If you're looking for ways to further expand your virtual life in the metaverse, maybe consider fostering a dog.
Pet food maker Pedigree is offering metaverse users a chance to foster a pet from the real world — in the comfort of the virtual one. It's being dubbed as the 'FOSTERVERSE' and the goal of the virtual activation is to find sheltered pets forever homes.
In order to be eligible for virtual fostering, a user must be a "landowner" on the metaverse platform Decentraland. Landowners will be given access to the pet adoption site 'Adopt a Pet' and will be able to choose the furry friend they want. Those that do not own land can still interact with pets but cannot adopt.
As part of the activation, Pedigree is also set to match donations to its Pedigree Foundation up to $100,000. The organization specifically focuses on helping dogs find forever homes.
Jean-Paul Jansen, the vice president of marketing for Mars Petcare North America, said that virtual fostering is an expansion of the company's mission to end pet homelessness.
"Both the Pedigree brand and Pedigree Foundation have long histories of supporting animal shelters and promoting dog adoption, and this program enables people to support deserving dogs in a new way through virtual fostering," he said in a statement.
Uber Lyft and Doordash are all set to spend $1 million dollars on a campaign and efforts to stop lawmakers from classifying their gig workers as employees. The campaign features TV and online ads highlighting Washington area workers who say they prefer the flexibility of being an independent contractor rather than following the model of a company employee. Professor at NYU. Stern School of Business and author of the sharing economy, Arun Sundararajan, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
Rachel Van Nortwick, CEO and Founder of Vinylly, joins Cheddar Innovates to discuss how this dating app is designed with music lovers in mind, pairing matches based on each individual's unique taste in music.
Stock trading app Robinhood already has been offering cryptocurrency investments but seems further excited about the asset class following President Biden's recent announcement of an executive order. Dan Gallagher, the chief legal and corporate affairs officer for Robinhood, joined Cheddar News to talk about the White House's tentative vision for digital currency. "I think this executive order firmly states that, yes, crypto is here to stay, which it talks about the important competitive issues around crypto and how the United States needs to be a leader, a global leader, in innovation and technology regarding crypto," he said. Gallagher also discussed having clarity around meme stocks going forward but worried about overregulation slowing down innovation.
American private aviation company Wheels Up saw a substantial revenue increase in its Q4 earnings. With bookings ramping up for the summer — along with hopes of being on the tail-end of COVID-19 — the company is looking at a promising upcoming quarter as well. CEO Kenny Dichter joined Cheddar News to talk about the earnings reports as well as the company's new app development. "We’re following that Uber, Airbnb, Amazon playbook and are really going to disrupt this space through technology," he said.
In this edition of Tik Talk, musicians use tech to make songs with plants. The process turns electrodes in the plants into musical notes and the results just might blow your mind.
