“Metaverse” has been a buzzword since Facebook’s name change to Meta. But what does it mean for us?
CEO Mark Zuckerberg believes the metaverse is the future of both the internet and his trillion-dollar company.
The sector is projected to be worth $800 billion by 2024, so people are obviously curious about it and Zuckerberg’s vision for this futuristic concept.
The Metaverse Explained
The metaverse is an always-on virtual environment where physical and digital worlds collide. The idea is to create a more immersive internet, where advanced technology such as augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) lets us engage in a virtual space.
Zuckerberg believes it’s a way to seamlessly integrate virtual and real lives, connecting with people in immersive ways no matter how far away they are.
Since Meta’s future relies heavily on the metaverse, the company is pouring a huge amount of resources into the concept. Behind the scenes, it is busy acquiring VR and AR companies, building a team of the brightest engineering minds, and investing billions. All to bring a colossal vision to life, where our existence shifts from being rooted in physical reality to one where it is shared with an immersive virtual world.
Start of A New Chapter
The tech giant has already made significant investments in VR, including the $2 billion acquisition of the VR headset company, Oculus in 2014. The company envisions that this technology will enable digital avatars to connect through work, travel, entertainment, and so much more. And as the technology evolves, it will become incredibly immersive, allowing you to experience all the elements in the metaverse beyond just looking at it.
The professional version of the company’s metaverse is well underway with Horizon Workrooms, a virtual meeting space where coworkers can enter VR offices and host meetings using the Oculus Quest 2 VR headsets.
It’s still unclear if the metaverse is truly the future, but the current progress suggests we are heading towards some yet-to-be-determined virtual reality. Meta is just one of the many companies determined to build and shape this new chapter of the internet, and it’s going to be interesting to see what can be achieved under Zuckerberg’s bold plans.
