Welcome to this month’s viewpoints, news and investment activity covering the next generation of computing - brought to you by FOV Ventures.

This Month:

• The AI That's Building Minecraft-Style Worlds in Real-Time

• Fundraising Secrets from Seedcamp

• Amazing new demo from Ai|Coustics

Dave Haynes, Petri Rajahalme and Sointu Karjalainen (FOV Ventures)

Another crazy month for witnessing the future arrive in deliberately imperfect packages.

Between Meta's Reality Labs' growing $18B/year moonshot and the emergence of AI-powered game worlds, we're seeing a fascinating pattern emerge in spatial computing: the strategic use of the "flawed demo."

This month's revelation - Oasis - an AI-powered project that creates a playable game similar to Minecraft.

The project is from Etched.ai (hardware - chips) and Decart (software - LLMs).

At first glance, it appears to be little more than a rudimentary Minecraft clone. However, instead of using traditional game design methods, this world generates itself in real-time through AI, responding dynamically to player actions.

Like ChatGPT's initial release, it's simultaneously remarkable and frustratingly limited. The demo runs at 360p, struggles with consistent world generation, and often fails to maintain basic game physics.

And yet, like the early demonstrations of Meta's Project Orion or Apple's Vision Pro, these limitations might be exactly the point.

1. The Hardware-Software Symbiosis: Etched.ai's approach with Oasis mirrors Meta's AR strategy: demonstrate technical feasibility on current hardware while simultaneously developing the specialised hardware (in Etched's case, the "Soo" chip and for Meta, Orion) that will make it economically viable.

   • Current demos prove market potential

   • Market validation drives hardware investment

   • Better hardware enables more sophisticated applications

2. The Promise of Scale: Meta's Ray-Ban smart glasses hint at AR becoming ubiquitous, Etched claims their technology will eventually support 4K resolution and multiple concurrent users.

3. The Democratisation Narrative: GitHub reports that 50% of code through Copilot is now AI-generated, Etched boldly claims that "within a decade, a majority of internet content will be AI-generated.” The bar for coding as a barrier to creation is undeniably lowering, and this demo iterates the same for gaming.

For FOV Ventures and other VCs, this pattern reveals several insights about the future of spatial computing.

Traditional game engines require massive upfront investment in assets and rules. AI-generated worlds flip this model – the focus shifts to infrastructure and distribution systems that can handle dynamic, AI content generation.

Platforms like Steam or even Web3 marketplaces for virtual worlds may evolve into ecosystems designed specifically to host, render, and update AI worlds.

As AR/VR platforms mature, they'll also need content that can adapt in real-time to physical spaces and user interactions. The companies that can bridge AI-generated content with spatial awareness will define the next generation of immersive experiences.

However, as we've seen with procedural generation, AI-driven content risks creating experiences that are technically impressive but creatively hollow - worlds that feel repetitive and lack emotional resonance.

The most compelling opportunities lie in technologies that bridge this gap:

Founders building AI-human collaborative tools that empower creators, not replace them. Studios developing hybrid experiences where hand-crafted narratives blend with AI-driven systems. And crucially, infrastructure that enables these AI-enhanced worlds and assets to move seamlessly across platforms, breaking down the walled gardens that could stifle innovation.

For more on this topic check out our recent discussion around investing in Gen-AI, Gaming and Spatial Computing.

FOV NEWS

Event Updates

Petri participated in AWE Vienna's investor Q&A panel, which will soon be available on AWE's YouTube channel. While in Vienna, he also co-hosted an industry dinner with New Renaissance Ventures - special thanks to AWS for sponsoring the event.

Minus One: Pre-Slush Drinks (Nov 18)

Our signature pre-Slush gathering has reached maximum capacity with over 200 attendees!

We're delighted to welcome two new Featured Partners joining Google and Wilson Sonsini for this exclusive evening:

• Cloudberry VC: An emerging specialist venture capital firm backing groundbreaking European innovations in semiconductors, photonics, and advanced materials.

• Waselius: A dynamic law firm combining quality and entrepreneurial spirit, delivering specialised legal services across all areas of business law and industry sectors.

Want to join? Add your name to the waitlist below:

Fundraising Secrets with Carlos Espinal (Nov 12) 

Sign up below for an exclusive session with Seedcamp Partner Carlos Espinal, perfectly timed before Slush. Dave Haynes will host this deep dive into creating investor FOMO, valuation strategies, and building strong VC relationships.

MatchXR Helsinki (Nov 19)

As Finland's leading XR-focused fund, we're supporting this pre-Slush event organised by Helsinki XR Center and Metropolia University. This is a great gathering for the local XR community, bringing together stakeholders and opinion leaders in extended reality, spatial computing, Web3, and AI.

In case you missed it:

FOV Portfolio News

Ray Browser named in Lightspeed and GamesBeat NEXT's Game Changers list, recognised as the world's first gaming browser revolutionising web-based gameplay.

They also got a feature at Times Square!

Move AI powered Sony Music Entertainment's Myles Smith Fortnite concert with their markerless motion capture technology, enabling 3D animation from standard video.

Graswald presenting at eTail™ Nordic, discussing the future of AI and 3D content creation in e-commerce.

ai|coustics launched Lark, their new studio-quality speech enhancement model, bringing professional-grade audio clarity through reconstructive technology. Awesome demo here!

Atopia Space selected as finalists for the global ArtTech Prize.

Starstuff cooking up exciting new stuff - stay tuned for updates!

FOV Job Board

• Move AI (London) - Sales Development Representative (SDR)

• Doublepoint (Helsinki):

  • User Testing Staff

  • Senior Interaction Designer

• GEEIQ (London) - People & Operations Manager

• ai|coustics (Berlin) - Team Assistant (Part-time, 50%)

• Atopia Space (Remote/CET ±3) - Senior Unity Developer

• Virtex Stadium (Remote):

  • Senior Technical Artist (Manager)

Thanks for reading!