GENIES RELEASES AR DEVELOPER KIT FOR INTEROPERABLE AVATAR SOCIAL NETWORK

Developers That Gain Access to Genies' Avatar Tools Will Be Among The First to Develop Their Own Avatar Experiences in AR, Providing an Interoperable Avatar Social Network for Users

The Developer Kit provides three key tech stacks that developers can expect to access to build their own experiences: Avatar Framework, XR Compatibility, and AI Generative Gameplay Bot

LOS ANGELES, May 23, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Genies, culture's leading avatar company, today announced the launch of its Developer Kit application as it unveils technical tools that will enable developers to create robust avatar AR Experiences for the first time. The kit will include a state-of-the-art Avatar Framework that allows for any type of avatar variety and aesthetic, AI Generative Gameplay Bot to help craft interoperable experiences and generate game mechanics, and XR Compatibility allowing for embodiment with high performance and quality.

"For the past few years, we've seen creators fall in love with our avatars and the tech that powers them," said Akash Nigam, CEO of Genies. "Today, we're excited to open up that existing key tech, as well as our newly created tech for our augmented future, allowing developers to create unique, fun Experiences for users in culture. With these tools, all Experiences will be brought together in a shared ecosystem that will make up the entirety of the social network. We believe the future of the internet is collaborative, bringing together millions of experiences to form one universe."

To make the network interoperable, Genies is also introducing "Things," the connective tissue of its avatar social network. Each developer will be able to create a Thing for their Experience, which is an object that can be acquired in one Experience and used in many other Experiences via their unique stored information and properties. Things are what allows for interoperability between Experiences, bringing together developers to collaborate in a new way.

Genies released its first avatar experience this past fall, a standalone app named "Silver Studio" (previously known as Genies Studio), which comes with a suite of non-technical tools that allow users to create their own avatar and digital fashion. The digital wearables are all Things, which will have their own utility as the app merges to become the first AR Experience of the social network. An entire layer of the app is thrifting digital wearables for your avatar, as thrifting is one of the strongest concepts for location-based AR concepts in an augmented reality world.

"Each user will have their own Space, filled with their Things, that will allow them to express more of their inner self, which is the point of an avatar in the first place. To express your thoughts and feelings in a way the camera doesn't allow," Nigam continued.

All Experiences are AR "mini games" where users earn Things that share something unique about themselves.

For example, a "Rescue Dog" Experience could give you either a Golden Retriever, a Pitbull, a Chiuwawa, etc. depending on how you play. And each of those Things could have information that is stored within it such as who you got the dog with, where you got the dog, or something interesting about your personality. The dog will not only exist in the user's Space as a way for them to express themselves, but can also be used in a separate mini game, where users are feeding animals, and your dog could be used to unlock a special treat to advance to a new level.

Akash adds, "Each internet era is dictated by its computing device. We don't view avatars as profile pictures or video game characters. We view avatars as the next method of communication for the future of the internet. Ultimately, solving for presence and providing meaningful insight into people's minds and inner personalities."

Developers can apply now to get access to the Dev Kit and start building the first set of avatar AR Experiences here.

About Genies Inc.
Genies is culture's leading avatar technology company empowering humans to create their own avatar experiences. To-date, Genies has been widely adopted by cultural tastemakers and has deals with Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group as their rosters' "official avatar." Genies has recently launched its consumer arm via its AR Developer Kit which allows developers to create interoperable avatar experiences for mobile and hardware AR. Their first avatar experience, Silver Studio, allows users to design and exchange digital fashion. Genies has raised $250M from investors such as Silver Lake, BOND, NEA, and Bob Iger valuing the company at $1 billion.

Contact: Mike Paffmann, [email protected]

SOURCE Genies