Facebook Company recently announced that it was changing its name to Meta (the social media site would remain Facebook though).
The news was greeted with much enthusiasm as it was with indifference and scorn. However, weeks after the announcement, the plans on the changes Mark Zuckerberg was planning with the change have come to light. This is the emergence of news that Meta plans on creating a Metaverse.
Below, we look at some of the things to expect from Meta in the future.
Extended Reality
One of the words that experts have used to define Meta’s new plans is what is called ‘Extended reality’. Extended reality is a combination of augmented, virtual and mixed reality. This means that you will be able to interact with your virtual, 3D world in real-time. This could then transform how social and business engagements online as we know it.
This could also mean that you and your online friends could create actual virtual hangouts with your avatars, complete with virtual locations. So, if you would like to hang out at a beach, you could create a scenic 3D beach from which you can then hang out. Meta also plans on working on improving the facial expressions of the avatars to make the interactions much more realistic.
Linking of digital assets to real-world economics
Real-world items being used in virtual reality are nothing new. Many people who play online games will often use real-life currencies to buy in-game items. Those items improve their general experience in the virtual world.
However, experts suggest that Meta could take it a step further, making it possible to create, trade, and invest in products, goods, and services online, which could then impact your offline lives. For example, you could create an online business then sell your items for real money for your virtual goods. We are talking about you creating, say, a virtual boutique and selling the virtual clothes to people’s avatars for real currency.
Sophisticated hardware
The Metaverse will take a lot of processing power; thus, why it perhaps remains a little further into the future.
The Meta company teased some high-end ‘mixed-reality’ headsets which offer a high-resolution, full-color video experience. The experience is meant to make the extended reality world appear as real as possible. Called Project Cambria, the headset will make every part of the online world feel real, including facial expressions, skin tones among others. So, yeah, the current VR glasses are not built for this task.
There is a lot to get excited about with this development. However, Meta CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, still has a long way to go to regain the trust of the public after the much-publicized data privacy scandals from the company.
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