Since the late 1970s and early 1980s, many of those in the technology community have imagined a future state of, if not quasi-successor to, the Internet – called the “Metaverse”. Metverse is a vision of the future networking that sounds fantastical. The Metaverse is a collective virtual shared space[1] including the sum of all virtual worlds and the Internet. The idea is to create a space similar to the internet, but one that users (via digital avatars) can walk around inside of and where they can interact with one another in real time. Keeping it simple, the metaverse is a potentially vast three-dimensional online world where people can meet up and interact virtually.
The metaverse was originally conceived as the setting for dystopian science fiction novels, where virtual universes provide an escape from crumbling societies. Now, the idea has transformed into a moonshot goal for Silicon Valley, and become a favorite talking point among startups, venture capitalists and tech giants. Imagine a world where you could sit on the same couch as a friend who lives thousands of miles away, or conjure up a virtual version of your workplace while at the beach.
Tech titans like Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg are betting on as the next great leap in the evolution of the internet. Although the full vision for the Metaverse remains hard to define, seemingly fantastical, and decades away, the pieces have started to feel very real. Metaverse has become the newest macro-goal for many of the world’s tech giants. Big companies joining the discussion now may simply want to reassure investors that they won’t miss out on what could be the next big thing, or that their investments in VR, which has yet to gain broad commercial appeal, will eventually pay off.
‘Metaverse’: the next internet revolution? article tells that metaverse is the stuff of science-fiction: the term was coined by Neal Stephenson in his 1992 novel “Snow Crash”, in which people don virtual reality headsets to interact inside a game-like digital world.
Facebook Wants Us to Live in the Metaverse. According to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg “What is the metaverse? It’s a virtual environment where you can be present with people in digital spaces. You can kind of think of this as an embodied internet that you’re inside of rather than just looking at.” Metaverse vision was the driver behind Facebook’s purchase of Oculus VR and its newly announced Horizon virtual world/meeting space, among many, many other projects, such as AR glasses and brain-to-machine communications. In a high-tech plan to Facebookify the world advertisements will likely be a key source of revenue in the metaverse, just as they are for the company today.
Term Metaverse was created by sci-fi author Neal Stephenson in his 1992 dystopian novel “Snow Crash” to describe a virtual space where people interact with one another through user-controlled avatars. That “Snow Crash” novel coined the terms “Metaverse” and “Avatar”.
Venture capitalist Matthew Ball has also written extensively on what he believes are the main attributes of a metaverse: a full-functioning economy, real-time persistence (no pausing), and interoperability of digital “belongings” such as clothing across multiple platforms. Experts working in the space tend to agree on a few key aspects of the metaverse, including the idea that users will experience a sense of “embodiment” or “presence.”. Read more at The Metaverse: What It Is, Where to Find it, Who Will Build It, and Fortnite and Big Tech has its eyes set on the metaverse. Here’s what that means
Proponents of the metaverse say there could eventually be huge business potential — a whole new platform on which to sell digital goods and services. If metaverse could be properly realized and catches on some future year, it is believed that metaverse would revolutionize not just the infrastructure layer of the digital world, but also much of the physical one, as well as all the services and platforms atop them, how they work, and what they sell. It is believed that verifiable, immutable ownership of digital goods and currency will be an essential component of the metaverse.
Did you hear? Facebook Inc. is going to become a metaverse company. At least that’s the story its management wants everyone to believe after a flurry of interviews and announcements over the past couple of weeks. Zuckerberg is turning trillion-dollar Facebook into a ‘metaverse’ company, he tells investors article tells that after release of Facebook’s earnings CEO Mark Zuckerberg took a moment to zoom out and wax on the company’s future goals, specifically calling out his ambitions to turn Facebook into “a metaverse company.”
Some pieces of the metaverse already exist. Services like Fortnite, an online game in which users can compete, socialize and build virtual worlds with millions of other players, can give users an early sense of how it will work. And some people have already spent thousands of dollars on virtual homes, staking out their piece of metaverse real estate.
Who will be big if metaverse catches on. Bloomberg article Who Will Win the Metaverse? Not Mark Zuckerberg or Facebook article claims the social networking giant and its CEO have vast ambitions to dominate the next big thing in computing, but other tech giants are in a better position to turn the hype into reality. Facebook’s actual track record on VR tells a story that has not been very promising. The two critical components needed for companies to take advantage of the opportunities that may arise from any potential metaverse are advanced semiconductors and software tools. Facebook is not strong on either front.
There are many other companies with Metaverse visions. For example Oculus’s technology has been surpassed by smaller competitors such as Valve Index, which offers better fidelity. Microsoft (MSFT) CEO Satya Nadella said last week that his company is working on building the “enterprise metaverse.” Epic Games announced a $1 billion funding round in April to support its metaverse ambitions. Companies like graphics chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA) and gaming platform Roblox (RBLX) are also playing Metaverse game.
Despite the current hype cycle, the idea is still amorphous, and a fully functioning metaverse is probably years and billions of dollars away — if it happens at all. Another question is are we emotionally evolved enough for it? There is a host of concerns about how the metaverse could be used or exploited. “Are we safe to start interacting at a more person-to-person level, or are the a**holes still going to ruin it for everybody?” “If you can now replace somebody’s entire reality with an alternate reality, you can make them believe almost anything,”
Keep in mind that the metaverse is a relatively old idea that seems to gain momentum every few years, only to fade from the conversation in lieu of more immediate opportunities. Though “Fortnite” and “Roblox” are often described as precursors to the Metaverse, the most significant precursor to the Metaverse is the internet itself.
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Tomi Engdahl says:
Top 5 Underrated Metaverse Coins With a Market Cap Under $10 Million
https://thevrsoldier.com/top-5-underrated-metaverse-coins-with-a-market-cap-under-10-million/
With 2021 finishing strong, 2022 will be the year of the Metaverse. There are hundreds of Metaverse coins, all in different stages of their development. If you’re looking for some underrated Metaverse coins with a low market cap, you’ve come to the right place. This article looks at our top five hand-picked underrated Metaverse coins with a market cap of under $10 million, ordered by overall valuation, lowest to highest.
Tomi Engdahl says:
CES 2022 attendee photographs every weird use of ‘metaverse’
https://www.pcgamer.com/ces-2022-attendee-photographs-every-weird-use-of-metaverse/
Tomi Engdahl says:
One person recently bought a plot of land in the Snoopverse – a virtual world rapper Snoop Dogg is developing within The Sandbox – for S$450,000.
Real Estate In The Metaverse Is Booming. Is It Really Such A Crazy Idea?
https://www.iflscience.com/technology/real-estate-in-the-metaverse-is-booming-is-it-really-such-a-crazy-idea/
The idea of spending thousands or even millions of dollars to buy fictitious “land” in a virtual world sounds, to be frank, absurd.
But in recent months, we’ve seen significant investments in virtual land within the metaverse. PwC is among the latest to dive in, having purchased real estate in The Sandbox, a virtual gaming world, for an undisclosed amount.
Meanwhile, the Metaverse Group, a real estate company focused on the metaverse economy, reportedly bought a piece of land in Decentraland, another virtual platform, for US$2.43 million.
Let’s refresh on what the “metaverse” is. You probably heard the term a lot when Facebook re-branded to Meta in October 2021. Other companies, such as Nike and Microsoft, have also announced they will launch into this space.
The metaverse describes a vision of a connected 3D virtual world, where real and digital worlds are integrated using technologies such as virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR). This immersive environment will be accessible through the likes of VR headsets, AR glasses and smartphone apps.
Users will meet and communicate as digital avatars, explore new areas and create content. The idea is the metaverse will develop to become a collaborative virtual space where we can socialise, play, work and learn.
There are several metaverses already – for example in virtual gaming platforms like The Sandbox and virtual worlds like Decentraland. In the same way a website is part of the broader 2D world wide web, individual metaverses will form a larger, connected metaverse.
Importantly, as in the real world, it is and increasingly will be possible to buy things in the metaverse – including real estate.
Virtual land as an NFT
Transactions in the virtual world are generally monetised using cryptocurrency. Other than cryptocurrenies, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are the primary method for monetising and exchanging value within the metaverse.
An NFT is a unique digital asset. Although NFTs are primarily items of digital art (such as videos, images, music or 3D objects), a variety of assets may constitute an NFT – including virtual real estate. On platforms like OpenSea, where people go to buy and trade NFTs, there are now plots of land, or even virtual houses.
To ensure digital real estate has value, supply is limited – a concept in economics called “scarcity value”. For example, Decentraland is made up of 90,000 pieces or “parcels” of land, each around 50 feet by 50 feet.
While it appears that values are climbing, it’s important to acknowledge that real estate investment in the metaverse remains extremely speculative. No one can be certain if this boom is the next great thing or the next big bubble.
The future of metaverse real estate
Financial incentives aside, you may be wondering what companies and individuals will actually do with their virtual land.
As an example, the Metaverse Group’s purchase is in Decentraland’s fashion precinct. According to the buyer the space will be used to host digital fashion events and sell virtual clothing for avatars – another potential area for growth in the metaverse.
But what could owning virtual land offer you? If you buy a physical property in the real world, the result is tangible – somewhere to live, to take pride in, to welcome family and friends.
While virtual property doesn’t provide physical shelter, there are some parallels. In shopping for virtual real estate, you could buy a piece of land to build on. Or you could choose a house already built that you like. You could make it your own with various (digital) objects. You could invite visitors, and visit others’ virtual homes too.
This vision is a while away. But if it seems completely absurd, we should remember that once upon a time, people had doubts about the potential significance of the internet, and then social media. Technologists predict the metaverse will mature into a fully functioning economy in the coming years, providing a synchronous digital experience as interwoven into our lives as email and social networking are now.
This is a strange fantasy come true for someone who was a gamer in a former life. Some years ago, a younger version of my conscience was telling me to stop wasting time playing video games; to go back to study and focus on my “real” life. Deep inside I always had this wish to see gaming overlapping with real life, Real Player One style. I feel this vision is inching ever closer.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Kara Swisher / New York Times:
Interview with Microsoft’s Phil Spencer on why he thinks the metaverse is an extension of gaming, sexual misconduct allegations at Activision Blizzard, and more — When you walk in the room, do you have sway? — I’m Kara Swisher, and you’re listening to “Sway.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/10/opinion/sway-kara-swisher-phil-spencer.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
This will deliver on the 4D experience in the metaverse…
https://fb.watch/atagT-YuUr/
Tomi Engdahl says:
This will deliver on the 4D smacking experience in the metavers?
https://fb.watch/atagT-YuUr/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Snax and metaverse, how will they meet?
Here are some published ideas on that
https://www.foodnavigator.com/Article/2022/01/07/Why-the-metaverse-will-matter-to-the-food-industry-in-2022-and-other-megatrends-to-watch
https://www.deccanherald.com/business/technology/whats-a-food-metaverse-1058124.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Because web3 NFTs don’t get taste on your mouth and fill your stomach, maybe development on products like this needs to be made:
VR Headset That Feeds You Candy
This will deliver on the 4D experience in the metaverse.
https://www.facebook.com/GeekCulture/videos/vr-headset-that-feeds-you-candy/1329394027524717/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sandbox Metaverse hackers are stealing virtual property worth tens of thousands of dollars
The Sandbox metaverse is full of theft.
https://stealthoptional.com/news/sandbox-metaverse-hackers-stealing-virtual-property/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cat Zakrzewski / Washington Post:
Federal judge rules FTC’s amended suit alleging Meta has a monopoly can move forward, after a ruling last year threw out FTC’s complaint over lack of evidence — The decision is a reversal of fortune for the agency after its first complaint was thrown out last year
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/01/11/ftc-facebook-antitrust-lawsuit-move-ahead/
Casey Newton / Platformer:
The FTC’s suit against Meta comes too late to really matter, but its scrutiny of Meta’s VR acquisitions shows it’s determined not to make the same mistake twice — Why an FTC inquiry into the company’s VR ambitions matters more than today’s lawsuit ruling — Just over 13 months ago …
Meta’s real antitrust problems are only beginning
Why an FTC inquiry into the company’s VR ambitions matters more than today’s lawsuit ruling
https://www.platformer.news/p/metas-real-antitrust-problems-are
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://stealthoptional.com/news/sandbox-metaverse-hackers-stealing-virtual-property/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.mwrf.com/technologies/systems/video/21183339/electronic-design-industrial-augmented-reality-is-practical-now?utm_source=RF%20MWRF%20Today&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CPS220107074&o_eid=7211D2691390C9R&rdx.ident%5Bpull%5D=omeda%7C7211D2691390C9R&oly_enc_id=7211D2691390C9R
Tomi Engdahl says:
The FTC is reportedly probing Meta’s VR business for antitrust violations
https://techcrunch.com/2022/01/14/the-ftc-is-reportedly-probing-metas-vr-business-for-antitrust-violations/?tpcc=tcplusfacebook
Following news that the FTC’s antitrust suit against Meta cleared a critical hurdle earlier this week, the agency is apparently also taking a sharp interest in the company’s VR business.
Bloomberg reports that the FTC and multiple state attorneys general are probing Meta’s virtual reality division for “potential anti-competitive practices.” New York reportedly leads the state-level investigation, which has been chatting up outside software developers who make apps for Meta’s VR experience.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/12/investors-are-paying-millions-for-virtual-land-in-the-metaverse.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.fool.com/investing/2022/01/10/could-shiba-inu-be-a-monster-metaverse-winner/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.foodnavigator.com/Article/2022/01/07/Why-the-metaverse-will-matter-to-the-food-industry-in-2022-and-other-megatrends-to-watch
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.deccanherald.com/business/technology/whats-a-food-metaverse-1058124.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Metaverses with top in-house rules will be the most successful ones as people look for where to live their best virtual lives, a crypto boss says
https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/metaverse-crypto-regulations-best-platforms-virtual-reality-successful-laws-2022-1
Tomi Engdahl says:
José Adorno / 9to5Mac:
Gurman: Apple’s headset will likely cost $2,000+ and have two CPUs, one on par with the M1 Pro, two 8K displays, and an interchangeable prescription lens option
Apple’s AR/VR headset could be priced above $2,000, feature M1 Pro-like performance
https://9to5mac.com/2022/01/16/apples-ar-vr-headset-could-be-priced-above-2000-feature-m1-pro-like-performance/
A Friday report indicated that Apple was having trouble with its rumored AR/VR headset due to overheating, camera, and software challenges, which could make the company delay its plans to unveil its Mixed Reality headset this year. Now, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman is back with some more tidbits regarding the product.
In previous reports, Gurman had indicated that Apple’s AR/VR headset will be “pricey.” Although analysts were predicting the product will cost around $3,000, Bloomberg’s journalist says in his latest Power On newsletter that Apple has discussed price points above $2,000.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Meta’s Developing and ‘Ethical Framework’ for the Use of Virtual Influencers
Published Jan. 16, 2022
By Andrew Hutchinson
Content and Social Media Manager
https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/metas-developing-and-ethical-framework-for-the-use-of-virtual-influencer/617239/
With the rise of digital avatars, and indeed, fully digital characters that have evolved into genuine social media influencers in their own right, online platforms now have an obligation to establish clear markers as to what’s real and what’s not, and how such creations can be used in their apps.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/15/nba-games-in-virtual-reality-have-potential-heres-what-watching-one-is-like.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hannah Murphy / Financial Times:
Analysis: Meta has filed dozens of patents to monetize its metaverse, including a virtual store with sponsored items, eye and face tracking in headsets, more
https://www.ft.com/content/76d40aac-034e-4e0b-95eb-c5d34146f647
Tomi Engdahl says:
Lauren Thomas / CNBC:
Recent filings from Walmart, including seven US trademark applications, indicate a possible plan to develop and offer virtual goods, NFTs, and a cryptocurrency
Walmart is quietly preparing to enter the metaverse
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/16/walmart-is-quietly-preparing-to-enter-the-metaverse.html
Walmart appears to be venturing into the metaverse with plans to create its own cryptocurrency and collection of NFTs.
The big-box retailer filed several new trademarks late last month that indicate its intent to make and sell virtual goods.
In a separate filing, the company said it would offer users a virtual currency, as well as non-fungible tokens, or NFTs.
Walmart appears to be venturing into the metaverse with plans to create its own cryptocurrency and collection of nonfungible tokens, or NFTs.
The big-box retailer filed several new trademarks late last month that indicate its intent to make and sell virtual goods, including electronics, home decorations, toys, sporting goods and personal care products. In a separate filing, the company said it would offer users a virtual currency, as well as NFTs.
According to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Walmart filed the applications on Dec. 30.
“They’re super intense,” said Josh Gerben, a trademark attorney. “There’s a lot of language in these, which shows that there’s a lot of planning going on behind the scenes about how they’re going to address cryptocurrency, how they’re going to address the metaverse and the virtual world that appears to be coming or that’s already here.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
”Pupil movements, body poses and nose scrunching are among the flickers of human expression that Meta wants to harvest in building its metaverse, according to an analysis of dozens of patents recently granted to Facebook’s parent company.”
Facebook patents reveal how it intends to cash in on metaverse
https://www.ft.com/content/76d40aac-034e-4e0b-95eb-c5d34146f647?shareType=nongift
Meta hopes to use tiny human expressions to create virtual world of personalised ads
Tomi Engdahl says:
Land Prices Surge on Cardano Metaverse Project Pavia
https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2022/01/17/land-prices-surge-on-cardano-metaverse-project-pavia/
Over 60% of 100,000 virtual land plots have sold on Pavia, with the remaining set to go under the hammer later this quarter.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The investment more than doubles its previous valuation and brings its total capital raised to almost $700 million. It plans to use the money for acquisitions, product development and licensing additional intellectual property. https://trib.al/EwgvBnA
Blockchain Gaming Company Animoca Brands Raises $360 Million In Quest To Build ‘The Open Metaverse’
https://www.forbes.com/sites/justinbirnbaum/2022/01/17/blockchain-gaming-company-animoca-brands-raises-360-million-in-quest-to-build-the-open-metaverse/?sh=787a6e4f4f37&utm_source=ForbesMainFacebook&utm_campaign=socialflowForbesMainFB&utm_medium=social
Tomi Engdahl says:
VR Headset That Feeds You Candy
This will deliver on the 4D experience in the metaverse
https://www.facebook.com/GeekCulture/videos/vr-headset-that-feeds-you-candy/1329394027524717/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Coinbase Plans ‘Identity Tools’ to Access the Metaverse, Store Your NFTs
Coinbase has big plans for the metaverse, but it may have to be careful that it doesn’t come to be seen as a Facebook-like overseer of Web3.
https://decrypt.co/88576/coinbase-metaverse-identity-tools-nfts
In brief
Coinbase’s CEO published a blog post outlining the company’s vision for the metaverse.
Coinbase wants to help users manage their metaverse identity with avatars and NFTs.
On Thursday, Coinbase’s CEO Brian Armstrong and an executive in charge of identity tools, Alex Reeve, published a blog post that set out the company’s vision of the metaverse and its plans to operate there.
How Coinbase thinks about the Metaverse
https://blog.coinbase.com/how-coinbase-thinks-about-the-metaverse-16d8070f4841
These days, everyone is talking about the Metaverse.
Primitive Metaverse platforms are selling virtual land for millions of dollars. Billions more are being invested in Metaverse startups. And Mark Zuckerberg recently renamed his entire company to reflect a focus on building the Metaverse.
The term “Metaverse” is not new. It was first used by author Neal Stephenson in his 1992 novel “Snow Crash.” But as technology improves, and we spend more of our lives online, more people are starting to think about what’s next — and how the future might revolutionize both the digital and the physical world.
Recently, our team put together an internal presentation about the Metaverse, who’s working on it, and how crypto will help make it real. I thought the presentation was well done, so I’m sharing most of the slides here.
Defining the Metaverse
At Coinbase, our thinking about the Metaverse has been heavily influenced by venture capitalist and writer Matthew Ball (you can find his work here). Like Matt, we define the Metaverse as:
The future of the internet: A massively-scaled, persistent, interactive, and interoperable real-time platform comprised of interconnected virtual worlds where people can socialize, work, transact, play, and create.
The earliest version of the internet, Web1, was about accessing static web pages. Web2 is about interactive, social experiences within closed ecosystems. And Web3 will be about digital ownership within an open, decentralized environment.
The Metaverse is the distant evolution of Web3. In its most complete form, it will be a series of decentralized, interconnected virtual worlds with a fully functioning economy where people can do just about anything they can do in the physical world.
Importantly, the Metaverse is not the same thing as gaming (an activity you can do within the Metaverse), or virtual reality (a way of interfacing with the Metaverse). It’s also not the same as Web3 (a distant ancestor of the Metaverse).
While the full Metaverse is years away, it will rest on a foundation that’s being built right now.
Like the internet today, the Metaverse will rely on hardware and infrastructure, tools and standards, and regulatory frameworks — most of which haven’t been fully developed yet.
But unlike today’s internet, there won’t just be one Metaverse. There will be many Metaverses, and they’ll be interconnected. That’s why it will be important for any Metaverse to be trustless — meaning people can interact directly without going through an intermediary — and permissionless — meaning anyone can participate without authorization from a governing body.
To achieve this, the Metaverse will rely on blockchain to transfer identity and ownership across virtual worlds, attestation to verify them, and payment rails that allow people buy, sell, and earn income within a decentralized economy.
The Metaverse ecosystem is still very much in its infancy: emergent and yet to be defined. That’s its beauty too. There’s a heavy focus on gaming, mostly because it’s easy to monetize. But we’re beginning to see glimpses of what the future might look like.
Identity
Identity determines who you are, what you can access and do, and how you’re represented across the worlds of the Metaverse.
In the Metaverse, our identities will have to include an easy login, a unique ID, an avatar that represents us, metadata that follows us, and attestation so we can prove who we are. Here’s where each of those pieces stands today:
Where Coinbase comes in
At Coinbase, we want to help pull all the pieces of identity together — essentially creating an identity on-ramp into the Metaverse.
That’s the idea behind our work with ENS, which makes it possible to create a unique username NFT that resolves to a wallet. Eventually, this will allow users to carry a unique ID across different worlds in the Metaverse.
We’re also working on technology that will allow you to purchase your avatar, define and maintain your public profile, and establish trust. And we’re working on features like Sign in with [Eth/Coinbase], which could allow users to sign into every app in the Metaverse.
Tomi Engdahl says:
This is a virtual hellscape.
NFT Bro’s ‘Metaverse’ Rave Looks Boring, Dead
https://kotaku.com/nft-crypto-metaverse-decentraland-party-concert-1848393089?utm_campaign=Kotaku&utm_content=1642704544&utm_medium=SocialMarketing&utm_source=facebook
Welcome to Decentraland, a virtual hell filled with crypto bros in bad avatars vaguely milling to low-quality music
Decentraland is a 3D online virtual world that is built around the minting, buying, and selling of NFT items and digital land. It’s technically a game, but it seems about as fun as hanging out in a doctor’s office. So earlier today, when an NFT-lovin’ CTO shared a clip of this boring world and one of its odd, dead-looking raves, the internet reacted as you would expect, collectively dunking on the terrible-looking simulacrum of a party. The tweet’s ratio is actually incredible, approaching 20:1 retweets to likes.
But there’s so much wrong in the clip tweeted by self-described “#NFT enthusiast” Alex Moss. For one thing, I’ve never been to a rave or concert where people don’t move or dance. Instead, in the metaverse, everyone is just standing near each other like creepy robots. There even seems to be a distinct lack of dancing emotes, a thing that has existed in other online games for well over two decades now.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The word metaverse is being thrown around a lot in the wake of Microsoft’s purchase of Activision Blizzard for the Xbox brand.
https://trib.al/kB33EO8
Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard Buy Is Not A ‘Metaverse Bet’ | Paul Tassi | Forbes Games
https://m.youtube.com/watch?utm_campaign=socialflowForbesMainFB&utm_source=ForbesMainFacebook&utm_medium=social&v=DWQTgjO70BM&feature=youtu.be
Tomi Engdahl says:
Kutaragi doesn’t like VR headsets either: “simply annoying.”
Creator of PlayStation ‘can’t see the point’ in the metaverse
By Rich Stanton published 2 days ago
https://www.pcgamer.com/creator-of-playstation-cant-see-the-point-in-the-metaverse/?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_medium=social
“You would rather be a polished avatar than your real self?”
Ken Kutaragi was the driving force behind Sony’s entry into videogames, and led the teams that created the original PlayStation, as well as the PS2, PS3, and PSP. He left the PlayStation business in 2007, though stuck around in honorary roles at Sony for a few more years, and now runs a robotics outfit called Ascent.
Needless to say this focus seems to align with one of the tech industry’s favourite buzzwords of the moment: But Kutaragi is no fan of the metaverse.
“Being in the real world is very important, but the metaverse is about making quasi-real in the virtual world, and I can’t see the point of doing it. You would rather be a polished avatar instead of your real self? That’s essentially no different from anonymous messageboard sites.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Metaverse, The End Of Nuclear Power And Tested Valuations: Forbes Europe Predictions For 2022: https://trib.al/CNrKOy8
Tomi Engdahl says:
Get in, nerds, we’re going to the metaverse
https://techcrunch.com/2022/01/22/get-in-nerds-were-going-to-the-metaverse/?tpcc=tcplusfacebook
Tomi Engdahl says:
‘We Met in Virtual Reality’ finds love in the metaverse
The social VR future is already here in VRChat.
https://lm.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.engadget.com%2Fwe-met-in-virtual-reality-review-sundance-vrchat-234048235.html&h=AT3Q5Z02eWyIE2XDtp7ku3gQ-Xz4FkUGNxlwhpzpO4CZvz_t2qq_-Y632NQSR38gwgB8cI8WwkulzMxbhyTjGepfp_LE3w_6HkcFFamq-6BG8BsSAvrDblwGuKyRVJNLug
Tomi Engdahl says:
Shiba inu developers unveil plans to enter the metaverse with their ‘shibverse’ project
https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/shiba-inu-crypto-metaverse-blockchain-virtual-reality-shibverse-memecoin-meta-2022-1
The team behind shiba inu announced its plans to create a metaverse on Twitter on Monday.
The shiba inu token rallied on Tuesday, lifted by dip-buying along with the rest of the crypto market.
This is the latest metaverse project to be announced as analysts predict it could become an $8 trillion market.
The developers of shiba inu offered a first sneak peak of their metaverse project on Monday, posting an image from their very own “shibverse” on Twitter, triggering a rally in the meme cryptocurrency on Tuesday.
Shiba inu rebounded along with other altcoins in a broad crypto recovery. It was last up 9% at $0.00002105, up for the first time in three days, although it still held near this week’s three-month lows.
The team touted their plans for a metaverse back in November in a blog post by developer Shytoshi Kusama. “I believe for a ‘metaverse’ to be more than a bent infinity symbol, and a way to extract your data, it must provide real value to users and to do so requires a certain foundation that is built prior to the release of the technology,” Kusama wrote.
Tomi Engdahl says:
‘We Met in Virtual Reality’ finds love in the metaverse
The social VR future is already here in VRChat.
https://lm.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.engadget.com%2Fwe-met-in-virtual-reality-review-sundance-vrchat-234048235.html&h=AT0s88D60XXeyKXw_-qV3yMQ4cUcApL0k8XwWFJYdRblxZham6-NMTwDRjYRtp2NPPptSUas2qjOaNvJX_J2LP9a_ujJRGWvFLo9fSxUqEgPY6xUsvccmyOYFYa6sE3A3g
Mark Zuckerberg’s vision of a sanitized, hypercapitalist metaverse will likely never be as compelling or idiosyncratic as VRChat, the virtual reality community that’s been home to anime fans, Furries and a slew of other sub-cultures since 2014. That’s my main takeaway from We Met in Virtual Reality, the first documentary filmed entirely in VRChat, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival today.
There’s no chance Zuck’s metaverse would let people wear trademarked avatars without paying a ton, attend exotic clubs to receive (or give) virtual lapdances, or allow users to build whatever the hell they want. VRChat, as portrayed by director Joe Hunting, is basically a proto-metaverse where anything is possible. And for many, it has served as a crucial social hub during the pandemic, a place where they can forget about the world, relax with friends and maybe find love.
But of course, that’s been the nature of practically every online community. We’re social animals — people have always been able to connect with each other over BBS, IRC, Usenet and the plethora of forums and chat services that populated the early internet. I spent most of the ’90s hanging out in anime and gaming chat rooms, the sorts of places that today’s connected youth would probably find quaint. Still, the people I met there helped me survive the worst parts of middle and high school. Those relationships, and the internet itself, shaped me into who I am (for better or worse).
Tomi Engdahl says:
Derrek Lee / Android Central:
Meta rebrands Oculus Quest as Meta Quest, leading to criticism on social media; the rebrand was originally announced in October — “Meta Quest” is just so fetch. — What you need to know — Meta changes the social media accounts of its VR brand to Meta Quest.
Meta doubles down on Oculus Quest name change and everyone hates it
“Meta Quest” is just so fetch.
https://www.androidcentral.com/meta-quest-oculus-name-change
What you need to know
Meta changes the social media accounts of its VR brand to Meta Quest.
The change follows Meta’s company rebrand that was announced in late 2021.
No one liked it then, no one likes it now.
Facebook, or Meta, as it now likes to be called, is going through with the rebranding of its popular Oculus Quest 2 VR headset, changing the beloved name to “Meta Quest.”
A cursory glance at all of the Quest’s renamed social media accounts will show the same meme highlighting the decision between Oculus and Meta Quest. Probably because Meta finds it amusing to poke fun at our emotions and lighten the mood in an attempt to get us to go along with the name change. Well, Meta was wrong.
The response on social media has shown that fans are anything but amused, with people criticizing the move as a betrayal of the brand, with some asking why the company can’t just keep the Oculus name under the Meta brand, similar to what it does with its other products like Instagram and WhatsApp. Others simply poke fun at it.
Our Nick Sutrich points this out as a possible reason for the rebranding as well, explaining that it acts as a first step towards decoupling the best VR headset from Facebook. He highlights other moves the company is making, like removing the Facebook login requirement. However, he notes that Meta will take more than a name change to clean up its reputation.
Not to mention, Meta is throwing away a lot of search traffic in the process
Tomi Engdahl says:
“We want to make sure this industry develops, without getting ‘Zucked-up,’” the fund said.
A new ETF wants to invest in everything related to the metaverse — except Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta
https://lm.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftrib.al%2F5Yok4rF&h=AT11dm3WfLBUoswgreBaLn7Isg6E9P6-QJqwvPaWk4yiqWIkbIxvqr82YOI2oC2MdXymo1BEFRcyMtFzE4RPgOBDe8mHuBMMoPz6JxX8Sk80BIsfalSIzYgc5ifWc7MNbQ
A metaverse-focused ETF is not just theoretically against Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta — it’s also shorting it.
Called the Subversive Metaverse ETF, the fund launched under the symbol “PUNK” on Thursday.
“We want to make sure this industry develops, without getting ‘Zucked-up,’” its portfolio manager said.
A punky new exchange-traded fund wants to invest in everything related to the red-hot metaverse — but not Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta.
The former Facebook has run into a lot of resistance from crypto die-hards as it stakes out its turf in the metaverse, and even Hollywood star Keanu Reeves has spoken up.
Given that, the creators of the Subversive Metaverse ETF believe the tech giant just doesn’t make a good poster boy for the emerging sector.
“Mark and his team are not the best custodians of our digital futures,” he said.
The actively managed Subversive fund, which launched Thursday in the US, tracks globally listed stocks in companies involved in metaverse infrastructure and applications. It’s listed on CBOE’s BZX exchange with the ticker symbol “PUNK,” in a reference to the popular CryptoPunk NFT collections.
Keanu Reeves — who holds cryptocurrency himself — said in December: “Can we just not have metaverse be, like, invented by Facebook?”
Global metaverse-related ETFs have grown to over $2 billion since Meta’s rebrand, with most products launching only in recent months, according to Bloomberg. Currently leading is the Roundhill Ball Metaverse ETF, which manages about $822 million in assets.
“We want to make sure this industry develops, without getting ‘Zucked-up’ from those who see the true potential of this space.”
Millions have been flowing rapidly into the metaverse industry, and Microsoft in January acquired Activision Blizzard for $69 billion in a gigantic metaverse bet.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Meta Unwisely Kills Off The Oculus Name For VR Headsets Once And For All
https://lm.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Fpaultassi%2F2022%2F01%2F27%2Fmeta-unwisely-kills-off-the-oculus-name-for-vr-headsets-once-and-for-all%2F%3Fsh%3D2a24c36230f5&h=AT0315c9wkeAw8nM1syeJP229RWYLI_r15CbM0PirEGR1AtEUxPFDnAnuKb1h_4dNikUJVVT4Ln_zQbp23i4xJu7WjZPfsTLJZTZPZyMr-4GOaYmBZNN293HpdZSyfxkww
Tomi Engdahl says:
The last year saw the metaverse go from literary text rumination to limitless tech reality.
https://trib.al/WnYiSi1
The Future Of The Metaverse: What 2022 Has In Store For The Immersive Digital World
https://lm.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftrib.al%2FWnYiSi1&h=AT1CuqdE2IVMU55K-zjr6mZiLl4eD4v-uVZyrsdcKlYk-XTbvObRhGmkTNElhyq-Os-hkbYxl-LL5rxLahfP4u8eSnxFeovGEr3F-1rS6YTPImALYnKlTe5O39KogTRviA
The last year saw the metaverse go from literary text rumination to limitless tech reality. First referenced in a 1992 science fiction novel by Neal Stephenson and then picked up in other sci-fi settings like Ready Player One, the metaverse is an immersive, digital alternative to the physical world, where virtual avatars come together to work, pursue hobbies, shop, play, or otherwise gather to engage in online communities and explore the digital space. The term formally entered the mainstream realm when Facebook rebranded itself to Meta Platforms Inc. (now widely referred to as Meta) in October 2021 in an effort to leap beyond its social media roots and signal a broader agenda around “the next chapter of the Internet”.
The concept remains elusive to both onlookers and industry veterans, not least because the companies that are building the metaverse say it will take years and billions of dollars to realize. This new year, however, will already see the metaverse become more concrete, as it pushes to prove its promised potential. For the metaverse to mature to its next stage of development, players in the space will need to tackle three frontiers: securing skilled talent, making decisive investment moves, and pushing the boundaries on innovative experiences.
Tomi Engdahl says:
New York Times:
Current and former Meta employees say its move towards the metaverse has caused disruption and uncertainty, as some feel funnelled towards VR and VR initiatives
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/31/technology/facebook-meta-change.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
Speculation in the Metaverse Some giddy investors see gold in them thar virtual hills
https://spectrum.ieee.org/speculation-in-the-metaverse
In late November of 2021, a 6,090-square-foot (566 square-meter) parcel, located within the evocatively named “Fashion Street” district of an up-and-coming development called Decentraland sold for U.S. $2.43 million. You might imagine this lot was in downtown San Francisco, New York, or London. In fact, Decentraland is located nowhere. It’s an entirely a virtual place, part of the much-touted “metaverse.” This is what happens when the metaverse, digital currencies, and the madness of crowds collide.
First, consider the metaverse. It’s not new, and although it might be slightly more exciting with cheaper hardware and a trillion-dollar company pushing it as the new social medium, very little has changed in the metaverse since its first evocations (including my own) 30 years ago.
Rendering things has never been an issue within the metaverse. The big problem—which has stymied all attempts to solve it—involves rendering other people. It remains incredibly difficult to get even a second person into your corner of the metaverse, unless you’re happy communicating with cartoons.
Next, we come to digital currencies. Thirteen years after the mining of Bitcoin’s Genesis Block, the foundational concepts supporting such digital assets have diffused into adjacent areas of technology. The original use case for the blockchain, peer-to-peer payments, has expanded to include various applications for creating and managing digital scarcity, including the latest darling of this realm: the non-fungible token, or NFT.
In naming “NFT” as 2021’s Word of The Year, Collins Dictionary was preparing us for a future where all data can be wrapped, valued, and sold at auction.
Finally, the madness of crowds comes into play. History is rich in examples, from Tulip mania in Holland during the early 17th century
the dot-com bubble of the late 1990s, to the speculation in real estate that fueled the global financial crisis of 2007 and 2008. Indeed, an embarrassingly long list of such episodes demonstrates that when greed overwhelms reason, disaster ensues.
Surveying all the nothingness now for sale in the metaverse, speculators imagine trillions of dollars in value will accrue if they buy in early enough. That’s why a piece of virtual land—with nothing to distinguish it from any other virtual parcel, save someone’s say-so—can be sold for millions of dollars in digital currency. Everything inside the metaverse will be for sale, these investors reckon, and everyone will want the best stuff, including the virtual clothes
Perhaps someone should plant a field of tulip bulbs in the metaverse
Tomi Engdahl says:
Kim Lyons / The Verge:
Meta rolls out updated 3D avatars across Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram Stories in the US, Canada, and Mexico — It’s a step toward the company’s concept of the metaverse — Facebook parent company Meta is introducing 3D avatars to Instagram Stories and direct messages and updating …
Meta adds 3D avatars to Instagram Stories, with updates for Messenger and Facebook
It’s a step toward the company’s concept of the metaverse
https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/31/22910271/meta-3d-avatars-instagram-stories-messenger-facebook?scrolla=5eb6d68b7fedc32c19ef33b4
Facebook parent company Meta is introducing 3D avatars to Instagram Stories and direct messages and updating the avatars in Facebook and Messenger, the company announced Monday. People in the US, Canada, and Mexico can appear as their virtual selves in stickers, feed posts, Facebook profile pictures, and more across Meta’s platforms, including its Quest VR platform. The new avatars will include new facial shapes and assistive devices like cochlear implants, hearing aids, and wheelchairs to be more inclusive of users with disabilities, Aigerim Shorman, Meta’s general manager for avatars and identity, wrote in a blog post.
“Since revealing our long-term vision of the metaverse at Connect 2021, we’ve continued building out this next evolution of social technology, building towards a future where you can sit in the same room as loved ones who are actually thousands of miles away or work naturally with a talented team that spans the globe,” Shorman wrote.
The avatars further the company’s foray into the still mostly aspirational metaverse, which Shorman described in Monday’s announcement as an “interconnected digital world, one that bridges VR and AR but also more familiar platforms like your phone and computer.”
CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said the metaverse is a priority for the company
As part of its Metaverse preview, Meta showed demos of its Codec Avatars and real-time environment rendering at its Facebook Connect event in October, but the company stressed at the time that much of the work was still in the research stage.
Also on Monday, Meta introduced Super Bowl LVI-themed T-shirts for avatars across its platforms.
Amid the fluff, Meta showed an impressive demo of its Codec Avatars
It’s the one part of the presentation worth watching
https://www.theverge.com/2021/10/28/22751177/facebook-meta-codec-avatar-real-time-environment-rendering-neural-interface
Meta, the company formerly known as Facebook, held a presentation today where it announced its rebranding and showed off what it imagines the future of computing will look like — but amid all the fluff, it actually had some interesting tech demos. The first showed off its life-like Codex avatars and an environment for them to exist in, which the company says was rendered in real-time and reacted to real-world objects. Mark Zuckerberg also talked about the company’s work with neural interfaces that let you control a computer just by moving your fingers.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Meta brings 3D avatars to Instagram, rolls out new options for Facebook and Messenger
https://techcrunch.com/2022/01/31/meta-brings-3d-avatars-to-instagram-rolls-out-new-options-for-facebook-and-messenger/?tpcc=tcplusfacebook
Meta is bringing its 3D avatars to Instagram and is also rolling out updated avatars to Facebook and Messenger, the company announced on Monday. Users in the United States, Canada and Mexico can now show up as their virtual selves in stickers, feed posts, Facebook profile pictures and more.
Today’s update adds Cochlear implants and over-the-ear hearing aids in several colors on all platforms, including VR. The update also brings wheelchairs, which can appear in stickers on Facebook, in Messenger chats and in Instagram Stories and DMs. Meta is also improving the look of avatars by adjusting certain facial shapes to make them appear more authentic. The company says it plans to continue to add more items to the avatar editor.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Janko Roettgers / Protocol:
Startups have begun selling and renting out AR spaces tied to real-world addresses, raising questions about who should have the rights to a property’s AR layer
Who owns your address in AR? Probably not you.
https://www.protocol.com/entertainment/upland-augmented-reality-real-estate
One day, we will all don AR glasses, capable of serving up information geospatially tied to every house and place in our neighborhoods. But who will own and control these spatial AR layers?
It’s the stuff of nightmares: The other day, I found my property occupied by a stranger, who was renting it out, Airbnb style.
The good news: I’m OK. I wasn’t actually evicted from my own home — at least not in this world. Someone had acquired my property in Upland, a blockchain-powered game that allows people to buy, develop, rent out and sell virtual land parcels based on real-world property borders. It’s a bit like Monopoly, played on top of Google Maps, with virtual land speculation happening on a gamified version of the real world.
With bright and colorful imagery, and a goofy-looking llama as a mascot, Upland emphasizes that it’s all fun and games. That’s true for its economy as well, as most of its in-game transactions have little to no monetary value in the real world. The person who bought my property currently makes the equivalent of 4 cents a month in Upland’s in-game currency by renting it out to other players.
However, Upland has big ambitions, which include eventually expanding into AR, and providing its data via APIs to third-party developers who may one day be able to build their own game and nongame applications with it. And the company is not alone: A small but growing number of startups and crypto initiatives have begun selling and renting out AR spaces tied to real-world addresses. One day, these efforts could be key to telling your smart glasses which information to display as you look at a famous landmark, or even your neighbor’s home.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Arif Bacchus / OnMSFT.com:
Report: Microsoft scrapped plans for a HoloLens 3 in 2021, shifting instead to a mixed reality device with Samsung and leaving the HoloLens team “inflamed”
HoloLens 3 is dead and the team is “inflamed” with Microsoft partnership with Samsung on new headset, says report
https://www.onmsft.com/news/microsoft-hololens-3-is-dead-says-report
Microsoft turned heads when it first introduced HoloLens, and it even launched a second generation of the mixed reality headset back in 2020, but it looks as though the line might as well be dead. That’s all according to a report from Business Insider (paywalled) which highlights the state of disarray and uncertainty within the HoloLens Team.
Per the report, citing insiders, Microsoft has scrapped its plans for what would have ended up as the HoloLens 3 towards the middle of last year. It also has apparently agreed to partner with Samsung on a new mixed reality device, causing the HoloLeans team to feel “inflamed.” Even worse, sources say to the publication that Microsoft is hesitant to give up its own HoloLens display technology, and Samsung apparently told Microsoft that it’d rather better for Microsoft to make the software and them the hardware.
Even with that so, Business Insider claims that it spoke to 20 employees from the HoloLens team, all of which talked about “described confusion and strategic uncertainty.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Janko Roettgers / Protocol:
Meta breaks out its AR/VR-focused Reality Labs unit, reporting 2021 revenue of $2.3B, up from $1.1B in 2020, and losses of $10.2B in 2021, up from $6.6B in 2020 — Meta’s AR and VR ambitions come with a significant price tag: Meta’s Reality Labs unit lost $10.2 billion last year …
Meta lost $10 billion on AR and VR in 2021
https://www.protocol.com/bulletins/meta-vr-revenue-2021-losses
This was the first time the company broke out AR and VR revenue and losses as part of a new “Reality Labs” business unit.
Meta’s AR and VR ambitions come with a significant price tag: Meta’s Reality Labs unit lost $10.2 billion last year, the company revealed as part of its Q4 2021 earnings report Wednesday. In 2020, the unit lost around $6.6 billion.
Revenue for Meta’s AR and VR businesses amounted to $2.3 billion for 2021, compared to $1.1 billion in 2020. This was the first time the company broke out AR and VR revenue and losses as part of a new “Reality Labs” business unit.
Meta Reality Labs numbers include revenue generated with both augmented and virtual reality hardware and software sales, and the company didn’t reveal any sales numbers for its Quest VR headset Wednesday. However, Q4 numbers suggest that Meta did sell a lot of Quests during the holiday quarter: Revenue for the quarter was $877 million, compared to $717 for the 2020 holiday quarter.
“I’m encouraged by the progress we made this past year in a number of important growth areas like Reels, commerce, and virtual reality, and we’ll continue investing in these and other key priorities in 2022 as we work towards building the metaverse,” Mark Zuckerberg was quoted saying in the company’s earnings release.
Altogether, Meta generated $33.7 billion revenue in Q4 of 2021, compared to $28 billion during the same quarter a year before. Net income for the quarter was $10 billion, but the company warned that its ad business would be negatively affected by lower prices and a shift toward less-profitable video formats this quarter.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Those losses for 2021 are in line with what Zuckerberg said last year he expected to invest in Reality Labs.
Mark Zuckerberg’s ‘metaverse’ business lost more than $10 billion last year, and the losses keep growing
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/02/02/meta-reality-labs-reports-10-billion-loss.html?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_medium=Social&utm_content=Tech&utm_source=Facebook#Echobox=1643842811
Meta revealed financials for its “metaverse” business for the first time.
Reality Labs reported massive, growing losses — more than $10 billion in 2021 alone.
The losses show Facebook is spending massive amounts of money to find its next stage of growth.
Building the metaverse isn’t cheap.
Meta, Facebook’s parent company, revealed, for the first time, the financials of its Reality Labs division in its fourth-quarter 2021 earnings report Wednesday.
That’s the segment of the company tasked with building CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s vision for the metaverse. It also includes revenue from hardware, such as the company’s Meta Quest virtual reality headset.
So, how’s Zuckerberg’s big pivot to the metaverse performing so far?
As expected, Reality Labs reported massive, growing losses — more than $10 billion in 2021 alone.
Take a look at the net losses for Meta’s Reality Labs for the full years 2019 through 2021:
2019: Net loss of $4.5 billion on $501 million in revenue
2020: Net loss of $6.62 billion on $1.14 billion in revenue
2021: Net loss of $10.19 billion on $2.27 billion in revenue
The losses for 2021 are in line with what Zuckerberg said last year he expected to invest in Reality Labs. And the losses will likely only get bigger this year. Meta’s CFO said on the company’s earnings call Wednesday he expects operating losses to “increase meaningfully” in 2022.
The losses also put a drag on Meta’s overall profitability for the year. The company would have had more than $56 billion in profit for all of last year had it not been for Reality Labs.
Let’s really put that in context: Reality Labs lost $3.3 billion in the fourth quarter of last year. Alphabet’s Other Bets segment, which includes all those wild projects such as self-driving cars and health-care technology, lost about half that, $1.45 billion, during the same period.
The questions now become: What is Meta spending all that money on? And when does the spending spree stop? The company’s CFO attributed $4.2 billion of the losses to employee costs, research and development, and costs of items sold.
Reality Labs’ financials also show Meta’s advantage in building the metaverse. It effectively has unlimited amounts of money to spend on these projects, unlike smaller metaverse rivals such as Roblox or Epic Games.
Plus, Meta could have a decade or more to pull it off before investors get impatient. Executives have already said it could take up to 15 years to fully realize their vision.
Meta missed profit estimates, thanks in part to those Reality Labs losses.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Mozilla shuts down Firefox Reality, its web browser launched in 2018 for Oculus and other AR/VR headsets, and directs users to Igalia’s upcoming browser Wolvic
Mozilla is shutting down its VR web browser, Firefox Reality
https://techcrunch.com/2022/02/03/mozilla-is-shutting-down-its-vr-web-browser-firefox-reality/
A top VR web browser is closing down. Today, Mozilla announced it’s shutting down its Firefox Reality browser — the four-year-old browser built for use in virtual reality environments. The technology had allowed users to access the web from within their VR headset, doing things like visiting URLs, performing searches and browsing both the 2D and 3D internet using your VR hand controllers, instead of a mouse.
Firefox Reality first launched in fall 2018 and has been available on Viveport, Oculus, Pico and HoloLens platforms through their various app stores. While capable of surfing the 2D web, the expectation was that users would largely use the new technology to browse and interact with the web’s 3D content, like 360-degree panoramic images and videos, 3D models and WebVR games, for example. But in an announcement published today, Mozilla says the browser will be removed from the stores where it’s been available for download in the “coming weeks.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Richard Waters / Financial Times:
Interview with Satya Nadella on Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard acquisition, preparing for the metaverse, the future of gaming and workplaces, and more
https://t.co/UuR77L1AFZ