In June 2021, the CEO of Facebook , Mark Zuckerberg announced something big to his employees. Facebook, a social media application that helped in connecting people over social media, would now do a lot more than that .
He announced that the future of the company would now be decided by an all-out interconnected set of experiences known as the metaverse . Later on Oct 28, 2021, Facebook changed its corporate branding to Meta .
This particular incident raised a buzz and people were trying to understand what the word Meta really meant and whether the futuristic technological concept will ever be possible. The CEO of Facebook defined metaverse as a virtual world where people could not just socialize, but also work and play at the same time . He also believes that this will be the next big breakthrough in technology.
What is Metaverse?
The term “ metaverse ” was undoubtedly popularized by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, but did you know that he was not the first to think about it? A lot of tech companies have been working towards achieving this for years now and it is because of this technological research that everything starting from smartphones to virtual reality has become possible.
So, the real question is, what is metaverse? How will the technology work?
Well, according to Zuckerberg’s definition, the metaverse is a virtual world where people can work, hold meetings, interact with each other, buy properties, and so much more . You must have already seen such things in science-fiction movies like Ready Player One and also the 1964 animated series Jonny Quest.
Through the metaverse, you will be able to perform various itineraries of your day-to-day life activities but in a virtual space. It also aims at creating a virtual economy that can run parallel to the real one.
“The Metaverse is an expansive network of persistent, real-time rendered 3D worlds and simulations that support continuity of identity, objects, history, payments, and entitlements, and can be experienced synchronously by an effectively unlimited number of users, each with an individual sense of presence. ” – Mathew Ball
Also, Facebook might be the only name you get to hear when talking about metaverse, but other big companies are working towards this for a long time. For example, a block-chain based game known as the Decentraland also incentivizes its users to operate in a shared virtual world. The users of this game can buy properties in form of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) . They can also use a cryptocurrency using MANA to buy these properties.
Other than that, the tech giant company Microsoft is also focused on working on Metaverse. Sam George , the corporate vice president of Azure loT said, “Imagine taking any complex environment and applying the power of technology to create awe-inspiring experiences and reach new business heights that were previously unimaginable.”
What is Facebook’s Metaverse?
A lot of well-known brands have been known to change their name over the years. But why is Facebook changing its name so important? Why did it create such a big buzz all over the world when that happened?
Well, Facebook did not change its name just like that. Its main intention was to rebrand itself and align its name to the ideas it is striving to achieve . The name shows that Facebook is focused on constructing a metaverse which the CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg thinks will happen sooner or later. Facebook also controls the Oculus VR game platform and would not want to exclude the metaverse race.
The changing of the name was also a big step through which the founder tried to demonstrate that F acebook is not just a social networking platform helping people to connect and interact with each other, but also a virtual platform providing a lot of other opportunities. So the main question that must come to your mind is, what is Facebook Meterverse change?
Well, the most simple answer would be, Facebook metaverse will create a virtual universe where individuals can have multiple identities, possessions, and also, a lot of characters to interact with other users. Metaverse is going to be a post-internet world. Like cryptocurrencies, the metaverse is also going to be a decentralized computing platform, like a digital economy. Most Silicon Valley experts believe that it is going to be present in both digital and physical domains.
So, the main part of metaverse would undoubtedly be virtual reality. But the concept is not that simple. It is beyond just enrobing your VR headset and sitting to just play a game. The metaverses will not stop or pause even for a second, rather it keeps on proceeding endlessly.
How will Facebook Metaverse Work?
When Facebook bought Oculus in the year 2014 for $ 2 billion , CEO Mark Zuckerberg predicted that Facebook would become a metaverse company that would allow people to share moments, experiences, and adventures with their friends online. Many might think that Facebook is doing such things to distract everyone from the litany of scandals, but it is not entirely true.
So what will Facebook metaverse do? Well, Zuckerberg said that Meta is currently focusing on creating a virtual office space where people working from home can gather , but they will get a 3D experience. It will give them a feeling as if they are visiting the place in person and they can also design virtual homes and can even host their real friends for metaverse games.
Not just that, the company is also trying to build it in a way so that you can be able to attend concerts, travel anywhere around the world, go to distant cities, and even shop for virtual clothes and goods and all these things will exist in the virtual world. Theoretically speaking, once the technology gets developed, the possibilities are as broad as our imaginations.
Is only Facebook Building the Metaverse?
As mentioned earlier, you must think that Facebook and metaverse are synonymous because it is only Facebook that comes to your mind when you hear the term “ meta ” or “ metaverse”. But Facebook is neither the only company nor the first company that is trying to develop such a technology. Even before Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg showed the splashy demos of giant robots and digital time travel to ancient Rome, various other companies were also trying to craft software and hardware that could be similar to the “ Ready Player One ”.
Here are some of the companies that are trying to develop metaverse as well –
ROBLOX – The video gaming platform, Roblox Corporation which went public just this year, is also trying to build the metaverse technology so that they can provide their users with a 3D experience to learn, work, play, and socialize. The CEO has also talked about conducting shopping and business on this platform.
MICROSOFT – The CEO of Microsoft Satya Nadella recently said that the company was trying to build an “ enterprise metaverse ”. Microsoft also owns the Xbox and the world-building game Minecraft. The boss of Xbox Phil Spencer has also talked about planning a “metaverse or mixed-reality construct”.
NVIDIA – The computer chip maker company also build its Omniverse platform so that they can connect the 3D worlds to a shared virtual universe.
UNITY – This software company that develops software designs for video games is also working towards building tools or technology that could be used to build the metaverse.
SNAP – The Snapchat Inc owner has been building custom avatars for a long time now. They are trying hard to build filters to overlay the digital features in the real world. In 2021, this company unveiled its reality glasses for the developers to experiment with and create different experiences.
XR Programs And Research Funds
Facebook has also announced its XR Program and Research Fund in the year 2021. This two-year $50 million investment has been targeted towards research and development towards building the metaverse responsibly.
It is through this particular program and research fund that the founder of Facebook is trying to collaborate with industry partners, civil rights groups, nonprofit organizations, governments, and also academic institutions to work towards developing this new technology.
This plan was revealed through a blog post by the VP of Facebook Reality Labs, Andrew Bosworth, and Nick Clegg, VP, Global Affairs. The blog stated, “The metaverse isn’t a single product one company can build alone”. The post also goes on to say, “Just like the internet, the metaverse exists whether Facebook is there or not… Its success depends on building robust interoperability across services, so different companies’ experiences can work together.”
Oculus Headset for Metaverse
Facebook is projected to sell almost seven million virtual reality headsets in 2022. People are purchasing these headsets to become a part of a digital universe that combines virtual and physical reality.
In fact, in October 2021, Facebook announced that it would be spending $10 billion in the next few years on the development of metaverse-related technologies. Even Apple will be releasing a blended virtual reality headset in the coming years which could cost up to $3000.
Limitations And Challenges
All technology is both good and evil. Based on a few surveys, here are a few limitations and challenges that will surely come with metaverse –
Leaving the reality behind – The top concern that most people have regarding Metaverse is that as a consequence of spending a lot of time in the virtual world, it will be difficult for most people to come back to the real world and deal with real things. Even Ready Player One had shown how people start depending on the virtual world because that seems better to them. If people get to shop, work, play and have all the fun in the virtual world, there is a high chance that they may never want to return to the real world.
Health concerns – As people will be busy having fun in the virtual world and will be spending more time focusing on their virtual self, there is a high chance that they will stop working on their physical bodies. They might just care about how their virtual avatars are and will pay no attention to their real bodies. They will not waste their time exercising or eating healthy.
Technological feasibility – The creation of Metaverse is not going to be that easy, it will require massive development to create a universe that is interconnected, and persistent. There needs to be a massive upgrade in technology along with a lot of investment for metaverse to work properly in the future.
Metaverse will indeed change the whole world , but it is also true that Zuckerberg might be enthusiastic about metaverse and a virtual universe for their own sake. His company makes money from advertising and the development of metaverse would help them to collect all range of personal information which they can use for their business. But, still, if the researchers can develop it, it is surely going to be the next best thing!