Together with
Deepfake Harvey. Happy Monday, FutureParty people. After searching long and hard, we may have just found our favorite thing on the internet. TV host Steve Harvey recently became the latest celebrity to get memeified, and we can’t stop smiling at the results. From being chased by monsters to singing in a hardcore band, the computer-generated images are nothing short of masterpieces.
At least we know that before AI destroys humanity, it’ll make us laugh.
In other news… facial recognition replaces tickets, Google Street View gets gamified, and Dude Perfect launches a streaming service.
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TECHNOLOGY
Ticket, please // Illustration by Kate Walker
Facial recognition becomes the new event ticket
The Future. Facial recognition technology is starting to be used by hospitality companies and travel authorities to make every aspect of the business more convenient for customers. But with the potential for that data to be sold to government agencies, be used in identity theft, and maybe even lead some people to be barred from entering places, facial recognition may require a legal facelift before it’s widely accepted by the general public.
Scan to enter
No ticket? There’s a face for that.
Airports like Miami International and Boston Logan International are using facial recognition tech as a way for flyers to keep their boarding passes and passports in their pockets at their gates and speed up immigration checks.
Cruise lines like Carnival and Holland America use the tech to optimize check-in, monitor disembarkment, and match cruisers with photos taken aboard the ship.
Theme parks in Abu Dhabi, like Warner Bros. World and Ferrari World, let visitors use their faces to purchase souvenirs and food by connecting their biometric data to their credit cards. (Disney World tested something similar.)
Hotel chains like Marriott are testing the tech in China to speed up the check-in process, while Club Med uses it to send guests daily photo streams from photographers that continually roam the property.
While the tech might make all these things more convenient, they also come with a lot of security risks and potential privacy abuses, especially since there’s no federal law yet governing the use of these systems (some state ones exist, though).
Some companies try to assuage customers by giving opt-out choices and promising all biometric data is deleted at the end of a stay (or each day) or faces are blurred in shared photo streams if individuals don’t consent.
But are those assurances enough to turn your selfie into an all-access pass? No one wants to get caught in a Minority Report.
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GAMING
Scoreboard // Illustration by Kate Walker
GeoGuessr spins into a global competition
The Future. GeoGuessr, originally a pastime for bored homebound users, has transformed into a competitive platform for showcasing encyclopedic knowledge of global geography through analyzing Google Street View images. Although GeoGuessr is undergoing some growing pains, its ability to connect people (especially with an in-person World Cup that went down last week) may make it more than a pandemic fad.
Earth, at your fingertips
GeoGuessr has gamified Google Street View.
Although it’s been around since 2013, the game took off during the pandemic, giving people (especially high school kids) a fun way to feel like they were anywhere but stuck inside their homes.
The numbers say it all: in 2019, the game only had 10 million users and $500,000 in revenue. It now has 65 million users and made $18 million last year.
It’s also made some of its top players (like Rainbolt and Alok) internet famous, amassing huge TikTok followings from videos showing a clairvoyance-like ability to determine remote locations and hosting Battle Royales on YouTube.
But as GeoGuessr has grown, so has its desire to level up. That means the company wants to transition from a subscription-based gaming platform to something that has more of a direct social element. It introduced (err, required) cartoon avatars for user profiles, which players can pay to upgrade with new gear and special items.
The silly-looking avatars and push for Fortnite-like microtransactions turned off a lot of veteran players — who are key to the company because they drive 80% of the company’s revenue and make most of the playable maps.
It’s a reminder that angering your core users to find new ones may not be the best strategy.
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Career smarter
Sure, you’ve heard of working smarter. But have you heard of career-ing smarter?
Well, it’s a thing. And Sidebar is leading the charge. They’re a leadership program helping members level up their careers. How? By curating a Personal Board of Directors based around, well, you.
The best part is Sidebar runs the program and you just show up. They have the tech, people, and processes to drive impact and growth. You’ll get the advice, new perspectives, and feedback to set you up for unbelievable success.
Nothing will take you farther in your career than learning from your peers — it’s a true competitive advantage. See what we mean at sidebar.com and request an invite to join.
CREATOR ECONOMY
Courtesy of Dude Perfect
Dude Perfect programs its own streaming service
The Future. Dude Perfect — the trick shot group comprised of Tyler Toney, Garrett Hilbert, Cody Jones, and twins Cory and Coby Cotton — has launched a streaming service for their content called (you guessed it) Dude Perfect. If the economics no longer make sense to house content exclusively on YouTube, watch as more popular creators look to build their own platforms… taking their fans with them.
Influencer programming
The creator economy streaming wars are upon us.
The Dude Perfect streaming service was created in collaboration with Canadian media company A Parent Media Co., which runs the AVOD streaming service Kidoodle.TV.
It features all of the group’s YouTube videos, plus other exclusive videos and interactive content.
The service is available as a channel on Roku, Apple, Android TV, Samsung, Vizio, and VIDAA. It’s also available as an app for both iOS and Android devices.
Dude Perfect is one of the most popular creator groups out there, with 60+ million YouTube subscribers and clocking over 150 million views per month, according to Tubefilter. They’ve even partnered with Amazon on Prime Video’s coverage of Thursday Night Football, acting as an alternative game commentator.
With the streaming service, Dude Perfect is just another example of major YouTube stars stepping away from the platform that made them famous to make more money, as Rooster Teeth recently did with their animated shows.
Sometimes, striking out on your own and catering to superfans is the only way to continue growing ad revenue.
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Highlights
The best curated daily stories from around the web
Media, Music, & Entertainment
Microsoft has finally closed its $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard — the biggest media deal since Disney bought 21st Century Fox for $71.3 billion in 2019. Read more → deadline
TikTok has inked a deal with Disney for its Pulse Premiere ad feature, which also offers an exclusive Mouse House content hub that includes video, filters, and games. Read more → techcrunch
YouTube’s NFL Sunday Ticket has already scored 1.3 million sign-ups — besting the ticket package’s highest subscriber count under previous owner DIRECTV. Read more → bloomberg
Fashion & E-Commerce
Daniel Arsham is unlocking his inner child with a new collaboration with Hot Wheels. Read more → hypebeast
Best Buy will give up on selling Blu-Rays and DVDs (in-store and online) starting early next year. Read more → variety
QR codes are making it much easier to figure out if something is recyclable in your area. Read more → axios
Tech, Web3, & AI
Waymo is using LED-wrapped roof domes, recorded audio messages, and other visual cues to let pedestrians know where they’re going. Read more → theverge
The hottest new meat trend is going full Jurassic Park and growing it from extinct or exotic species. Read more → techcrunch
Amazon is offering a $1 million reward for capturing proof of aliens with a Ring camera (it sounds like Andy Jassy really liked the new Hulu movie No One Will Save You). Read more → fastcompany
Creator Economy
Banking startup Rho Technologies has acquired the MrBeast-backed creator-finance company Creative Juice. Read more → theinformation
X is letting community moderators vet new members before allowing them in, keeping another platform feature behind a gate. Read more → theverge
Meta says it’s putting extra focus on moderating livestreams amid the Israel-Hamas war, hoping to appease EU watchdogs. Read more → techcrunch
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Today’s email was written by David Vendrell.
Edited by Nick Comney. Copy edited by Kait Cunniff.
Published by Darline Salazar.