The company, which used to be known as Facebook., intends to spend a minimum of $10 billion on research, development, and production of virtual and/or augmented reality technologies.
Mark Zuckerberg from Meta, the CEO of a social media company, showcased many of the prototypes that the company had created in its labs to show how far they have come.
Zuckerberg placed his faith in virtual reality to ensure the success of the social networking company he founded. Users are immersed in a computer-generated world and augmented realities, which overlay computer-generated objects over real life.
The company changed its last name to Meta in 2011 to reflect its emphasis on the metaverse. A virtual world Zuckerberg envisages where people will spend increasing time.
Meta would gain a new revenue stream if Zuckerberg can make head-worn computers more mainstream. Additionally, Meta would own its hardware platform and be less susceptible to platform changes by other companies. Meta indicated that Apple’s recent privacy updates could lead to $10 billion in lost revenue for the company this year. It also hinders its ability to target specific audiences through targeted advertising.
It is currently a small market, and it is unclear how large it will grow. According to IDC’s estimates, Meta accounts for 78% of all headset sales. However, there were only an 11.2million VR headsets sold last year — for less than smartphones or computers.
Investors remain skeptical of Meta’s decision not to focus on its core ads and app business. The stock plunged more than 53% in 2022 because of fears of increasing expenses, low growth forecasts, increased competition by TikTok, and the effect of Apple’s iPhone privacy changes that have hampered mobile ads.
Zuckerberg revealed that Meta is creating next-generation virtual reality displays. The display will be realistic enough to make users feel like they are in the exact same room as their virtual friends. Current displays don’t have enough resolution and are susceptible to distortion. They can’t even be worn for prolonged periods.
Zuckerberg spoke to the media during a phone call discussing the company’s virtual-reality efforts. “You’ll feel like they’re right in front of you, only instead of seeing them on a monitor.
Zuckerberg stated, “The problem is that the vividness on screens now compared with what your eye sees in real life is off by order-of-magnitude or more.”
Meta has shown its progress in the development of virtual reality headsets for AR and augmented reality glasses over the past several years to partners as well as the press. This was to encourage investors to consider the project worthwhile also to help recruit executives and developers with VR and AR expertise.
Gadget companies are fond of completing products before revealing how they will manufacture them to the public. Meta frequently shows unfinished prototypes during roundtable presentations for research. This is not common in consumer electronics. Apple, which is creating headsets on its own, doesn’t show off prototypes.
Zuckerberg stated, “These prototypes, these are custom and bespoke models that we built in our laboratory, so they’re no products that can be shipped immediately.”
