Facebook is no more. Last night, during Facebook‘s Connect 2021 event, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook will now be called Meta, and the company will focus on a “Metaverse” which will be a virtual world that will come as a successor to mobile Internet. Facebook’s new name naturally comes as a big news. The company says that it wants users to look at the future. The rebranding comes amid pressure over the social media giant after a whistleblower leaked internal research documents that allege that Facebook ignores hate speech for profit. Facebook is now trying to divert attention by focusing on its future technologies.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that the future of technology is about digital worlds where users can connect and interact with each other in a “metaverse.” “If we all work at it, and within the next decade, the metaverse will reach a billion people, host hundreds of billions of dollars of digital commerce, and support jobs for millions of creators and developers,” Zuckerberg said during last night’s showcase.
Now, the metaverse is still very much a work-in-progress. During last night’s event, the company announced a series of software tools that include technology that will allow people to control programs with their voice or hands. Facebook also announced that it is bringing more hardware offerings. “This is the next chapter of our work, and we believe, for the internet overall,” Zuckerberg said during the event last night.
Zuckerberg also announced plans for a Horizon marketplace and a wider multiverse economy that can support a range of experiences through AR, VR, and other gadgets like smartphones or laptops. Zuckerberg said he believes that the metaverse will be a successor to mobile Internet and explained that Horizon has a home section where people can build their own virtual home space as well as workrooms. Horizon Workrooms were first announced in August this year as the company’s tool for joining meetings and events as an avatar in VR.
During the Facebook Connect 2021 event, Zuckerberg laid out his vision for how people will work and play in the metaverse. Apart from the metaverse and the new name for Facebook, the Facebook Connect 2021 event also saw many other announcements on the hardware and software front. Zuckerberg talked about the company’s next-generation virtual reality headset that may be named Cambria. Cambria, according to the company, will bring a screen close to your eyes, in order to give a closer feeling of being inside a virtual world. The “Meta” Cambria headset is also said to detect the emotion in a wearer’s face.
Apart from the company name, Facebook’s Oculus brand for VR headsets will also be phased out in favour of Meta. The Oculus Quest will soon be called the “Meta Quest.” The Facebook Portal video device is also getting rebranded to “Meta Portal” sometime in the next few months.
Facebook also announced that it is trying to make an AR-enabled smart glasses. The company, now called Meta, said that it plans to field-test its camera and sensor-studded Project Aria research glasses in more places with neural input wristbands, and even in cars.
Facebook also announced new apps coming from various partners during its Facebook Connect 2021 event. Facebook has partnered with Rockstar Games to bring once-favourite Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas to Oculus Quest 2 in VR. The company also announced that it is expanding its smart glasses research into cars with BMW.
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