Facebook Inc. announced the change of name to Meta to associate with its new product – the metaverse, in which users can communicate in virtual reality. But all we know is its development is at an early development stage.
The Connect conference that was arranged at the end of October was dedicated to the metaverse – a virtual 3D space using augmented reality for communication and interaction between people, regardless of their location. The platform can be used for work, study, play, and shopping, the company said. According to Meta, the Metaverse will be similar to modern communication methods but exist in three-dimensional space or projected into the surrounding space.
What future holds?
Facebook Inc., which owns the social network of the same name, as well as services Instagram, WhatsApp, and other social media platforms and apps, will change its name to Meta. This was stated by the founder of the company Mark Zuckerberg at the presentation of a new product – Metaverse. The name change is needed so that users perceive Facebook as a developer of the metaverse, he explained.
The Metaverse is a collection of digital worlds. This is a product that will use virtual (VR) and augmented (AR) reality technologies. According to Zuckerberg’s forecast, its development will take 5-10 years. At the presentation, he talked mainly not about existing technologies, but about what the company is working on or intends to work on. Specifically, it is assumed, that users of the Metaverse will get the following experience:
- It is said that we will have realistic avatars looking exactly like the owner and you can modify them according to your looks such as changing hairstyle, clothes, tattoos, piercings, etc.
- You can create a house that will be exactly the way that your home is. And you can furnish them with digital objects to make it similar to your own place. Or you can create an entirely new house.
- You can bring realistic objects to the platform and take the objects from the same platform. Currently Meta is working on this project to make it happen. This way people will be able to have digital objects in real life with holograms and have interactions.
- You can also control your actions with your hand motions and voice. Meta is also working on a project that will be dedicated to the power of thought, so that the users can do actions by just thinking.
According to Zuckerberg, Metaverse users will be able to play chess or basketball with other people who will be, for example, in another country at that moment. It will provide new opportunities for organizing the work process. That way, people at a distance will be able to communicate with employees in the office as if they are in the same room with them. You can have many training courses, and it will be possible to “teleport” to other places or epochs. For fitness lovers, it will be possible to conduct training in any chosen virtual setting or “invite” a virtual trainer to your home.
Will this work?
To implement these opportunities, the company will have to create an ecosystem in which various participants can earn money, explained Zuckerberg. In particular, Meta announced that it is investing $ 150 million in immersive content developers. It will also be possible to buy and sell digital and real-life items in Metaverse.
Zuckerberg predicts that Metaverse will reach 1 billion users in the next ten years. On what Meta itself will earn, he did not explain but noted that he intends to give users the opportunity to free access to the new product.
