Facebook re brands as Meta
NEWSTECHNOLOGY

Facebook Moves to Virtual Metaverse

VRNerd

Facebook Connect 2021 took place recently and brought to light numerous projects the social media giant has in the works. Aside from the major, most talked-about reveal – Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Oculus will all exist under the umbrella brand Meta – the main takeaways for VR users and those keeping tabs on the future of immersive, interactive entertainment included the following juicy nuggets of information:

Meta new Project Cambria VR Headset
A glimpse of Cambria shown during Facebook Connect 2021. [Image: Meta]
  • Cambria is coming: a new high-end VR/MR headset with full-color passthrough, eye and face tracking, and realistic real-time avatar animation.
GTA San Andreas is coming to VR via Meta Quest
GTA: San Andreas is coming to VR via Meta Quest. [Image: Meta]
Mark Zuckerberg demonstrating Horizon Home avatars
Mark Zuckerberg demonstrates Horizon Home’s customizable avatars. [Image: Meta]
  • Virtual social and meeting platform Horizon Home to launch soon.
  • A personal Facebook account will no longer be required for Oculus (now Meta) Quest use; a business account can be used instead.
  • Meta promises privacy and parental controls in its metaverse.
  • Meta to contribute $150 million to education and training partnerships with AR and VR developers.
Faceboom is now Meta Platforms Inc.
Facebook, Inc. transforms into Meta Platforms, Inc. [Image: Getty Images]

Andrew Bosworth, head of Facebook Reality Labs, noted that Meta’s goal has been “to develop new use cases beyond just gaming that make VR something the people use in multiple areas of their lives,” while CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Meta isn’t simply about spending more time on screens; “It’s about spending the time that we already spend better.”

As Meta continues to push for a globally connected metaverse of its own cultivation, VR and AR fans will continue to look to what’s coming out of 1 Hacker Way and how it will propel this revolutionary tech further.