Facebook | Goal | Do you remember the Metaverse? This is how the proposal that Mark Zuckerberg promoted four years ago reaches 2025

But by 2025, what remains of that proposal? Is a metaverse still viable?

Some ideas left by the Facebook Connect 2021 was the possibility of creating a virtual room with the feeling of presence, for which elements such as Horizon Home, Horizon World and an avatar were available. To make this possible, interoperability was targeted.

In terms of hardware, there was also talk of the creation of a virtual reality helmet, augmented reality glasses, even the possible creation of holograms. All this to create a parallel, immersive and virtual reality.

Manuel Santillán, professor and researcher at the University of Lima, points out that there has been a shift from enthusiasm to moderation and the proposal of Metaverso It remains a long-term proposition.

“By 2025, the Metaverse is emerging as a more realistic ecosystem focused on practical applications. The focus is no longer on a completely immersive parallel world, but on hybrid digital environments that complement real life, such as virtual offices, educational and consumer experiences”he indicated to The Commerce.

Meta points out on its website that there are three ways to access the Metaverso: virtual reality, augmented reality and smart glasses, and for this it now has the Meta Quest 3 headsets; in addition to other equipment: the smart glasses made in partnership with Ray-Ban, which includes an HD camera, capture button, microphone, speaker and interaction with MetaAI.

But this has not been enough.

There are some problems to overcome. For Santillan “The main technological challenges of the Metaverse consist of improving digital infrastructure (5G and 6G networks), reducing the cost and accessibility of hardware (virtual and augmented reality viewers)”.

And, although generative artificial intelligence (AI) has taken center stage in recent years, this technology can be beneficial for the aspirations of the Metaverse. “The convergence of these technologies will be key to their mass adoption and sustainability”he told this newspaper, among other facilities because it allows for the generation of more realistic environments, personalization of interactions through intelligent avatars and virtual assistants, and automation of content creation.

Is it profitable?

A year after being launched, the project Zuckerberg He was practically buried by many. The analysis company Canalys projected that by 2025 most businesses related to the Metaverse would close. “We are in a cost of living crisis, people have difficulties in the real world and even more so in the virtual world to be able to invest,” said Matthew Ball, the company’s chief analyst, as reported by the newspaper La Vanguardia.

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The truth is that the Metaverse has not disappeared, although it may have lost attention to AI. In a way, it may also be due to its cost and exclusivity.

On the one hand, the availability of equipment: the prices of smart glasses Meta and Ray-Ban have a cost of 409 euros, 349 dollars, the equivalent of about 1,500 soles. And virtual reality viewers can cost $499, or about 1,900 soles.

There is also the Metaverse approach. Nowadays it has more presence in video games and entertainment.

The challenge for 2025 would be to expand the space of use of the Metaverse. Santillán points out that “it could have a new boost if it is oriented towards digital commerce, education and remote work”. Furthermore, the experience and usefulness should justify the costs for users and companies.

Beyond Goal

Meta is not alone in this quest for the Metaverse, although his name may suggest it. The professor at the University of Lima indicates that “the Metaverse will probably not be a single virtual space, but rather a network of interconnected environments, where it will be possible to move identities and digital assets between platforms”.

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An example of this is the case of Brendan Greene, one of the main video game developers, who has recently said that he wants to build a true Metaverse. For that, it has Artemis, its parallel reality proposal.

“I want to build a Metaverse because I don’t think anyone else is doing it,” he said in an interview with the IGN website. According to its definition, virtual space is a 3D Internet in which “you should be able to create your own worlds and have them all work with the same protocol, like HTTP.” “A world is a page, and that’s what I’m trying to do with Artemis,” he said.

Meta is not the only company that is betting on the Metaverse either. In 2023 Apple presented its virtual and mixed reality headset called Vision Pro, with which it entered the world of the metaverse. However, one of the problems was its excessive cost of $3,499, or about 13 thousand soles.

Other companies that have been betting on the Metaverse, whether in devices, video games or applications, are Linden Lab (with its Second Life virtual community), Siemens, Sony, Samsung, Microsoft and Google.

It will be a matter of time before we live in totally virtual environments.