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Category: VirtualRealityTrends

VirtualRealityTrends

  • Apple’s Mixed-Reality Headset Reportedly Delayed Till June

    Apple’s Mixed-Reality Headset Reportedly Delayed Till June

    Apple is reportedly delaying the debut of its mixed-reality headset once again, this time by a couple more months.

    Apple has been rumored to be working on a mixed-reality headset for some time. Reports indicated the company could release it this April, after multiple previous delays. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, a very reliable Apple watcher, the headset has been delayed once again.

    Gurman’s sources say the company is delaying the launch of the headset from April to June, blaming both hardware and software issues that still need to be worked out.

    Apple is well-known for obsessing over every detail of a product and has a track record of succeeding where many others fail in a given category. Therefore, it’s not surprising that the company is taking a couple of extra months to work out details it perceives as problems.

  • Microsoft Loses Faith in VR, Eliminates Entire Development Teams

    Microsoft Loses Faith in VR, Eliminates Entire Development Teams

    Microsoft appears to have lost all confidence in virtual and mixed reality (MR), eliminating entire teams behind its development efforts.

    Microsoft announced widespread layoffs last week, impacting some 10,000 employees, or roughly 5% of its workforce. In the days since the announcement, more information has come to light about which departments have been the hardest hit, and it appears VR and MR are among them.

    According to Windows Central, the Redmond company eliminated the entire development team behind its AltSpaceVR project, with the virtual reality workspace slated to shutdown in March.

    The company’s Mixed Reality Tool Kit (MRTK) development team was also eliminated in its entirety. The toolkit was designed for Unity VR and worked with Meta’s headsets. MRTK was an important part of Microsoft’s HoloLens project, which itself is already in trouble after Congress refused to fund the US Army’s request to purchase more of the augmented reality (AR) goggles.

    As Windows Central points out, taken together, the scope of the layoffs seem to indicate Microsoft has lost faith in VR and the metaverse. If that is the case, it would deal a major blow to Meta’s efforts to make the metaverse a reality.

  • Working in the Metaverse Is a Miserable Experience

    Working in the Metaverse Is a Miserable Experience

    Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg may be enamored with the metaverse, but people who have to work in it have a decidedly different view.

    Meta has been heavily investing in the metaverse, the next generation of immersive virtual and augmented reality. Zuckerberg has a vision of what he wants the metaverse to be, one that’s reminiscent of something straight out of Ready Player One.

    Individuals actually trying to work in the metaverse are not so thrilled, citing issues and irritations that constantly get in the way.

    “I am totally immersed in the metaverse, have a big headset on, and then I need to take off the Oculus, look on my phone for the two-factor authentication code that’s been sent to my phone, then memorize the number, put my headset back on, and try to key it in,” a junior manager at Accenture told Slate.

    “But when you take off the Oculus it automatically goes to sleep mode, and I was trying to navigate the back-and-forth.”

    Similarly, an Accenture manager told Slate that “over the past year, when our company rolled out a bunch of Oculus headsets to a large population to see how we might self-adopt the technology. I feel like we were guinea pigs in how the metaverse might be applied to more of a workplace social setting.”

    Read more: Oculus Founder Says Meta’s Metaverse Is Like ‘Project Car’ That’s ‘Not Good’

    In addition to the logistic issues involved in integrating the metaverse into a corporate workflow, there are also the physical limitations of the tech, with some users struggling to deal with debilitating side effects.

    For example, Congress recently refused additional funds to secure more Microsoft HoloLens combat goggles for the US Army. Despite the Army’s desire to integrate the AR goggles, tests showed 80% of soldiers experienced “mission-affecting physical impairments” after less than three hours of use.

    Accenture evidently experienced similar issues, with some individuals struggling with motion sickness. Still others struggled with learning new VR social customs, such as how close to stand to other individuals. There were also issues with the VR models not offering enough options to properly represent users.

    “The body shapes that were available in the [AltspaceVR app] didn’t have characters that had breasts,” the Accenture manager told Slate.

    Only time will tell if Meta’s vision ultimately achieves success, although many are unconvinced. One major meta investor has already urged the company to scale back the $10 to $15 billion a year it is investing in the metaverse.

    “The company has announced investments of $10–15B per year into a metaverse project that largely includes AR / VR / immersive 3D / Horizon World and that it may take 10 years to yield results,” the investor wrote. “An estimated $100B+ investment in an unknown future is super-sized and terrifying, even by Silicon Valley standards.”

  • Congress Deals Blow to Microsoft’s HoloLens Combat Goggles

    Congress Deals Blow to Microsoft’s HoloLens Combat Goggles

    Congress has dealt a major blow to Microsoft’s HoloLens combat goggles, refusing to authorize funds to purchase more of the devices.

    Microsoft has been working with the US Army to develop combat goggles that could provide troops with valuable information in battle. The contract was one of the biggest attempts to integrate the tech in a real-world setting.

    Unfortunately for Microsoft, Congress has declined the Army’s request for $400 million to buy an additional 6,900 googles, according to Bloomberg. Lawmakers did approve a transfer of $40 million of the requested funds toward developing a new, improved model.

    At the heart of the issue — both for the denial of procurement funds and the funding for developing a better version — are evaluation tests that have uncovered major issues with the current generation HoloLens. Tests revealed that the HoloLens were leading to “mission-affecting physical impairments” in 80% of soldiers after less than three hours of use. Given that the goggles are designed to be worn in the heat of battle, possibly for hours on end, the tests raised major concerns.

    There’s no doubt that AR will play a significant role on future battlefields, but Congress clearly doesn’t want to invest money in a version of the technology that is more of a liability than asset — at least at this stage of development.

    In the broader scheme of things, Microsoft’s challenges with the HoloLens illustrate the bigger issues companies are going to have with AR, VR, and the metaverse. Until people can use the technology in a meaningful way without experiencing negative side effects, the metaverse will remain a pipe dream.

  • John Carmack Pens Damning Memo Announcing His Departure From Meta

    John Carmack Pens Damning Memo Announcing His Departure From Meta

    Game developer legend John Carmack is leaving Meta, slamming the company in a damning memo that is sure to make waves.

    John Carmack joined Oculus in 2013 and served as CTO until 2019 when he stepped down to focus on research and development. He joined Meta when it purchased Oculus but is now departing that company with harsh words regarding its management.

    According to Business Insider, Carmack posted a memo to the company’s internal Workplace forum, castigating Meta for its mismanagement.

    “We have a ridiculous amount of people and resources, but we constantly self-sabotage and squander effort,” Carmack wrote. “There is no way to sugar coat this; I think our organization is operating at half the effectiveness that would make me happy.”

    “I have never been able to kill stupid things before they cause damage, or set a direction and have a team actually stick to it,” he added.

    Meta, and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, has already been facing growing criticism over its heavy focus on the metaverse. One major Meta investor has publicly called on the company to scale back its metaverse investment, saying it has lost its focus and “has drifted into the land of excess.”

    Similarly, the Oculus founder likened Zuckerberg’s metaverse obsession to a “project car,” one’s that’s “not good” at this stage.

    Even Meta’s own employees are saying that “the Metaverse will be our slow death,” and that “Mark Zuckerberg will single-handedly kill a company with the meta-verse.”

    Carmack’s departure and scathing condemnation of the company could well serve as a rallying cry for more critics and put increased pressure on Zuckerberg and company to deliver the goods or move on.

    Here’s Carmack’s memo in its entirety, courtesy of Insider:

    This is the end of my decade in VR. I have mixed feelings.

    Quest 2 is almost exactly what I wanted to see from the beginning – mobile hardware, inside out tracking, optional PC streaming, 4k (ish) screen, cost effective. Despite all the complaints I have about our software, millions of people are still getting value out of it. We have a good product. It is successful, and successful products make the world a better place. It all could have happened a bit faster and been going better if different decisions had been made, but we built something pretty close to The Right Thing.

    The issue is our efficiency.

    Some will ask why I care how the progress is happening, as long as it is happening?

    If I am trying to sway others, I would say that an org that has only known inefficiency is ill prepared for the inevitable competition and/or belt tightening, but really, it is the more personal pain of seeing a 5% GPU utilization number in production. I am offended by it.

    [edit: I was being overly poetic here, as several people have missed the intention. As a systems optimization person, I care deeply about efficiency. When you work hard at optimization for most of your life, seeing something that is grossly inefficient hurts your soul. I was likening observing our organization’s performance to seeing a tragically low number on a profiling tool.]

    We have a ridiculous amount of people and resources, but we constantly self-sabotage and squander effort. There is no way to sugar coat this; I think out organization is operating at half the effectiveness that would make me happy. Some may scoff and contend we are doing just fine, but others will laugh and say “Half? Ha! I’m at quarter efficiency!”

    It has been a struggle for me. I have a voice at the highest levels here, so it feels like I should be able to move things, but I’m evidently ot persuasive enough. A good Fraction of the things I complain about eventually turn my way after a year or two passes and evidence piles up, but I have never been able to kill stupid things before they cause damage, or set a direction and have a team actually stick to it. I think my influence at the margins has been positive, but it has never been a prime mover.

    This was admittedly self-inflicted – I could have moved to Menlo Park after the Oculus acquisition and tried to wage battles with generations of leadership, but I was busy programming, and I assumed I would hate it, be bad at it, and probably lose anyway.

    Enough complaining. I wearied of the fight and have my own startup to run, but the fight is still winnable! VR can bring value to most of the people in the world, and no company is better positioned to do it than Meta. Maybe it is actually possible to get there by just plowing ahead with current practices, but there is plenty of room for improvement.

    Make better decisions and fill your products with “Give a Damn!”

  • Meta Employees: ‘Zuckerberg Will Single-Handedly Kill’ the Company

    Meta Employees: ‘Zuckerberg Will Single-Handedly Kill’ the Company

    Meta employees are speaking up about CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s metaverse obsession, saying he will kill the company.

    It’s no secret that Zuckerberg is obsessed with the metaverse. According to a new report by Business Insider, Meta employees are pushing back against Zuckerberg’s obsession, saying the CEO will lead the company into irrelevance and ultimately kill it.

    “The Metaverse will be our slow death,” one user, identifying as a senior software developer, posted on the anonymous forum Blind. “Mark Zuckerberg will single-handedly kill a company with the meta-verse.” 

    Another poster took issue with Zuckerberg’s control, saying his “gut feeling” overrides everything else.

    Read more: Major Meta Investor Urges Company to Scale Back Metaverse Investments

    “Poor leadership is on track to sink this ship,” wrote the individual, who identified as a senior technical program manager. Their listed “cons” included: “No accountability at and above Director level. VPs and Directors are here to just milk the company without adding any value.”

    “I thought it was a data-driven company but actually it is one man’s gut feeling and emotions-driven,” they added. “Nobody can overwrite his decision.”

    Another employee, who identified as an engineer, was overall complimentary of the company but still said, “Zuck is leading this company in the wrong direction.”

    The internal angst is understandable, given Meta’s current situation. The company recently laid off 11,000 employees, the biggest lay-off in its history and the biggest in 2022. Some employees blamed the lay-offs on the company’s investment in the metaverse at a time when its core business is taking a major hit.

    Zuckerberg has committed to investing a whopping $10 to $15 billion per year for ten years in an effort to make the metaverse a reality. So far, the results have been less than impressive, with a major investor calling for the company to scale back and Meta even looking to Microsoft to help it make the metaverse more interesting and useful.

  • Apple’s Advanced AR Glasses May Not Arrive Until 2026

    Apple’s Advanced AR Glasses May Not Arrive Until 2026

    While Apple is widely expected to release an AR/VR headset as early as next year, the company’s more advanced AR glasses may be delayed.

    Apple’s Tim Cook has been a big proponent of augmented reality (AR), even believing it be the superior option over virtual reality (VR). The company is expected to announce a more traditional AR/VR headset in the coming months. Fans and analysts, however, have been looking forward to Apple’s more advanced AR glasses, which will have far wider application.

    According to Haitong International Tech Research Jeff Pu, in an email to MarketWatch, “design issues” may have pushed the glasses to 2026, two years after the initially expected 2024.

    “We now expect the AR Glass to be postponed to 2025-2026, due to design issues,” he said in the email.

  • Meta Poised for Biggest Layoffs in Its History

    Meta Poised for Biggest Layoffs in Its History

    Meta is reportedly poised to lay off the largest number of employees in company history, beginning this week.

    Meta previously indicated that it planned to reduce its headcount, but The Seattle Times says sources within the company are saying this will be the biggest headcount reduction in its history.

    The news is not surprising, especially given Meta’s financial troubles. The company is pouring billions into the metaverse, a bet that has yet to pay off in any way. The company has even tapped Microsoft to help it expand use cases for the metaverse.

    Company executives had previously made it clear that they want managers to start eliminating employees that fail to deliver.

    “If a direct report is coasting or a low performer, they are not who we need; they are failing this company,” said Maher Saba, Vice President of Remote Presence and Engineering. “As a manager, you cannot allow someone to be net neutral or negative for Meta.”

    There is no word yet on the specific number of employees that will be laid off, but the layoffs will reportedly begin by the end of the week.

  • Meta Cutting Staff Rather Than Metaverse Spending

    Meta Cutting Staff Rather Than Metaverse Spending

    Meta has announced it is cutting staff, but has no plans to cut its spending on the metaverse.

    According to Business Insider, the company revealed its plans during its third-quarter earnings call.

    “We expect hiring to slow dramatically going forward,” CFO David Wehner said. “We are holding some teams flat in terms of headcount, shrinking others, and investing headcount growth only in our highest priorities.”

    One of those priorities is clearly continued investment in the metaverse, despite significant losses. The company’s metaverse division, Reality Labs, reported revenue of $285 million for the quarter, just over half compared to the year-ago quarter. Unfortunately for the company, Reality Labs’ losses are just getting started.

    “We do anticipate that Reality Labs operating losses in 2023 will grow significantly year-over-year,” Wehner said. “Beyond 2023, we expect to pace Reality Labs investments such that we can achieve our goal of growing overall company operating income in the long run.”

    Zuckerberg & Company clearly believe they are headed in the right direction, even though few others do. Criticism has been mounting with CEOs, tech icons, and investors expressing their belief that Meta is wasting its time and money on what is increasingly looking like a pipe dream.

  • Snap CEO the Latest to Slam the Metaverse

    Snap CEO the Latest to Slam the Metaverse

    Snap CEO Evan Spiegel is the latest CEO to voice criticism of Meta’s vision of the metaverse.

    Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is virtual reality’s biggest fan and is driving his company to create the metaverse, investing billions to do so. Many of the tech industry’s most influential CEOs, however, are not sold on the idea and Spiegel is one of them.

    “The metaverse is ‘living inside of a computer.’ The last thing I want to do when I get home from work during a long day is live inside of a computer,” Spiegel said, according to Business Insider.

    Spiegel’s remarks illustrate the challenges Meta has moving forward. Many of the people who have the disposable income to purchase the necessary equipment to use the metaverse are the very people who have no desire to use it. It’s little wonder that Meta is turning to Microsoft in an effort to more closely tie the metaverse to business use.

  • Oculus Founder Says Meta’s Metaverse Is Like ‘Project Car’ That’s ‘Not Good’

    Oculus Founder Says Meta’s Metaverse Is Like ‘Project Car’ That’s ‘Not Good’

    Oculus founder Palmer Luckey is the latest to slam Meta’s metaverse, saying it’s “not good.”

    Meta is investing billions to build out its vision of the metaverse, but the response has been tepid at best. Everyone from Mark Cuban to major Meta investors are not sold on the company’s vision or the amount of money it is taking to create it.

    According to Business Insider, Luckey has likewise spoken critically of Meta’s efforts, saying they are largely driven by Mark Zuckerberg’s obsession with virtual reality.

    Read more: Major Meta Investor Urges Company to Scale Back Metaverse Investments

    “Mark Zuckerberg is the number one virtual reality fan in the world,” Luckey said. “He’s put in more money and time to it than anyone ever in history.”

    Luckey went on to describe the metaverse as a “project car,” something an owner sinks untold money into in the hopes it will one day be valuable. In the interim, though, Luckey says the metaverse is not very good.

    “It is terrible today, but it could be amazing in the future,” he said. “Zuckerberg will put the money in to do it. They’re in the best position of anyone to win in the long run.

    “You hack at it and maybe no one else sees the value,” Luckey continued. “Will they stumble? Yeah sure. Will they waste money? Will they add things to their project car that they later hack off? Yes.”

    With some already calling for Meta to cut back on its investment in the metaverse, only time will tell how patient the company’s investors are for what is increasingly looking like a financial black hole.

  • Major Meta Investor Urges Company to Scale Back Metaverse Investments

    Major Meta Investor Urges Company to Scale Back Metaverse Investments

    Brad Gerstner, Altimeter Capital CEO, has written an open letter to Mark Zuckerberg urging him to reign in spending.

    Meta has been heavily investing in the metaverse, driven by Zuckerberg’s near-obsession with his vision of what the metaverse should be. Unfortunately for Zuckerberg & Company, the metaverse is not exactly a raging success, opening the company to criticism.

    Gerstner is leveling some of that criticism at Zuckerberg & Company. After pointing out that Meta’s “core business hit a wall last fall,” and pointing out the importance of focusing its efforts on AI, Gerstner urged the CEO to scale back metaverse investments:

    “The company has announced investments of $10–15B per year into a metaverse project that largely includes AR / VR / immersive 3D / Horizon World and that it may take 10 years to yield results,” Gerstner writes. “An estimated $100B+ investment in an unknown future is super-sized and terrifying, even by Silicon Valley standards.”

    Gerstner then compares Meta’s investment in the metaverse with Amazon’s investment to create AWS:

    By any normal company or start up standard, $5 B per year would seem like an extraordinary amount,” Gerstner continues. “I have been told that Amazon spent far less in total to build AWS. As such, we think Meta company should cap its metaverse investments to no more than $5B per year with more discrete targets and measures of success, as opposed to today’s much more ambitious and open-ended strategy. We have little doubt investors and others would happily support scaling up these investments as the ROI becomes more tangible — even if still long-term.”

    Gerstner also pointed out Meta’s explosive headcount growth, a whopping 3x in the past four years, bringing the company from 25,000 to 85,000 employees. Gerstner urges Zuckerberg to cut employee-related costs by 20% by the start of 2023.

    Ultimately, Gerstner believes Meta has simply become too big and too unfocused for its own good.

    “Meta has drifted into the land of excess — too many people, too many ideas, too little urgency,” he adds. “This lack of focus and fitness is obscured when growth is easy but deadly when growth slows and technology changes.”

  • Microsoft’s AR Ambition Meets Reality as US Soldiers Experience Nausea and Headaches

    Microsoft’s AR Ambition Meets Reality as US Soldiers Experience Nausea and Headaches

    Microsoft’s AR goggle test program with the US Army has hit some bumps, with soldiers reporting headaches and nausea.

    Microsoft scored a $21.9 billion contract to provide the US Army with augmented reality (AR) goggles. The contract is one of the biggest for augmented reality integration in a real-world application.

    Unfortunately for Microsoft, the tests are not going well, according to The Seattle Times, with more than 80% of soldiers experiencing “mission-affecting physical impairments” after less than three hours of usage.

    Nickolas Guertin, director of Operation Test and Evaluation, also noted that the Microsoft HoloLens is still failing too much with essential functions.

    Despite the concerns, Guertin does not believe the project is a failure. Instead, he believes the Army should “prioritize improvements” before deploying HoloLens to more soldiers in an effort to minimize the “physical discomfort of users.”

    Ultimately, the issues the US Army is facing are not uncommon with virtual reality (VR) and AR, with many users experiencing dizziness, headaches, and nausea when using VR equipment for any length of time. While that may not be a deal-breaker for a home user, someone who can simply take off the headset and take a break, it’s a major problem for soldiers that will be relying on the headsets for critical information.

  • Meta Looks to Microsoft to Bail Out the Metaverse

    Meta Looks to Microsoft to Bail Out the Metaverse

    Meta is turning to Microsoft to help bail out the metaverse with a new partnership that brings Microsoft Teams to the Quest platform.

    At Meta Connect 2022, the company unveiled the all-new Meta Quest Pro headset, but the real news was a new partnership with Microsoft, no doubt in the hopes that Microsoft will help spur metaverse adoption.

    We’ve also made it clear that we can’t build the metaverse alone, and nowhere is that more obvious than people’s work day. Every company works differently—and uses different tools.

    To that end, we were excited that Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella joined us during Connect to announce that a new version of Microsoft Teams immersive meeting experiences is coming to Meta Quest. Teams connects hundreds of millions of people around the world and is an essential part of how they meet, call, chat, and do business. Bringing Teams to Meta Quest can enable them to work together in ways that simply aren’t possible on a 2D screen. We’re also exploring the ability to support Meta Avatars and Microsoft Avatars so you can collaborate in Teams immersive experiences.

    Meta has been working to push the metaverse, but with limited success. Users and tech CEOs alike aren’t sold on Meta’s vision. Tech icon Mark Cuban recently made the following comment on a Coinbase article, according to TheStreet:

    “It’s Lonely in the Metaverse: Decentraland’s 38 Daily Active Users in a $1.3B Ecosystem,”

    Only time will tell if partnering with Microsoft will help Meta move the metaverse forward, but it certainly can’t hurt.

  • Walmart Sets Up Shop in the Metaverse

    Walmart Sets Up Shop in the Metaverse

    Walmart is joining the metaverse, setting up a virtual store and play area on Roblox’s platform.

    Companies across industries are beginning to embrace the metaverse, leveraging it as a way to engage with customers, especially younger ones. Walmart is the latest to join this trend, setting up Walmart Land and Walmart’s Universe of Play.

    ”We’re showing up in a big way – creating community, content, entertainment and games through the launch of Walmart Land and Walmart’s Universe of Play,” said William White, chief marketing officer, Walmart U.S. “Roblox is one of the fastest growing and largest platforms in the metaverse, and we know our customers are spending loads of time there. So, we’re focusing on creating new and innovative experiences that excite them, something we’re already doing in the communities where they live, and now, the virtual worlds where they play.”

    Walmart Land will provide a way for users to acquire merchandise for their avatars, as well as unlock various tokens and badges that users can earn. The virtual world will include “a physics-defying Ferris wheel giving users a bird’s-eye glimpse of the world.”

    Walmart Land will also include music festival-inspired Electric Island, a House of Style virtual dressing room, and Electric Fest, with performances by Madison Beer, Kane Brown and YUNGBLUD.

    Walmart’s Universe of Play will include immersive games, rewards, and virtual adventures.

    Walmart joins the likes of JPMorgan and British bank HSBC in staking its claim on the metaverse.

  • Walmart’s ‘Be Your Own Model’ Expands Virtual Fitting

    Walmart’s ‘Be Your Own Model’ Expands Virtual Fitting

    Walmart is expanding its virtual fitting service, letting users upload their own photo in addition to using existing models.

    Walmart purchased Zeekit in 2021 and used its tech to unveil virtual fitting rooms. Customers could choose from a selection of models to see how clothing items look would look. The company is now expanding the service to let customers upload their own photo, giving a more accurate representation of how the clothes will look on them.

    Called Be Your Own Model, the service uses technology originally designed for topographic maps. This allows the software to accurately and realistically approximate how an item of clothing will look, right down to the shadows and fabric draping.

    Credit: Walmart

    Walmart is already delivering the new feature at scale, with some 270,000 items supported for a variety of brands, including Athletic Works, Avia, ELOQUII Elements, Free Assembly, Love & Sports, No Boundaries, Scoop, Sofia Jeans and Sofia Active by Sofia Vergara, Terra & Sky, Time & Tru, and The Pioneer Woman.

    It’s also incredibly easy to use. If an item is enabled for virtual try-on, customers will see the “Try It On” button on the item page and have the option to view clothing on themselves (Be Your Own Model) or another model (Choose My Model). To use the Be Your Own Model feature, the customer will be prompted to take a picture of themselves within the Walmart iOS app. Once an image is saved, the customer will be able to view themselves as the model each time they use the virtual try-on experience.

    Be Your Own Model is rolling out to the iOS Walmart app, but the company says an Android version will be available in the coming weeks.

  • EU Gearing Up to Regulate the Metaverse

    EU Gearing Up to Regulate the Metaverse

    The metaverse may be a long way from widespread adoption, but the EU is already gearing up to regulate it.

    Companies large and small are racing to develop the metaverse and various virtual reality environments. While there are different competing visions of what those realities should look like, the EU wants to make sure they are regulated.

    In a letter of intent, EU president Ursula von der Leyen outlined the first details of the bloc’s goals:

    “This is about building a better future for the next generation and making ourselves more resilient and more prepared for challenges to come,” von der Leyen writes.

    “This starts with implementing what has already been agreed. This includes implementing the landmark agreements on the Digital Markets Act and the Digital Services Act which saw the EU take global leadership in regulating the digital space to make it safer and more open. We will continue looking at new digital opportunities and trends, such as the metaverse.”

    The letter does not go into further details, but one thing is abundantly clear: The metaverse will not be an unregulated Wild West…at least not if the EU has anything to say about it.

  • Meta Will Charge Metaverse Content Creators a Nearly 50% Commission

    Meta Will Charge Metaverse Content Creators a Nearly 50% Commission

    Apple make receive the lion’s share of flak for charing a 30% commission for its App Store, but Meta is set to dwarf that for metaverse content creators.

    CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced in a Facebook post that the company was looking at ways to help content creators monetize their involvement in the metaverse.

    We’re testing two new ways for creators to make money building for Horizon in the metaverse. First is in-world purchases, so creators can sell virtual items in their worlds and offer paid access to parts of the world. Second is a creator bonus program, where creators are paid for building worlds people want to explore. We’re starting these programs small and will scale over time. Here’s a video in Horizon with some creators discussing these tools and what the metaverse economy might look like.

    Unfortunately for content creators, according to Reuters, Meta plans on taking a hefty 47.5% commission. The company will charge a “30% hardware platform fee,” as well as “a further 17.5% cut as its Horizon platform fees.”

    With those hefty fees, it’s unclear how many content creators will be onboard with Meta’s plans.

  • Meta Taps Qualcomm to Manufacture Its VR Chips

    Meta Taps Qualcomm to Manufacture Its VR Chips

    Qualcomm has scored a major contract, with Meta tapping the firm to create its virtual reality (VR) chips.

    Meta is going all-in on the metaverse, running TV ads and working to convince customers and companies that they should buy into its vision of what the metaverse should be. In order to take advantage of the metaverse, however, people still need headsets and equipment — equipment which will be powered by custom chips Qualcomm will be making for the social media giant.

    The two companies have “announced a multi-year agreement to collaborate on a new era of spatial computing powered by Snapdragon extended reality (XR) platforms and technologies for the Meta Quest platform.”

    The new agreement builds on a seven-year history of collaboration between the two companies.

    “By partnering with Meta, we are bringing together two of the world’s metaverse leaders to revolutionize the future of computing for billions of people in the coming years,” said Cristiano Amon, president and chief executive officer, Qualcomm Incorporated. “Building off our joint leadership in XR, this agreement will allow our companies to deliver best-in-class devices and experiences to transform how we work, play, learn, create and connect in a fully realized metaverse.”

    “We’re working with Qualcomm Technologies on customized virtual reality chipsets — powered by Snapdragon XR platforms and technology — for our future roadmap of Quest products,” said Mark Zuckerberg, Founder and CEO, Meta. “As we continue to build more advanced capabilities and experiences for virtual and augmented reality, it has become more important to build specialized technologies to power our future VR headsets and other devices. Unlike mobile phones, building virtual reality brings novel, multi-dimensional challenges in spatial computing, cost, and form factor. These chipsets will help us keep pushing virtual reality to its limits and deliver awesome experiences.”

  • FTC Sues to Block Meta From Purchasing VR Company Within

    FTC Sues to Block Meta From Purchasing VR Company Within

    The Federal Trade Commission is moving to block Meta from purchasing VR company Within, calling it an “illegal acquisition.”

    Lawmakers and regulators are becoming more critical of acquisitions in the tech industry, especially when it involves a larger, market-dominating company buying up a smaller rival. Within currently makes the popular Supernatural fitness app, a category Meta clearly wants a foothold in.

    The FTC is concerned the acquisition is just the latest example of Meta trying to extend its dominance in the VR market through buyouts rather than fair competition.

    “Instead of competing on the merits, Meta is trying to buy its way to the top,” said FTC Bureau of Competition Deputy Director John Newman. “Meta already owns a best-selling virtual reality fitness app, and it had the capabilities to compete even more closely with Within’s popular Supernatural app. But Meta chose to buy market position instead of earning it on the merits. This is an illegal acquisition, and we will pursue all appropriate relief.”

    The complaint also alleges that Meta’s attempt to purchase Within will result in less competition than if the company was willing to invest the time and resources necessary to create its own app.

    The complaint alleges that Meta is a potential entrant in the virtual reality dedicated fitness app market with the required resources and a reasonable probability of building its own virtual reality app to compete in the space. But instead of entering, it chose to try buying Supernatural. Meta’s independent entry would increase consumer choice, increase innovation, spur additional competition to attract the best employees, and yield other competitive benefits. Meta’s acquisition of Within, on the other hand, would eliminate the prospect of such entry, dampening future innovation and competitive rivalry.

  • More Than Three Dozen Companies Form the Metaverse Standards Forum

    More Than Three Dozen Companies Form the Metaverse Standards Forum

    Microsoft, Meta, Nvidia, Qualcomm, Kronos, and 33 other companies have formed the Metaverse Standards Forum to help build an open metaverse.

    Companies are racing to develop the metaverse, the next generation of virtual and augmented worlds. With so many companies working to develop the metaverse, however, some were concerned about the shape it would take, whether it would be a unified space or whether different companies would develop their own version.

    The group makes clear its members believe the metaverse should be built on open standards:

    Multiple industry leaders have stated that the potential of the metaverse will be best realized if it is built on a foundation of open standards.

    “The metaverse will bring together diverse technologies, requiring a constellation of interoperability standards, created and maintained by many standards organizations,” said Neil Trevett, Khronos president. “The Metaverse Standards Forum is a unique venue for coordination between standards organizations and industry, with a mission to foster the pragmatic and timely standardization that will be essential to an open and inclusive metaverse.”

    The Forum is open to any company, university, or standards organization, free of charge. Interestingly, neither Apple nor Google are founding members of the Forum.

    Founding members include 0xSenses, Academy Software Foundation, Adobe, Alibaba, Autodesk, Avataar, Blackshark.ai, CalConnect, Cesium, Daly Realism, Disguise, the Enosema Foundation, Epic Games, the Express Language Foundation, Huawei, IKEA, John Peddie Research, Khronos, Lamina1, Maxon, Meta, Microsoft, NVIDIA, OpenAR Cloud, the Open Geospatial Consortium, Otoy, Perey Research and Consulting, Qualcomm Technologies, Ribose, Sony Interactive Entertainment, Spatial Web Foundation, Unity, VerseMaker, Wayfair, the Web3D Consortium, the World Wide Web Consortium, and the XR Association.