Mark Zuckerberg Desires To Reinvent Facebook By Becoming A Metaverse Company
Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg plans to reinvent Facebook by making it a metaverse company. While talking to experts and reporters, he said:
“In the coming years, I expect people will transition from seeing us primarily as a social media company to seeing us as a metaverse company … In many ways, the metaverse is the ultimate expression of social technology.”
What is Metaverse?
First envisioned about 30 years back by the American novelist Neal Stephenson in his sci-fi novel, Snow Crash, it means to unify the physical, augmented, and virtual reality in a common online space. Users here would interact in a 3D living space in real-time.
While tech giants like Google and Apple believe metaverse is the future and are working toward building products to make it a reality, Facebook seems more focused on this new idea. The social networking conglomerate envisions creating a world where users interact by employing virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and 2D/3D gadgets. It will be their virtual space for anything they do, including job, mingling with friends, and so on.
What is Facebook doing to make metaverse a reality?
While making metaverse a reality is a huge challenge, Facebook Inc. is probably the most competent company for this endeavor. The firm already owns WhatsApp, Instagram, and VR headset manufacturer Oculus, giving them enough data and resources to create a virtual space. Through the customer data they have, they can make a world powered by people's personalities, likes, dislikes, and emotions.
Facebook has already developed a department named Reality Labs to fulfil its dream, which employs competent researchers and gamers. The job here is to make immersive realism a success and explain the features of the metaverse.
Besides, Facebook is investing heavily in tools like "teleporting” and products such as AR glasses and highly innovative VR headsets. All these are part of the company’s plan to create the metaverse.
So, when Facebook would be all set to start its metaverse system?
Well, Zuckerberg believes they will be prepared to totally reinvent Facebook in the next five years. Physical products like VR headsets and AR glasses would take time to be available for regular daily use by 2030. Additionally, Facebook would be happy to share its virtual reality system with other firms to make the system scalable.
While Facebook's dream to create a metaverse seems a farfetched reality, once thriving, it would be tough for any company to beat the social networking giant. The reason is the metaverse system is not only hard to create but is also very expensive.
Zuckerberg’s announcement of this transition isn’t a very light decision at the time when most of its customers have downsized and are working from home. However, it is also a fact that Facebook is making good money – the social platform has reported a 57% rise in second-quarter advertising sales, a 7% growth in monthly active users, and about-twofold in net revenue to US$10.4 billion (£7.4 billion).
Undoubtedly, Facebook would have made all calculations before announcing the metaverse transition. The new model will bring more profits by giving users access to private spaces, teleporting, and selling virtual products and experiences.
Let’s see if Mark Zuckerberg could again create a platform that shapes our lives.
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