To understand what you can do in Facebook’s Metaverse it is useful to know the genesis of the name Meta, but also what an eyepiece viewer and Horizon Worlds are
A virtual space in which to interact through avatars and be able to lead a completely digital life. This is Meta , the metaverse imagined by Mark Zuckerberg, who decided to rebrand the services offered by Facebook Inc. to launch into what he believes is the Internet of the future.
Abandoning the Facebook name and logo was necessary for Zuckerberg: a new brand was needed that could bring together all the services offered, such as Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp and the device universe, from Portal to Oculus viewers.
But what is the Facebook metaverse ? How does it work and what can you do within it? To understand this, it may be useful to go into the genesis of the name “Meta” in more detail , to know the devices that allow you to enter the virtual space, how to build your own avatars that populate the metaverse, for example in the online game Horizon Worlds and what are the potentials that what is considered the Internet of the future offers.
What is Meta and how it was born
Many people first heard about the metaverse when Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook would change its name to “Meta” . It was October 28, 2021: a simply fundamental date for the world of shared virtual reality.
To understand what the metaverse is, it is possible to start from the concept of virtual reality. The metaverse is a virtual space populated by user avatars , who use virtual and augmented reality devices to create immersive experiences in the digital world.
In Zuckerberg’s vision, the metaverse is the future of the Internet: a virtual place that will allow people from all over the world to have immersive experiences wherever they are.
The change of Facebook ‘s name to “Meta” helps to understand how central the metaverse project is to Zuckerberg’s strategy: it is no coincidence that an initial investment of 150 million dollars was announced, which will be spent to train the next generation of content creators . According to some sources, “Meta’s” expected total investment in the metaverse will be around $10 billion per year.
The “Meta” rebranding was also born from the desire to separate the company from Facebook alone, dictated by a series of factors.
On the one hand, the need to rebuild one’s image after the controversies linked to the management of user privacy and fake news. On the other hand, the need to adequately represent the Meta ecosystem, which over the years has acquired other social networks such as Instagram, messaging apps such as Whatsapp and has also added virtual reality devices, such as Oculus viewers .
How the Facebook metaverse works and what you can do about it
In the metaverse, users will be able to do anything they can imagine: keep in touch with friends and family, work, learn, play, shop and even indulge in new forms of creativity. This is Zuckerberg’s premise in presenting his new virtual space.
Computers and phones will be used in a completely different way than we do today, because users will be able to enjoy innovative and immersive experiences thanks to VR/AR devices.
Therefore the metaverse is a shared virtual space , available to different users and creators , a digital place where it is possible to create services and opportunities of all types. Think about entertainment and the possibility of following in real time events that come to life thousands of kilometers away.
Think of companies, which can create virtual offices in which to organize meetings, seminars or meetings. Think about the world of education and the opportunity to attend lessons or courses held by the best professors in the world. Fastweb Mobile Full
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Many users don’t know how the metaverse works and, specifically, how to access it. From this point of view there are no universal rules, even if to fully experience the experiences of the Facebook metaverse the use of specific eye viewers is required .
To fully exploit the potential of the Facebook metaverse you need to use an eyepiece viewer such as the Oculus Quest 2
The most famous headset created by Meta to date is the Oculus Quest 2 : a stand-alone headset equipped with the Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 processor, one of the most powerful on the market. The Oculus Quest 2 headset boasts a resolution of 1832×1920 per single eye and is equipped with four cameras.
The two Oculus Touch controllers are added to the viewer , which allow the user to physically interact with virtual reality. The Oculus Touch are conceptually similar to joysticks , as they are equipped with analog triggers and thumbsticks.
Finally, one of the most interesting innovations of Oculus Quest 2 is hand tracking: a tracking of the hands that allows the user to experience specific VR experiences simply by gesturing. Hand tracking is a technology that promises to make virtual reality even more realistic.
Horizon Worlds: a game to enter the metaverse
Horizon Worlds is a free online virtual reality game. It was developed by Meta and can be used as long as you have a Facebook account and an eyepiece of your choice between Oculus Quest 2 and Oculus Rift S.
Horizon Worlds is one of the closest representations to the idea of Facebook’s metaverse : a virtual space that the user can freely visit through their avatar. Speaking of avatars: the first months of 2022 were those of the definition of a new cartoon standard for Meta’s three-dimensional characters .
The user creates his own virtual alter ego and then can start interacting with the objects, services and people present within Horizon Worlds. So far the only users who can access and play Horizon Worlds are residents of the USA and Canada , provided they have reached the age of majority.
Another important aspect to underline is that Horizon Worlds is not just a game: it is also entertainment and, for those who want it, work. The Horizon Venues app was created with the aim of guaranteeing participation in concerts, sporting events , etc. Likewise, the Horizon Workrooms platform allows you to organize teleconferences in virtual reality.
