Mila is a PhD student in Switzerland and a researcher of social VR culture, known for a multi-year survey series on metaverse identity, harassment, and now virtual economies. In this episode, we unpack what people actually do in worlds like VRChat, and why platform design shapes everything from avatar choices to spending habits. Mila explains the shift toward semi-humanoid avatars, why many male users present as feminine, and how researchers handle sensitive questions across English and Japanese. We also dig into money flows, from avatar fashion and seasonal drops to tipping performers, paid events, and services like tarot readings, plus what it means when users spend thousands on headsets, PCs, and full-body tracking.

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Cayden Pierce, CEO of Mentra, joins the show to discuss how his team is building an operating system for the next generation of personal computing through #smartglasses. Drawing on experience from MIT, building #AI agents, and earlier work with Steve Mann, he explains why all day wearability is the true barrier to mass adoption and how Mentra approaches power, latency, and ergonomics differently. Cayden breaks down the distinct roles of display glasses and camera glasses, why accessibility use cases like captions and support for blind users are leading adoption, and how enterprise workflows benefit from hands-free AI assistance. He also outlines how developers can build with Mentra OS using open web technologies, how emerging opportunities in consulting and enterprise deployment are forming, and what new hardware the company plans to release in 2026.

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Nuno Leiria, founder and CEO of Nilo and former performance lead for Unreal Engine 5 and Fortnite at Epic Games, breaks down how Nilo lets anyone build playable 3D worlds in the browser in minutes without complex #GameEngines. He explains the sketch to #3D pipeline, where #AI handles modelling, rigging, animation, and starter code, and why latency is the key design constraint. We dig into real-time co-creation, remixable templates, and “creative generation” that assembles complex scenes from primitives. Nuno also shares how aspiring builders from #Roblox or Minecraft can ramp up without learning traditional DCC tools and monetise their creations.
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