Facebook ‘metaverse’ is Mark Zuckerberg’s next big bet

Whether you agree with him or not, Mark Zuckerberg has not been very off the mark when it comes to social media and technology. His next big bet might make a lot of people uneasy but as the situation stands now -- with COVID-19 and lockdowns -- it is not far from reality. Zuckerberg believes that Facebook will not only remain a social media platform but will transform into a ‘metaverse’ where you can live and work and even work out.

“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,” he said during the second quarter earnings call.

“The defining quality of the metaverse presence is this feeling that you're really there with another person or in another place,” Zuckerberg told analysts and investors as he pushed aggressively for this vision last week. “Creating avatars and digital objects are going to be central to how we express ourselves,” he stated.

WHAT IS METAVERSE?

Fans of dystopian fiction and sci-fi already would know what the Facebook co-founder is talking about. At its fully accomplished version, metaverse would be an immersive virtual world where people would be able to spend time and hang out -- much like right now but in a more realistic manner. It will not only be restricted to gaming but go into the workplace and entertainment to create a ‘social experience’. Facebook is also working towards an infinite office that will allow users to create their virtual reality workspace.

Zuckerberg explained that people would be able to ‘teleport’ between different experiences. Facebook started working towards achieving this vision years ago but has only recently started using the terminology publicly, as mentioned in a report in Bloomberg.

Facebook’s finance chief Dave Wehner said that the company is spending billions on the metaverse experience.

Zuckerberg added that the ‘virtual environment’ will be accessible from all kinds of devices and headsets, whether or not they are built by Facebook. Even so, the problem that arises is that all companies exploring the metaverse experience must be on the same page. Microsoft Corp has spoken about the ‘enterprise metaverse’, while companies like chipmaker Nvidia Corp and game makers Roblox Corp and Epic Games Inc have their own versions of the metaverse.

The social media giant has also invested heavily in augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR). Reportedly 20 per cent of the company’s employees are working on AR and VR.

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