Reality Labs at Meta Account on X
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In a statement released on Wednesday, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler expressed his strong opposition to the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act, also known as the FIT21 Act.
According to a transcript published by the SEC, Gensler believes that the proposed legislation, H.R. 4763, would undermine regulation and demolish investment contract oversight precedents — with grave consequences. He said:
[The legislation] would create new regulatory gaps and undermine decades of precedent regarding the oversight of investment contracts, putting investors and capital markets at immeasurable risk.
Gensler’s primary concern is that FIT21 could allow crypto firms to self-certify their investments and products as “decentralized” and under a “special class” of “digital commodities,” thereby avoiding SEC scrutiny. He argues that the SEC’s ability to challenge these self-certifications would be limited by resource constraints, potentially leaving a large portion of the crypto market unregulated. He added:
Further, by removing this set of investment contracts from the statutory list of securities, the bill implies what courts have repeatedly ruled – but what crypto market participants have attempted to deny – that many crypto assets are being offered and sold as securities under existing law.
“Rules not unclear, but unfollowed”
Furthermore, Gensler pointed out that the bill excludes crypto trading platforms from the definition of an exchange and eliminates historically tested frameworks such as the Howey test, which he believes would ultimately put investors at risk. He emphasized that the crypto industry’s record of failures, frauds, and bankruptcies is not due to a lack of rules or unclear regulations, but rather because many players in the crypto industry do not adhere to the existing rules.
Despite Gensler’s concerns, FIT21 has garnered support from 60 crypto organizations, including Gemini, Kraken, Coinbase, and the Digital Currency Group. These organizations signed a letter stating that digital asset firms are currently being tied to securities laws designed nearly a century ago. The bill, led by the U.S. Republican Party, aims to entrust more responsibility to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in regulating the larger crypto ecosystem.
Notable supporters of the bill include Republican candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump and his advisors, who believe that FIT21 could provide a more comprehensive approach to regulating the crypto industry. The U.S. House of Representatives plans to vote on the bill later on Wednesday.
The news follows recent reports that the U.S. Senate has joined forces with the House of Representatives to nullify a SEC’s controversial crypto policy. The policy required companies holding customers’ cryptocurrencies to record them on their own balance sheets, potentially having significant capital implications for banks working with crypto clients.
Just yesterday Ethereum (ETH) has soared by about 21% within 24 hours after analysts started suggesting that the coin may soon see the approval of its own spot exchange-traded fund.
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A chatbot trained on the thoughts of China’s President Xi Jinping has been created by the country’s top internet regulator.
The large language model (LLM) has been launched by the China Cyberspace Research Institute which operates under the Cyberspace Administration of China, the national regulator.
With people in China unable to use the ever-popular ChatGPT tool, this attempt is aiming to keep residents in on the AI action without using a non-Chinese model.
The draconian nature of the country’s controls has made its way into the chatbot as the closed AI system is based on Xi Jinping’s political philosophy and is aligned completely with the official government narrative.
The philosophy is known as ‘Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era’ and this includes all instructions on political, social, and economic life. It became part of China’s constitution in 2018.
Since then, his philosophy has become enshrined in Chinese culture as school children as young as 10 even have to study his politics.
According to a post on WeChat by the administration, as reported by the South China Morning Post, the LLM is described as being able to meet “a wide range of users needs” and can answer questions, outline reports, summarize information, and translate between Chinese and English.
The system has been created on the servers within the China Cyberspace Research Institute where “all data is processed locally, ensuring a high level of security.”
The model isn’t yet available to a wide and public audience as it’s still undergoing testing, but some designated users have been invited to try it out.
Chinese-based developers control generated content relating to Xi Jinping
Other technology giants like Baidu and Alibaba have generative AI chatbots and any generated content about the President is strictly controlled.
Both of the systems tend to ask users to restart chats when sensitive topics are brought up.
In light of this, the non-profit Cyber Security Association of China released a public database of 100mn entries of data that groups can use in model training.
Featured Image: Photo by Ling Tang on Unsplash
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