Why Facebook's Metaverse Is Still Only A Pipedream

Last week, the CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg announced to investors that he plans to take Facebook in a new direction in the future. The social network, he said, during the earnings call for Q1 2021, would become more than just that; It will, in the coming years, become a metaverse. The concept of metaverse is not all that new. It has been around since at least 2014 but it hasn’t really attracted the attention of Big Tech until recently, and especially after Zuckerberg made his recent comments. So, what is it he was talking about? The Metaverse Landscape The Metaverse he was referring to is a collective virtual shared space including the sum of all virtual worlds and the internet. It may contain derivatives or copies of the real world, but it is distinct from augmented reality, according to the IEEE — specifically the IEEE Virtual World Standard Working Group — which describes itself as an association dedicated to advancing innovation and technological excellence for the benefit of humanity. It is the world’s largest technical professional society.  The word “metaverse” is made up of the prefix “meta” (meaning beyond) and the stem “verse” (a backformation from “universe”); the term is typically used…
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