83OXFORD NANOPORE
TECHNOLOGIES
TAKING GENETICS
MOBILE
Genomic sequencing—the process of
identifying the genetic makeup of a
given organism—traditionally requires
bulky, expensive lab equipment. Not
so with Oxford Nanopore Technologies’
sequencers, some of which cost as
little as $1,000 (affordable, as these
things go) and are small enough to
slip into a pocket. The devices allow
for fast results in nearly all settings,
making them a key tool in the ight
to identify and stop the spread of
new COVID-19 variants. They may be
especially impactful in the developing
world, where sequencing efforts are
often hamstrung by limited access to
technology and other resources.
—Jamie DucharmeIONQ
GOING QUANTUM
Quantum computing stands to
revolutionize industries from medicine
to energy and beyond, but setting up
such systems can be complicated and
costly. IonQ is addressing that problem
by offering clients access to quantum
computing as a service, compatible with
existing cloud providers. It’s currently
working on research with partners like
Goldman Sachs and GE Research, and
in October the company, under CEO
Peter Chapman, became the world’s
irst publicly traded quantum-computing
irm via a $2 billion IPO. —J.L.BIOBOT ANALYTICSTracking COVID-19
Despite cutting-edge vaccines and treatments, one of
the most effective ways to stay on top of COVID-19
surges relies on a decidedly basic entity: human
waste. Biobot, co-founded by Massachusetts Institute
of Technology biologist Mariana Matus and urban-
studies researcher Newsha Ghaeli, is the first
company to analyze human waste—which can provide
an early warning of an impending spike in COVID-19
cases—on a commercial basis. Its technology, which
can detect pathogens as well as other substances of
interest (like opioids), is now in use at more than 700
sewage sites serving more than 100 million people.
—Alice ParkREC ROOM
A VIRTUAL PLAYGROUND
With nearly every tech exec suddenly
talking about the metaverse, Rec Room
has been thrust into the limelight. Thirty-
seven million players use the company’s
social virtual reality app to create and
share a huge variety of games and other
digital experiences, making it one of
the biggest, most varied, and earliest
examples of what’s possible in the
metaverse. “The platform has become a
place where people can come together
to form meaningful connections, build
communities, and share their creativity,”
says CEO and co-founder Nick Fajt.
—J.L.THE SANDBOX
A DIGITAL LAND GRAB
Real estate is almost always a hot
investment—even, it seems, in the
metaverse of the Sandbox, a blockchain-
based virtual world that has sold
at least $2 billion of digital “land.”
Of the Sandbox’s 2.1 million users,
19,000—a number that’s up 375% year-
over-year—“own a piece of that new
world and are contributing to building
it,” says co-founder Sebastien Borget.
Big brands and celebs are getting in on
the action too: in February, Gucci bought
Sandbox land for an undisclosed sum to
build an interactive shopping experience,
while Snoop Dogg sold thousands of
playable avatars for about $475 a pop.
—Simmone ShahTOGETHER LABS
METAVERSE MONEY
Social platform IMVU has long been a
big player in the metaverse game, with
7 million monthly users. Last year, parent
company Together Labs took things a
step further with the launch of VCOIN,
a blockchain-based cryptocurrency that
users can spend within IMVU or convert
to real-world money. VCOIN, the only
active cryptocurrency for which the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission has
issued a no-action letter (giving it legal
stability), creates the “building blocks” for
other metaverses to establish their own
future crypto currencies, says Together
Labs CEO Daren Tsui. —J.Z.MARIANA MATUSCOURTESY BIOBOT ANALYTICS