Facebook is changing its name and we will all get to live in the Metaverse. 

What is the Metaverse you may ask?

According to Definition.com it is,

“Metaverse
The Metaverse is a collective virtual shared space, created by the convergence of virtually enhanced physical reality and physically persistent virtual space, including the sum of all virtual worlds, augmented reality, and the internet. The word metaverse is a portmanteau of the prefix “meta” and “universe” and is typically used to describe the concept of a future iteration of the internet, made up of persistent, shared, 3D virtual spaces linked into a perceived virtual universe. The term was coined in Neal Stephenson’s 1992 science fiction novel Snow Crash, where humans, as avatars, interact with each other and software agents, in a three-dimensional space that uses the metaphor of the real world. Stephenson coined the term to describe a virtual reality-based successor to the Internet. Concepts similar to the Metaverse have appeared under a variety of names in the cyberpunk genre of fiction as far back as 1981 in the novella True Names.”

Wow, what a long definition. 

Basically think of it as being like the movie “Ready Player One”. Facebook wants us to all live in a virtual world and they are the interstate highway that allows us to get to everywhere and everywhere is right. Retailers are working to build their virtual world so you can buy real things in a virtual store and have it shipped to your house. Video game companies will have gateways that you can “gather” up with your friends and you all “walk” together through Epic’s Fortnite portal to go play together. 

Facebook wants to be at the forefront of that. So it has announced a new API (Application Programming Interface) that they are calling OpenXR. Previously all of the virtual reality headset makers developed proprietary standards and games they made would only work on their headset. The same with Facebook’s $19 Billion (US) purchase of Oculus a few years back. The investment hasn’t paid for itself yet but with this move to an open standard, Facebook is wanting other headset vendors to join their plans. But do we want Facebook to be the gateway to the future? 

Facebook has pushed the ideas of virtual workspaces such as Horizon Workrooms, where you and your co-workers avatars can join to meet and collaborate, or Horizon Worlds which is essentially Facebook’s portal for gaming and watching concerts. Facebook is paying $10 billion (US) this year to keep building out the world. 

Are you ready for a virtual world? Facebook thinks anyone 30 years old and under will be. Let’s see.

Facebook is also renaming themselves, or actually they are going to create a parent company and put all of their other entities underneath this. I joked that Facebook should call their parent company, The Oasis (from Ready Player One) or buy out Second Life and use it. 

Here are links to the news that added to this article.

https://www.definitions.net/definition/METAVERSE

https://www.vrfocus.com/2021/10/facebook-encourages-creators-to-horizon-with-10m-fund/

Oh, and Amazon Alexa makes a play for your next hospital stay. It could work.

https://hitconsultant.net/2019/02/25/cedars-sinai-smart-hospital-room-pilot-alexa/#.YXmX4NbMKCd

https://zephyrnet.com/facebook-to-create-10000-european-jobs-to-build-its-metaverse/

https://www.khronos.org/api/index_2017/openxr

https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/20/tech/facebook-name-change/index.html

https://www.ksl.com/article/50268561/what-is-the-metaverse-how-the-internet-in-3d-will-work–maybe