Meta’s New Reality

PRESENTED BY ONE SKIN

Happy Monday, Future Party. Elon Musk may have a run for his money when it comes to colonizing Mars. A space startup called Pioneer Labs is working on sending a rocket packed with all the tech and a batch of microbes needed to terraform the Red Planet… using only materials native to Mars. By building a compound before humans ever arrive, “the first astronauts will be greeted with safe shelter already filled with water, oxygen, and rocket fuel for the return journey,” according to CEO Erika Alden DeBenedictis. Your move, SpaceX.

Meta unveiled a totally new pair of VR glasses that finally takes high-end VR beyond its goggles phase.

The Immersive Picture: Meta has been trying to take VR mainstream for years after acquiring Oculus back in 2014. While it may not have succeeded yet, it’s come the closest to breaking through. That has always seemed predicated on making a device that’s both easy and comfortable to use for extended periods of time… which is exactly what the new Meta VR Glasses may have accomplished.

Behind The Lenses: Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg called the VR Glasses a combination of a “cinema,” a “computer,” and a “console.”

Last Looks: Ultimately, the device’s viability comes down to its ergonomics, which was a big focus for Meta this time around. The VR Glasses are actually just glasses. And, according to THR, they’re 5x lighter than Meta’s previous VR device, the Quest 3. That’s because the VR Glasses’ processor, battery, and storage are housed in an external puck that clips onto the user. Also, a controller isn’t necessary this time around — every virtual element on screen can be controlled with your hands.

The Future: The Meta VR Glasses’ biggest competition may be home-theater systems, so expect TV makers to add new immersive features to keep viewers glued to the screens on their walls, not the ones in their glasses.

If your moisturizer isn’t working quite like it used to, you’re not alone.

As skin ages, it shifts below the surface — losing the collagen, elastin, hyaluronic acid, and barrier integrity it needs to stay hydrated and firm.

This leads to thinner, weaker skin that struggles to retain moisture, no matter how many “hydrating” creams you apply.

But OneSkin’s new OS-01 FACE RICH CREAM is built differently.

While most moisturizers sit on the skin’s surface and wash off at the end of the day, OS-01 FACE RICH CREAM works at the cellular level to rebuild the density that allows skin to hold onto moisture.

It’s powered by a Dual-Phase Hydration System that combines potent bioactive humectants with OneSkin’s age-reversing OS-01 Peptide™ to promote healthier collagen, elastin, and hyaluronic acid production while fortifying the skin barrier.

The result: deep, lasting hydration and progressive visible firmness — for resilient skin that keeps up with you.

Restore Skin’s Lost Density

A new indie streaming platform called The Drive-In gives filmmakers and TV creators the freedom to monetize their work without signing over their rights.

Why It Hits: Most festival movies don’t land splashy deals with studios and major streamers, so having options to make money, raise awareness, and build an audience without shortchanging a movie’s or show’s chances for a bigger deal down the line is a big win for the independent film industry.

Between The Channels: The Drive-In is all about giving film and TV creators more options.

Final Credits: RecDek has quietly grown into a “17,000-strong community of directors, producers, talent, financiers, and distributors,” so the platform already has the foundation to kickstart The Drive-In. The goal, according to The Drive-In’s creators, is to turn “a festival-season relationship with the industry into a year-round collaboration.” It’s a similar relationship that Letterboxd is cultivating with Video Store, demonstrating how niche online communities could soon become launchpads for Hollywood success.

Coming Soon: For most indie films, a festival screening at Sundance or SXSW could soon be a movie’s first stop on the way to a real distribution deal, requiring filmmakers to build an online community to prove their film could have life at the box office.

Everyone’s talking about ChatGPT-6 Astra right now. Very few people can actually use it for anything beyond a party trick.

That’s the gap that decides who wins this year.

The year is three quarters in. If “I’ll upskill in AI” is still sitting on your list, you have one quarter left to do something about it. Your competition stopped watching reels about AI months ago and started using it at work every day.

Introducing the 3 Hours AI Tools Workshop, a live session that cuts through the noise and teaches you the ins and outs of GPT-6 Astra and the 15 most powerful AI tools right now — including exactly which one to reach for depending on the job: research, writing, design, data, code, or automation.

Not just that, but you’ll also learn how to build your own AI Co-Worker that literally works 24/7, even while you’re asleep.

In the 3 hours, you’ll learn how to:

The best part? You also get bonus sessions after the main workshop, going deeper on the workflows most worth putting into practice.

🗓️ This Saturday at 10 AM EST
🕜 3 hours live + bonus sessions
💸 Worth $395. Completely free.

Save my free seat.

35.1% of you voted Sometimes, especially from artists I follow in Friday’s poll: Do you pay attention to new music releases?

“Not like I used to. I believe it’s because I’m generally uninterested in most of the artists and the music they produce these days.”

“Most of the releases getting the hype aren’t the ones I listen to. Yeah, I’m an ‘underground’ kinda dude.”

“I used to religiously anticipate new musical releases. Now, if something catchy comes over the radio, I might be interested, but I seem to listen mostly to my curated tunes.”

“I used to be first in line at Best Buy or Tower Records on Tuesday mornings to pick up the latest CD releases. Now, I barely know what’s out there anymore. All a part of getting older, I guess.”

“I’ll never understand why most of my middle-aged friends don’t even consider music from this century. I tell them they’re really missing out!”

“Once a music journalist, always a music journalist.”

Let’s keep the conversation going. Join Poll Of The Day, so your opinions can shine. Discover how your views line up with your peers’, check out cool insights, and have some fun. It’s data with personality.

🍿 Universal Pictures is the first studio to pass $5 billion year-to-date at the global box office.

🎧 Taylor Swift’s “Patient Zero” became the most-streamed song by a female artist this year in just one day.

📺 YouTube and Meta have reversed course and will now run ads for Alex Gibney’s upcoming Musk documentary after initially rejecting them.

🛜 AT&T is rolling out a paid mobile feature called Turbo Live to give people better service at crowded live games.

🚚 Tesla is finally delivering its electric semi-trucks to customers.

📻 A planet 63 light-years from Earth is the first to have a detectable radio signal… but no, it’s not aliens.

🎲 New York has sued Polymarket for allegedly operating an illegal, unlicensed gambling operation.

👟 Nike opened an archival retrospective at New York’s Museum of Arts and Design.

👕 Former Balenciaga designer Demna rolled out his first complete Gucci collection at Milan Fashion Week.