Facebook app is seen on a smartphone in this illustration taken, July 13 2021. Picture: REUTERS/DADO RUVIC
Venture capitalist Matthew Ball has also written extensively on what he believes are the main attributes of a metaverse, including a full-functioning economy, its real-time persistence , and interoperability of digital “belongings” such as clothing across multiple platforms. Here’s how I would simplify it: Think of it as a futuristic version of an always-on multiplayer video game where you can play, socialise or even run a moneymaking business in a realistic computer-generated environment.
Facebook’s actual track record on VR tells a different story. Has the company made significant progress since it bought Oculus seven years ago? Not really. Its latest VR headset, the Quest 2, has sold about 4-million units in the US, and it isn’t much more advanced than the original version. In fact, Oculus’s technology has been surpassed by smaller competitors such as Valve Index, which offers better fidelity.