Facebook invests $50 million to develop the metaverse, promising "responsible" development.
Facebook announced a new development project called the XR Project on its official blog yesterday, the 27th. Over the next 2 years, it will invest $50 million in global research and project collaborations in the Metaverse, and work with policymakers, experts, and industry partners to develop products responsibly.
Table of Contents
The Concept of Facebook Metaverse
The metaverse is a virtual space where Facebook aims to break the limitations of physical space, allowing people from different locations to work, play, learn, shop, create, and more together through the metaverse. The emergence of the metaverse does not mean people will spend more time in the online world, but rather aims to make the time spent online more meaningful.
Responsible Development
In recent years, Facebook has faced controversies due to issues such as data breaches, arbitrary user suspensions, and control over reach. In this article, they intentionally mentioned their commitment to responsible development of the metaverse, stating:
We will collaborate with experts from governments, industries, and academia to address the challenges and opportunities in the metaverse. Human rights and civil rights groups will be involved from the outset to ensure that these technologies are built on a broad and empowering foundation.
Facebook also outlined several key areas of collaboration to predict and mitigate risks.
1. Economic Opportunities:
How Facebook plans to provide users with more choices, encourage competition, and sustain the growth of the digital economy.
2. Privacy:
How Facebook aims to minimize data usage, make data usage more transparent, and empower users with control over their data.
3. Safety and Integrity:
How Facebook plans to ensure online safety for individuals and provide ways for users to take action when they encounter uncomfortable situations.
4. Fairness and Inclusivity:
How Facebook aims to ensure that the design of these technologies is inclusive and accessible.
In addition to the XR project, Facebook has also launched a public testing program called "Horizon Workrooms," specifically providing a VR experience for remote work and online meetings. By wearing the Oculus Quest 2 VR device, users can interact with others in the same VR meeting space using their customized virtual character avatars, marking an important step towards building the Facebook metaverse.
Key Development Focus of the Metaverse
As the concept of the metaverse gains traction, more companies are investing in its development. From Facebook's announcement, it appears they are more focused on social services, their original strength, aiming to bring Facebook community users to a spatially unrestricted and privacy-protected domain.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, in a previous interview with foreign media, mentioned their company's development of the metaverse—Omniverse, which will focus on industrial applications with the primary goal of creating physically realistic VR simulation environments.
From the current development status, the metaverse does not have a clear-cut definition, and each company envisions different aspects and focuses of the metaverse. However, it is certain that the business opportunities and innovation brought by the metaverse are substantial, likely to reshape our imagination of life in the near future.