Facebook is trying to build a more immersive iteration of the internet called a metaverse that adds more realism to people’s lives and change the concepts of physical space. The metaverse is not a new concept in its entirety, and Facebook’s vision isn't totally unheard of either. Appearing in Neal Stephenson's 1992 sci-fi novel Snow Crash, the term can be defined as a persistent virtual space that tries to bridge the gap between reality and digital. If the premise sounds familiar, that’s because AR, VR, and MR are already laying the foundation for such as virtual space that will take the internet as we know it and usher in its next major evolutionary phase.
A key aspect of the metaverse is going to be the shift towards a persistent and connected 3D virtual reality, a leap beyond the 2D-heavy internet that users surf on their smartphones or PC. Think of it as an advanced cyberspace where one can do everything from work and studying to recreational activities such as gaming or attending a concert. All of this happens over a blazing fast communication protocol in a virtual environment. Broadly, it can be classified as a hyper-realistic virtual world with a social aspect, or an immersive internet on steroids. Yes, Oculus and Facebook’s rumored AR glasses are definitely a part of that vision.
In an interview with The Verge, Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg highlighted what the company’s outlook towards its metaverse is, what it aims to achieve, and how it will usher the leap into the next internet age. The social media tycoon notes that the metaverse is essentially a successor to the mobile internet, and it is something that a lot of companies will have to build collaboratively. Facebook already has a running project called Horizon, an ever-expanding open-world VR game that can be dubbed as a barebones metaverse in its infancy. The objective is clear — build more immersive internet-fueled experiences.
Facebook Set On Dominating The Metaverse
The metaverse, as Zuckerberg explains it, will take users from viewing content to actually being a part of it. Instead of being limited to augmented and virtual reality, the metaverse will also include experiences that can be accessed from a phone, PC, and console as well. Whether mind-reading headsets are part of the plan is a mystery, but the Facebook founder has corporate goals clearly set — evolving from a social media company to a metaverse company within the next five or so years. The goal, Zuckerberg explains, is not about increasing the engagement time, but to make people feel more naturally engaged. Zuckerberg says the smartphone explosion happened around the same time as Facebook arrived, and that’s why the company didn’t get a chance to contribute much to the development of those platforms.
Things are different in 2021, and the metaverse presents an opportunity to make that happen. With Oculus, Facebook already has one of the world’s biggest VR brands under its belt. Together with Instagram and WhatsApp, it also fulfills a big part of the world’s communication needs. Facebook’s gaming ambitions are currently in motion, while Facebook Reality Labs is already working on advanced tech, such as a wrist controller that reads nerve signals, to execute commands in augmented reality.
Facebook has access to the building blocks — more so than any other company in the world at this moment — and all it needs is for the technology to mature enough to develop an ecosystem that will eventually evolve into the metaverse. A team of veterans have already been assembled to lead the metaverse development, and the hunt continues for talent that turns the vision into reality. Whether Facebook will serve as a gatekeeper of this metaverse, with its not-so-stellar record with user privacy, remains to be seen. The metaverse appears to be an even more invasive version of social media as it is currently known, and how comfortable users are going to be with Facebook acting as its herald will likely be a topic of hot debate.
Source: The Verge