You might have heard that Facebook Inc have changed their corporate name to “Meta”. What does this really mean? Is it just a change of corporate name? Facebook Inc, now Meta, is a company who owns social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp and other subsidiaries such as Oculus VR (Virtual reality technology company), Onovo (Mobile Web Analytics) and Belugo (Messaging services company). Even though there have been a change of name but the names of the apps they build remain the same
Why the change of name?
A tweet from “Meta” account reads “Announcing @Meta — the Facebook company’s new name. Meta is helping to build the metaverse, a place where we’ll play and connect in 3D. Welcome to the next chapter of social connection”
The name change, which was announced by Zuckerberg during the company's virtual reality and augmented reality conference Facebook Connect, aligns with its growing focus on the metaverse, which refers to efforts to combine virtual and augmented reality technologies in a new online realm. Simply, metaverse is a virtual world where you can just sit at one corner of your room and have virtual interaction with other people as if they are in same room with you.
Think of it as an embodied Internet that you’re inside of rather than looking at. This digital realm wouldn’t be limited to devices: You as an avatar (virtual character) could walk around in cyberspace similar to how people maneuver the physical world, allowing users to interact with people on the other side of the planet as if they’re in the same room. The company believe that in the metaverse, you can walk into a virtual store as an avatar (virtual character) and order food, clothing, accessories etc which will be delivered to you right at your door steps in the physical world.
Interesting isn’t it? So Facebook Inc now Meta, want to build a virtual world like this. Now instead of interacting with text, video calls and pictures, they want to create a virtual platform where you will have some sort of physical interaction with relatives far from you as if they are in the same room with you. Facebook for years has described its mission as connecting people online, whether it’s through virtual reality, groups on the social networking app or commerce business. Zuckerberg argues that the metaverse is part of the company’s natural evolution, allowing people to move between virtual reality, augmented reality, personal computers and traditional smartphones.
The company intent to create this metaverse using a Virtual Reality Headset. “Meta” owns Oculus, a company which provide virtual reality technology for gaming and simulations. So users who want to enter the metaverse would have to acquire for themselves an Oculus VR headset, a smartphone and an internet connection.
Although some people find the metaverse very interesting phenomenon yet some critics think that this might drive young people to spend even more time online disregarding their physical world and social relations. Share your thought with us in the comment section.
No comments