Facebook and Metaverse
Written by Trinity Duong
The Facebook Company shook the internet when it announced the rebrand name “Meta”. CEO Mark Zuckerberg introduced this name chance at Connect 2021, a month-long online, AI-powered marketplace and virtual event. October 28th marks the focus that Zuckerberg aims to bring forward the metaverse to everyday life to help people connect, find communities, and grow businesses.
The metaverse is a combination of multiple elements of technology, this includes virtual reality, augmented reality, and video where users participate within a digital universe. It is envisioned to be a technological world where users can work, play and stay connected through the depiction of avatars.
Zuckerberg has said, “We’ll be able to feel present, like we’re right there with people, no matter how far apart we actually are.”
This future world would include virtual games spanning all the way to virtual board meetings.
Meta has spent billions of dollars every year in an attempt to create this “metaverse” while also racing in competition against other gaming and tech firms.
Not only has Facebook staked its claim but also Microsoft, Apple, Google, and Sony. Due to PlayStation ownership by Sony and Xbox ownership by Microsoft, this fierce competition is high stakes with the resemblances of modern online gaming worlds. Microsoft entered this race in claiming their build inside Teams. This was announced just days after the rebranding of Facebook to Meta in a push to build virtual spaces for consumers and production planning.
Nicole Herskowitz, the general manager for Microsoft Teams explains, “We got hit by meeting fatigue in the virtual world. After 30 or 40 minutes max in a meeting, it was very hard to stay engaged and focused.” Therefore the initial idea of Together Mode by Microsoft is to make online work easier and more engaging.
The metaverse has very diverse goals when it varies from one company to the other and it’s only until the final product is announced that the original metaverse creator can be given credit where it is due.
The term “metaverse” itself was originally coined in 1992 by N. Stephenson and since then various developments have made their way towards the future of technology with this goal in mind.
We can see the potential effects of a metaverse in film portrayals such as “Ready Player One” directed by Steven Spielberg.
Matthew Ball thinks it to be the “next internet”.
The name change by The Facebook Company has put the metaverse in the forefront of conversations, opening up the dialogue for the understanding of the metaverse to be implemented within our society before the actual creation of it.
