Does a $10B Zuckerberg Investment Mean a Metaverse Acceleration?
As part of Meta Connect 2022, CEO Mark Zuckerberg discussed how avatars would enhance video chats by replicating the uncanny characteristics of human workers.
Their colors and styles would be customized according to a person’s skin tone, hairstyle, and outfit preferences. According to Zuckerberg, you and your coworkers’ avatars would chat in some “third mode” between fully switched on and completely switched off in an entirely virtual roundtable meeting.
A whopping $10B was spent by the Meta (formerly Facebook) CEO last year to build out the Metaverse. Metaverse, according to Zuckerberg, is an online space where people and experiences can be shared. The highlight of the CEO’s keynote was the unveiling of Meta’s digital chat avatar. Equally significant, he revealed that Meta’s strategic partnerships were moving forward. A noteworthy collaboration was with Microsoft’s chairman and CEO, Satya Nadella. Nadella plans shortly to bring Microsoft apps to Meta Horizon Workrooms. These are the VR rooms somewhere in the Metaverse where employees’ avatars can assemble virtually to collaborate and create.
Meta could be making a solid play to diversify its business. Zuckerberg alluded to this fact during his keynote, but Intelligencer’s John Herrman believes the reason behind the Metaverse push could be something entirely different. Herrmann writes that the true purpose behind this extra force behind Metaverse creation could be to assuage the fears of executives who seem to be at their wit’s end trying to police productivity over their remote workforce. Zuckerberg’s avatar initiative could be the perfect way to calm corporate executives. Executives are consistently angered by members of their teams that refuse to turn their cameras on during meetings,
The Fear is Real
As a result of a study by Microsoft, which surveyed more than 20,000 people, found that most bosses frequently question their remote employees’ productivity. Some take extreme measures to ensure it is enforced. The New York Times will tell you that in the US, companies track metrics to measure productivity. These metrics include active online time, the incidence of keyboard pauses, or how long it takes to author an email. It was reported that eight out of the ten most prominent companies in the US monitor their remote employees for productivity; some go as far as to monitor their keystrokes.
Experts are still determining what the future of the Metaverse may be. Many believe that our society could not cope with a full-scale 180-degree shift that adds ten pounds of technology to our heads for several hours a day. Kayley Fagan reported on Businessinsider.com that VR headsets could cause many problems if used excessively. These problems include spatial awareness issues, eye soreness, and major focusing issues with a touch of nausea on the side. And it gets uglier. The NY Post reported at the end of January 2022 that a German gamer successfully broke his neck with the headset simply by moving too intensely.
Cathy Hackl, a futurist and metaverse expert, feels that the virtual world will not catch on and become as all-encompassing as many others think. Hackl emphasized that corporate moments that hinge on a richer, more meaningful bonding experience, like onboarding a new employee, a company picnic, or a holiday celebration, are still best done in person. “Your company can’t treat you to a cocktail virtually,” she told Fortune.
Most experts recommend taking a 15-minute break every half hour.
Zuckerberg Believes in the Metaverse
The CEO of Meta believes that the Metaverse will help promote diversity, including disability representation. Zuckerberg’s excitement around the metaverse meetings, and a gesture of support from a tech big shot like Nadella, may speak to the truth behind this possible “productivity paranoia” controlling most executives.
Zuckerberg believes that most people will be immersed in the metaverse world in the next 10–12 years.
“We are committed to bringing this long-term vision to life, and we expect to increase our investments for the next several years,” the company wrote when they released their third-quarter earnings report. Facebook sees AR and VR as the core of its future business offering. It will be the hub of “the next generation of online social experiences.”
Facebook Reality Labs, its metaverse division that writes different types of computer software is tasked with creating AR and VR hardware, software, and content, it added about 10,000 new employees to its roster last year. It plans to add another 10,000 shortly.
Facebook’s Oculus Quest headset and Portal lineup of calling devices are already positioned as Facebook’s next grandiose thing. Zuckerberg wants Reality Labs to break out of the shadows of its predecessor and be judged separately on its own merits.
Conclusion
Mark Zuckerberg may dream of a digital mega-world where people can live, make a living, make new friends, and so much more. The future has yet to write what the Metaverse will become and how people will use it. Many believe it will become a model of dystopian living and never really get its footing in mainstream culture.
So many unanswered questions still need to be answered to tell how quickly the Metaverse will catch on. Will people spend too much time in the world? What will be the protocol for protecting children? When will costs come down to a place where everyone can own an AR device and gain access to the world?
All of those questions add up to what a long road for Zuckerberg and his team of maybe 20,000 at Facebook Reality Labs. However, no one denies that the Metaverse is a reality today. If Zuckerberg gets his way, we will all be strapped into a VR headset in a few years. The real question is, ‘then what happens?’
