VR News and Info

Facebook renamed to Meta, changing from social network to a VR company; how it affects 360 and VR

Facebook renamed to Meta; becomes primarily a VR company
Facebook renamed to Meta; becomes primarily a VR company

At Facebook Connect 2021, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the Facebook company would be renamed to Meta and would be primarily a VR company rather than a social media company.  Here’s what it means for the 360 and VR industry.

At his Facebook Connect 2021 Keynote, Zuckerberg did not launch a new VR headset, disappointing many who were expecting the Oculus Quest Pro, but he announced a new vision for the company.  Instead of revolving around the Facebook social network, his company would be focused on creating the metaverse, a virtual world where people can be present with each other through VR and AR, which Zuckerberg believes is the next step in the evolution of the internet.

This sounds a bit abstract, so here’s a concrete example: instead of going to a physical office, you could instead wear a VR headset and be at your virtual office, where you can see your colleagues and interact with them.  Going to your office this way saves commuting time but also makes it possible to do things that would not be possible in the real world, such as to see a house you designed in dollhouse view and also be able to enter the house as well.

This vision has huge implications for the 360 and VR industry because instead of being merely creative artists, we will be among the first creators and builders of this metaverse.  On a more practical level, I expect that Meta will pour its considerable resources into creating this metaverse, and I think some of those investments will trickle down to 360 and VR creators.  For example, Meta could have grants for creators, or could facilitate ways of monetizing our content such as through NFT transactions.

It will be interesting to see how quickly the metaverse can grow.  Regardless, this is a welcome development for the 360 and VR communities.

About the author

Mic Ty

5 Comments

Click here to post a comment

Leave a Reply to Mic Ty Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • This is good that Facebook, is looking in this) this is really interesting future) to go that way) something could from films) this is going growing up)

  • Seems like they are more interested in AR than VR. Sorry but AR leaves me pretty cold as it’s all about staring at your phone while looking straight ahead, not something I think will make society better.

    • The Project Cambria headset has mixed reality capability. They are also working on AR glasses codenamed Project Nazare.

  • What is interesting is that FaceBook just took and used the name when it is already the registered name of an existing company! The name was just taken! The offer made to the original Meta company was poor, and the offer declined. FaceBook just used it anyway. Wait for the court case. Even with legal resources, I can not see FaceBook winning when it is a clear violation of trade name.
    It will be interesting if FaceBook have to put their tails between their legs and find a new name or go back to the old name. Besides, come February 21, 2022 when Truth Social is launched, FaceBook is likely to cop an absolute hammering. Makes sense that they would be looking to get out of the currently lucrative social media sphere-competition and their own scandals could sink the current FaceBook platform. With luck, mainstream media also collapses with the launch of an uncensored platform.
    We live in very interesting times.

    • Hi Jim. If the name Meta was copyrighted, then you’d be correct. But this issue is trademark, not copyright. The existing company is called Meta PC, afaik. A judge would have to decide whether consumers might think that the Facebook “Meta” brand might be confused with “Meta PC company”. If there is no confusion (for example, no one has heard of this Meta PC company before), then probably Facebook would win. That’s probably why Facebook wasn’t worried about getting the consent of this Meta PC company. Besides that, I don’t think they have the resources to litigate this against Facebook. They are overestimating their position, or they haven’t talked to a lawyer.