The Facebook "Metaverse" will soon be a reality--a virtual reality. A new team will be working on the "metaverse" concept and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is optimistic about the pivot for the social media giant.
Facebook Metaverse
Facebook is forming a production team to work on its "metaverse," Reuters reported. The metaverse team will be part of Reality Labs, Facebook's virtual reality group.
The metaverse is a digital world where people can move between different devices and communicate in a virtual environment, Zuckerberg told The Verge.
Executive Andrew Bosworth wrote on Facebook about the metaverse endeavor, noting how in order to achieve their full vision of the metaverse, Facebook needs to build the connective tissue between the spaces of the physical and virtual worlds. The goal is to remove the limitations of physics and move between the spaces with "the same ease as moving form one room in your home to the next."
Vishal Shah, product executive over on Instagram, will also be joining Facebook's metaverse group, CNBC added.
Mark Zuckerberg is betting Facebook’s future on the metaverse https://t.co/paYNunUfim pic.twitter.com/k06yG5hGly
— The Verge (@verge) July 25, 2021
Facebook aims to build a maximalist, interconnected set of experiences with the Metaverse, spanning social presence, office work and entertainment. Employing virtual reality will realize this vision, Zuckerberg said in a remote address to his employees.
Zuckerberg believes the metaverse will bring immense opportunity to individual creators and artists. He also considered the people who live in places where opportunities for education or recreation are limited, according to The Verge.
To Zuckerberg, a realized metaverse is the successor to the mobile internet and could be the next best thing to a working teleportation device. He best explained that the metaverse embodies the internet and as the user of the internet, you are not just viewing the content but you are in it, present in the space with other people--something that cannot be completely captured on a 2D app or webpage.
Facebook is heavily investing in Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) technologies as they offer the company the possibility of controlling its own hardware platform when the metaverse is realized, affording them independence from rules Apple and Google impose on their app stores, CNBC added.
The company's Oculus division, which produces the Quest headset, is also trying to develop one for Facebook.
Metaverse Not Just AR and VR
In Zuckerberg's interview with The Verge, he expounded that virtual reality technology deliver the clearest form of presence but it goes beyond that.
The Facebook Metaverse is going to be accessible across multiple computing platforms, not just AR and VR, but also PC, mobile devices and gaming consoles.
He also sees the entertainment sector is going to be a big part of the metaverse experience, and not just gaming. Going back to creating an experience that cannot normally be achieved on a 2D app or webpage, anything from dancing or fitness workouts can be supported on the platform, offering a synchronous environment where everyone can be together. A hybrid of social platforms seen today, but with an environment where you are embodied in it, Zuckerberg explained.
