Iterate Weekly - Issue 43
This week we're entering the "Netaverse", learning from the Masters, talking e-bikes with Rivian, wearing Levi's new liquid jeans, and studying culture with Anne Helen Petersen!
Welcome to issue 43 of Iterate Weekly!
Just a reminder that you can always reply to this email or leave a comment on the web version. I read all of them, and I appreciate the feedback, questions, and insights from all of you.
Let’s jump into this week’s stories.
🤖Tech
Watching hoops in the “Netaverse”
I have thoroughly enjoyed watching NBA basketball games in VR in the past. The Horizon Venues app is a pretty immersive experience with my Oculus Quest 2. But the Brooklyn Nets are taking things even further by creating their own Metaverse, naturally called the “Netaverse”.
The Nets play their home games (currently without Kyrie Irving…) at the Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn. The arena is equipped with over 100 cameras that track every move by every player on the court. This footage is then converted into a 3-D environment in nearly real-time. It creates a virtual game similar to the image above. Essentially it’s a technology that takes the physical game IRL and moves it into a virtual forum.
Fans of the team can pop on their VR headset and actually be on the court with the players. Sure, the use cases are limited at the moment. It might give some unique vantage points to experience the action. Although I have a feeling I’d probably check this out for all of 5 minutes and then opt to just watch the game on TV instead. Currently, the Nets are the only team in American professional sports to use this technology.
But you can see where this is going. In a few years, this technology will be more widespread and there will be many different ways to experience an NBA basketball game. I applaud the Nets for having the vision to start this now.
🎓Education/Media
Learn from athletes with Masters
Masters is a new company that’s hoping that people want to learn and train with celebrity athletes.
I’ve personally seen how important name recognition can be when it comes to selling digital education. If two courses have exactly the same content, people will naturally gravitate toward the bigger name.
Yes, you can take all sorts of online fitness classes right now, but would you be more interested if those classes were taught by professional athletes with amazing resumes? Masters (and its investors) are banking on it. They’ve recently landed a seed round of nearly $3 million to build out a catalog of fitness training.
Legendary snowboarder Shaun White (who is surprisingly back for another Olympic run this year), Miami Heat superstar Bam Adebayo, steeplechase champ Emma Coburn, and pro tennis star Petra Kvitova are all involved with the company during its launch.
I’ll be honest, I thought the concept seemed a bit gimmicky at first, but after reading through some of the materials, I think the idea actually has some legs. Professional athletes clearly have more tools at their disposal than the average weekend warrior athlete. And from the looks of it, it seems the athletes are actually leading the workouts and breaking a sweat along with you. If Masters can really nail the connection between trainer and trainee (a la famous Peloton instructors) then I could see this product really taking off.
♻️Health & Environment
Rivian to enter the e-bike market
I purchased my first electric bike in early 2020. It ended up being good and bad timing. On one hand, I had bought the bike for my daily office commute which was soon abolished due to a pandemic. On the other hand, bikes of all kinds soon became a scarce commodity as people looked for alternative transportation that allowed for social distancing.
My bike is great, but I’m pretty sure it won’t be the last e-bike that I buy. So I’ve had a close eye on developments in the industry and seeing what kinds of upgrades I’ll have on my next model.
I’m particularly pleased to see that Rivian is getting into the electric bike space. For those who still haven’t heard of the brand, Rivian is an American EV company that has generated a lot of buzz with its electric truck models aimed at the outdoor adventure crowd.
The news that they’ve filed patents for electric bikes has consumers even more excited to see what they can do with two-wheeled models. The company has been quiet about the details of the new project so we can only guess what these bikes might look like, or what they might cost for that matter.
I’m sure it won’t be cheap, but I’m looking forward to an e-bike upgrade from Rivian in the next few years.
🛍Grab Bag
Levi’s Liquid Jeans
I love when technology and fashion come together. It’s even better if it benefits the environment!
Levi’s is launching a pair of jeans that are made from liquified fibers of old jeans. Yes, that’s right. They are taking old jeans, liquefying them, and creating a new fiber with that material.
The work is being done in partnership with a Swedish company called Renewcell. This could really be huge for the sustainability of our textile industry. Until now, there really hasn’t been an efficient way to recycle clothing at scale. Levi’s is banking on this working well enough to replace its iconic line of 501 jeans with the material within the next few years.
The limiting factor is removing all of the synthetic elements that can’t be recycled by Renewcell. Tags and liners made of polyester or nylon are the prime concern. Once the jeans are paired down to just cotton and viscose, this recycling process is much easier.
Kudos to Levi’s for their innovation in this area, we should all be taking a closer look at where our clothes are coming from and what better things we can do when we’re done with them.
💬Quote of the Week
“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.” - Albert Einstein
📕Content Recommendation
Culture Study
This week I’m recommending a Substack newsletter from author Anne Helen Petersen. It’s called “Culture Study” and it’s fantastic.
She puts out tons of amazing articles, but I will highly recommend her examination of the phenomenon that is Peloton.
Check out Part 1 and Part 2 of her Peloton series here.
If you’re a regular Peloton rider you will learn a lot about what goes on behind the scenes at the company. But she also does a great job of pointing a magnifying glass at what it means to be a celebrity and cultivate a brand in today’s modern world.
Thanks for reading, I’ll see you next week!