As Meta shifts focus from social media to the metaverse, here are some products and services that the organization offers or is working on to facilitate this vision.
Eyewear
With the acquisition of Oculus, Meta has taken the lead in the Virtual Reality headset market. Being a clear leader in this space, Meta has monopolized this space quickly. Meanwhile, Meta Augmented Reality glasses are still a work in progress, and Meta seems keen to develop a lead in this platform as well. For now, they have decided to take their first step into the AR glasses market by collaborating with Ray-ban.
Meta Quest 2 (formerly Oculus Quest 2)
Meta Quest 2 is one of the most advanced VR headsets available in the market right now. Meta has stated that efforts have been made to keep the price of this product low to speed up the adoption of VR headsets. This product ships with controllers, which are used to navigate the VR world. Currently, this is the most advanced VR product Meta has released.
Project Cambria
At Connect 2021, Meta announced the successor to the Meta Quest 2. This project is still not completed. This VR headset will be a higher-end version of the Quest 2. Meta is working on the VR headsets to work without any controllers. Moreover, the VR headsets will pick up the users’ facial expressions, which will reflect on the avatar.
The release date for this headset has not been announced yet.
Ray-ban Stories
Meta announced Ray-ban Stories as the “First-Generation Smart Glasses.” These glasses allow users to take photos and videos. Also, the microphone and speaker allow users to make phone calls and listen to music. According to Meta, these glasses are the first step toward augmented reality glasses.
Project Nazare
Like Project Cambria is the next step to the Quest series in VR headsets, Project Nazare may be the next step to Ray-ban Stories in Meta’s quest to build AR glasses. Project Nazare was introduced in Connect 2021. The idea is to have eyewear that can supplement our lives. While this is still a project like Cambria, this one seems like it won’t be launched anytime soon as it requires a lot more development.
Horizon
Meta has claimed Horizon is the core to its metaverse vision. It is Meta’s metaverse gateway which allows developers to build and create spaces in virtual reality. Creators and developers can monetize these spaces.
Horizon Home
Horizon Home is the user’s own space. It is like one’s own home once they put their VR headset on. This space can be built how the user wishes it to be. Moreover, users can invite guests into their personal space. Instead of video calling friends, people should be able to put on their headsets and interact with their friends in virtual reality.
Horizon Worlds
Horizon Worlds is a shared space. This is where users from all over the metaverse can interact and enjoy experiences. The idea of this space is that users will be able to develop and monetize it. The idea is that users should be able to interact with their peers in this space.
Horizon Workrooms
With the rise of remote work, Meta decided to introduce Horizon Workrooms. This is a platform to help employees work from home. Meta stated that Horizon Workrooms would allow users to have a realistic avatar. Moreover, users will not have to connect their Facebook accounts to Horizon Workrooms to keep their personal lives separate.
Horizon Marketplace
To create a thriving community for its creators and developers, Meta has announced a Marketplace in Horizon Worlds. This marketplace is meant to be an E-Commerce platform in the metaverse and allow users to purchase products in the metaverse.
Developer Services
Apart from creating a marketplace, Meta has made significant steps to facilitate developers to create virtual reality applications. Since this is a relatively new platform, Meta has found creative ways to encourage developers to help build the metaverse.
Meta has announced various resources to encourage developers to create for their platforms. They provide various educational tools to ensure developers know the VR space. Moreover, Meta also funds and subsidies to accelerate the growth of its platform.
In addition to their existing technical support, they announced the Presence Platform for developers. In addition to their technical support and educational platforms for developers, they have launched various software development kits to ensure developers can integrate voice and interaction into their applications. The Presence Platform works in addition to the already established Oculus Platform SDK.
It is clear that changing the name from Facebook to Meta, the acquisition of Oculus, and development support in building applications in Horizon Worlds are all conscious decisions taken by Meta. Zuckerberg and his team seem eager to be the market leaders in the metaverse.
The company has quickly learned from failed projects like its digital currency, Libra and has adapted. Web giants like Yahoo could not sustain themselves as they could not adjust to the technological advancements. Zuckerberg and his team have established the industries they want to hit to ensure the company is relevant as the market evolves.
