Will Meta do better than Facebook?
Renamed giant must act on harm
A DIGITAL image of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg invites us to imagine stepping into a virtual reality version of our own home, only bigger and shinier.
The billionaire also heads to a meeting in a spaceship with his pals in his vision of a brave new frontier.
The video was posted in his attempt at introducing us to the metaverse.
It’s a theoretical world of interlinking digital platforms, a fusion of virtual and augmented reality with, er, reality.
On Thursday, after damning reports over the safety of his social media sites, the tech tycoon said he was changing Facebook’s corporate name to Meta.
He added while Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp would still operate under the new umbrella brand, its focus would be on helping to shape his vision.
Amid claims of distraction tactics, Mr Zuckerberg said: “Now we have a new
Zuckerberg
North Star to help bring the metaverse to life and we have a new name that reflects the full breadth of what we do and the future we want to help build.
“From now on, we’re going to be metaverse first, not Facebook first.”
But what exactly is it and what might it mean for us all?
What does metaverse mean?
A fusion of meta, meaning “beyond” and “universe”, the word is being used to describe a future space where our real-life physical world and digital worlds blend.
In this immersive space, people would be represented by avatars – digital forms of themselves – and meet in virtual or augmented reality worlds to socialise, watch concerts, shop, learn or work.
Virtual reality is a digital world, whereas augmented reality is where some parts of the digital world appear on top of the real world, like the Pokemon Go game.
The vision is for a plethora of digital worlds, be they created by Meta, Google, Apple etc, to be interlinked so users could flit between them.
Where did the term come from?
The word was first coined in 1992 in sci-fi novel the Snow Crash by American writer Neal Stephenson.
It described a computer-generated 3D virtual reality where people were present as avatars in a digital representation of the real world.
Will the metaverse be safe?
Mr Zuckerberg’s social media platforms have been criticised in recent weeks over safety.
Key fears for the metaverse are privacy and security.
It would not only be data like gender and age that could be weaponised by trolls, advertisers, hackers, and even states, but potentially our body language, movement, moods and biometrics. Facebook said $50million would go into building the metaverse “responsibly”.
Ex-Lib Dem leader Sir Nick Clegg, the firm’s VP of Global Affairs, added: “In the past, the speed at which new technologies emerged sometimes left policymakers and regulators playing catch-up. It doesn’t have to be the case this time round because we have years until the metaverse we envision is fully realised.”
How will we access the metaverse and can you already?
The metaverse is in its infancy, although far from being a joined-up universe.
The computer game Fortnite is a good example. It is also a virtual land where players can visit, meet and watch events such as pop concerts. Ariana Grande is the latest artist to perform there.
You can also enter an early form through Mr Zuckerberg’s Oculus VR headsets. The company has an app called Horizon Workrooms, which lets people into virtual offices.
It is believed Sir Nick holds meetings this way. The firm is said to be developing a better headset, codenamed Project Cambria, which has “improved social presence, colour passthrough, pancake optics, and more”.
What do those terms mean?
Social presence means how real it feels to be alongside others. The new device hopes to allow avatars to keep eye contact and have more developed facial expressions that even reflect each other.
Passthrough means how real the world you are in seems to you, as if not wearing a headset. It is hoped it will be colour whereas with Oculus it is black and white.
Pancake optics are the lenses and aim to be lighter, with clearer focus.
The company is also reportedly experimenting with AR glasses.
We have a new North Star to help bring the metaverse to life
MARK ZUCKERBERG ON HIS ONLINE REVOLUTION
How long will it take for a fully functioning metaverse to be created?
Mr Zuckerberg believes a billion people will be using it after a decade and to help with that he wants Meta to become a “metaverse business”. He announced plans to hire 10,000 people across the EU. Will anyone run the metaverse?
Mr Zuckerberg has said he will put tens of billions of dollars into it, but, like the internet, no one company will run the metaverse. However, anyone instrumental in helping to build it will have a lot of sway – and if it becomes a key form of human interaction, that could be a lot of power.