- The trend towards enterprise adoption of distributed ledger technology continues apace as Mercedes-Benz and Ubisoft deepen their interest in Web3.
- Mercedes-Benz has announced an update to its in-car Mercedes-Benz Operating System (MB.OS), which includes the ability for NFT owners to display their collections on their car’s dashboard.
- Meanwhile, gaming giant Ubisoft formed a new blockchain partnership, becoming a Node Council Partner (NCP) for the Wemix blockchain, adding to its existing roles as a Governing Council member with Hedera Hashgraph, and network validator for the Cronos blockchain.
Mercedes In-Car NFT and Virtual Assistant
Mercedes-Benz announced the update to its in-car MB.OS at the 2024 instalment of tech convention CES in Las Vegas on Monday. However, the automaker’s new large language model (LLM) powered AI assistant, MBUX, grabbed most of the headlines.
MBUX, which Mercedes-Benz claims is the “most human-like interface with a Mercedes-Benz yet” will feature various ‘emotional profiles’, designed to enhance the driver’s interactions with the personal assistant.
But for crypto enthusiasts, the real news was the addition of blockchain tech into the in-car entertainment system, allowing users to display their NFT collections through a new app called MBUX Collections.
This isn’t the auto maker’s first foray into Web3, having previously launched a supply train carbon tracking pilot project in 2020 and last year launching its own NFT collection, NXT, on Ethereum.
Ubisoft Becomes Wemix ‘WONDER 26’
Ubisoft has become the 23rd Node Council Partner (NCP) for the Wemix blockchain, joining the likes of blockchain security firm Certik and video game publisher Kakao Games.
Wemix refers to the NCPs as ‘Wonders’, with each Wonder being able to choose its own number. So, despite being the 23rd NCP addition, Ubisoft is somewhat confusingly referred to as ‘Wonder 26’. In total, 40 Wonders will be added.
Wonders perform many crucial roles on the Wemix blockchain, such as ensuring security, reaching consensus, providing governance through on-chain voting and validating new blocks.
Wemix previously ran on the South Korean-based Klatyn network, but spun off into its own blockchain in 2022 — this new network is referred to as Wemix 3.0 while the original Klatyn-based token is known as Wemix Classic. Wemix 3.0 is an Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatible network, which uses a Stake-based Proof of Authority (SPoA) Algorithm with a focus on gaming use cases.
https://cryptonews.com.au/news/mercedes-benz-and-ubisoft-join-web3-movement-116723/