Why Facebook Decided to Embrace Metaverse
Facebook changed its company name to Meta, probably many people want to learn more about Facebook’s decision. The social media giant adopted the name, based on the sci-fi term metaverse. Its new name should describe its vision for working and playing in a virtual world.
Facebook, now known as Meta, is aiming to play a leading role in shaping the metaverse, in part by investing in virtual reality. The company’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg explained his position. According to Zuckerberg, the metaverse spans nonimmersive platforms like today’s social media and immersive 3D media technologies, and that it will be for work as well as play.
Meta and other companies are willing to invest a lot of money in the metaverse. Who builds the metaverse, and how is extremely important to the future of the economy and society as a whole.
It may one day resemble the flashy fictional Oasis of Ernest Cline’s “Ready Player One”. However, until then, people can turn to games, virtual-reality social-media platforms, virtual work environments for a taste of the metaverse.
What is the metaverse?
It is a network of always-on virtual environments in which many people can interact with one another and digital objects while operating virtual representations of themselves. Interestingly, the metaverse is a concept from science fiction that many envision as the successor to today’s internet. Currently, it’s only a vision. But technology companies such as Zuckerberg’s Meta are aiming to make it the setting for many online activities.
There are three important aspects of the metaverse: presence, interoperability, and standardization.
First of all, presence is the feeling of actually being in a virtual space, with virtual others. People reach this sense through virtual reality technologies such as head-mounted displays.
Interoperability is also very important when it comes to the metaverse. The word mentioned above means being able to travel between virtual spaces with the same virtual assets. For example, ReadyPlayerMe allows people to create an avatar that they can use in hundreds of different virtual worlds. In the meantime, blockchain technologies facilitate the transfer of digital goods across virtual borders.
Standardization is another important aspect of the metaverse. It allows interoperability of platforms as well as services across the metaverse. As in the case of all mass-media technologies, international organizations define these standards. One such organization is the Open Metaverse Interoperability Group.
