Since the late 1970s and early 1980s, many of those in the technology community have imagined a future state of, if not quasi-successor to, the Internet – called the “Metaverse”. Metverse is a vision of the future networking that sounds fantastical. The Metaverse is a collective virtual shared space[1] including the sum of all virtual worlds and the Internet. The idea is to create a space similar to the internet, but one that users (via digital avatars) can walk around inside of and where they can interact with one another in real time. Keeping it simple, the metaverse is a potentially vast three-dimensional online world where people can meet up and interact virtually.
The metaverse was originally conceived as the setting for dystopian science fiction novels, where virtual universes provide an escape from crumbling societies. Now, the idea has transformed into a moonshot goal for Silicon Valley, and become a favorite talking point among startups, venture capitalists and tech giants. Imagine a world where you could sit on the same couch as a friend who lives thousands of miles away, or conjure up a virtual version of your workplace while at the beach.
Tech titans like Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg are betting on as the next great leap in the evolution of the internet. Although the full vision for the Metaverse remains hard to define, seemingly fantastical, and decades away, the pieces have started to feel very real. Metaverse has become the newest macro-goal for many of the world’s tech giants. Big companies joining the discussion now may simply want to reassure investors that they won’t miss out on what could be the next big thing, or that their investments in VR, which has yet to gain broad commercial appeal, will eventually pay off.
‘Metaverse’: the next internet revolution? article tells that metaverse is the stuff of science-fiction: the term was coined by Neal Stephenson in his 1992 novel “Snow Crash”, in which people don virtual reality headsets to interact inside a game-like digital world.
Facebook Wants Us to Live in the Metaverse. According to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg “What is the metaverse? It’s a virtual environment where you can be present with people in digital spaces. You can kind of think of this as an embodied internet that you’re inside of rather than just looking at.” Metaverse vision was the driver behind Facebook’s purchase of Oculus VR and its newly announced Horizon virtual world/meeting space, among many, many other projects, such as AR glasses and brain-to-machine communications. In a high-tech plan to Facebookify the world advertisements will likely be a key source of revenue in the metaverse, just as they are for the company today.
Term Metaverse was created by sci-fi author Neal Stephenson in his 1992 dystopian novel “Snow Crash” to describe a virtual space where people interact with one another through user-controlled avatars. That “Snow Crash” novel coined the terms “Metaverse” and “Avatar”.
Venture capitalist Matthew Ball has also written extensively on what he believes are the main attributes of a metaverse: a full-functioning economy, real-time persistence (no pausing), and interoperability of digital “belongings” such as clothing across multiple platforms. Experts working in the space tend to agree on a few key aspects of the metaverse, including the idea that users will experience a sense of “embodiment” or “presence.”. Read more at The Metaverse: What It Is, Where to Find it, Who Will Build It, and Fortnite and Big Tech has its eyes set on the metaverse. Here’s what that means
Proponents of the metaverse say there could eventually be huge business potential — a whole new platform on which to sell digital goods and services. If metaverse could be properly realized and catches on some future year, it is believed that metaverse would revolutionize not just the infrastructure layer of the digital world, but also much of the physical one, as well as all the services and platforms atop them, how they work, and what they sell. It is believed that verifiable, immutable ownership of digital goods and currency will be an essential component of the metaverse.
Did you hear? Facebook Inc. is going to become a metaverse company. At least that’s the story its management wants everyone to believe after a flurry of interviews and announcements over the past couple of weeks. Zuckerberg is turning trillion-dollar Facebook into a ‘metaverse’ company, he tells investors article tells that after release of Facebook’s earnings CEO Mark Zuckerberg took a moment to zoom out and wax on the company’s future goals, specifically calling out his ambitions to turn Facebook into “a metaverse company.”
Some pieces of the metaverse already exist. Services like Fortnite, an online game in which users can compete, socialize and build virtual worlds with millions of other players, can give users an early sense of how it will work. And some people have already spent thousands of dollars on virtual homes, staking out their piece of metaverse real estate.
Who will be big if metaverse catches on. Bloomberg article Who Will Win the Metaverse? Not Mark Zuckerberg or Facebook article claims the social networking giant and its CEO have vast ambitions to dominate the next big thing in computing, but other tech giants are in a better position to turn the hype into reality. Facebook’s actual track record on VR tells a story that has not been very promising. The two critical components needed for companies to take advantage of the opportunities that may arise from any potential metaverse are advanced semiconductors and software tools. Facebook is not strong on either front.
There are many other companies with Metaverse visions. For example Oculus’s technology has been surpassed by smaller competitors such as Valve Index, which offers better fidelity. Microsoft (MSFT) CEO Satya Nadella said last week that his company is working on building the “enterprise metaverse.” Epic Games announced a $1 billion funding round in April to support its metaverse ambitions. Companies like graphics chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA) and gaming platform Roblox (RBLX) are also playing Metaverse game.
Despite the current hype cycle, the idea is still amorphous, and a fully functioning metaverse is probably years and billions of dollars away — if it happens at all. Another question is are we emotionally evolved enough for it? There is a host of concerns about how the metaverse could be used or exploited. “Are we safe to start interacting at a more person-to-person level, or are the a**holes still going to ruin it for everybody?” “If you can now replace somebody’s entire reality with an alternate reality, you can make them believe almost anything,”
Keep in mind that the metaverse is a relatively old idea that seems to gain momentum every few years, only to fade from the conversation in lieu of more immediate opportunities. Though “Fortnite” and “Roblox” are often described as precursors to the Metaverse, the most significant precursor to the Metaverse is the internet itself.
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Tomi Engdahl says:
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Hands-on with Meta’s Quest 3 prototype: lighter, thinner, faster, and with better video pass-through than the Quest 2, but the VR displays have similar clarity — This week, I go hands-on with Meta’s yet-to-be-announced Quest 3 and explain how it may be the biggest challenger to Apple’s new headset.
A First Look at the Headset That Could Be Apple’s Biggest Competition
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2023-05-28/meta-quest-3-real-life-hands-on-how-it-compares-to-apple-mixed-reality-headset-li7h3suy
This week, I go hands-on with Meta’s yet-to-be-announced Quest 3 and explain how it may be the biggest challenger to Apple’s new headset. Also: The first major iOS 17 details emerge, Apple extends its supply agreement with Broadcom, and a tap-to-pay executive departs.
Last week in Power On: A look at the key Apple executives responsible for the company’s upcoming headset.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2023/05/29/open-source-ar-hack-chat/
Tomi Engdahl says:
An empty office may have led to legless avatars.
THERE’S AN INTERESTING THEORY ABOUT WHY ZUCKERBERG WASTED BILLIONS ON THE METAVERSE
https://futurism.com/the-byte/metaverse-mark-zuckerberg-spending-theory
THIS COULD EXPLAIN A LOT.
Hardly Knew Ye
With the metaverse seemingly dead and buried, the question remains: why, exactly, did investors fall for it in the first place?
In a searing editorial for New York Magazine, tech columnist John Herrman offered a simple explanation not only for why Facebook (er, Meta) CEO Mark Zuckerberg went all-in on his capital-M Metaverse, but also why so many execs and investors seemed to follow suit.
The answer, in short, lies in the world-changing COVID-19 pandemic — and specifically, in the executive-level backlash to employees seeming to be empowered by their ability to work from home, which was, as the virus raged pre-vaccine, the only way to keep the world going.
While AI fever dreams do appear to have killed the metaverse, they are, at least, more substantial than the farcical virtual reality worlds into which Zuckerberg and others have sunk so many billions of dollars.
“From one executive to an audience of other executives, the metaverse — at least Zuck’s take on it — offered a vision of the future in which everything was different but also pretty much the same: a disruptive technology that maintained the basic order of things, and where you once again knew what your employees were up to, even if they were just avatars,” the columnist excoriated.
The metaverse differed from other baldly exec-serving schemes in just how little, even in 2021, it seemed to provide to “anyone but executives.”
“It felt uncanny and hollow, and when people stopped talking about it so much, nobody who wasn’t directly invested seemed to care,” Herrman wrote. “It’s true that Silicon Valley has shifted its attention to AI, but what really killed the metaverse was workers returning to the office.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2023/06/02/chatting-about-the-state-of-hacker-friendly-ar-gear/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2023/06/02/hackaday-prize-2023-lask4-watches-those-finger-wiggles/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Pelastavatko Applen ihmelasit Varjon?
https://etn.fi/index.php/13-news/15051-pelastavatko-applen-ihmelasit-varjon
Apple esitteli eilen joukon uusia tuotteita WWDC 2023 -tapahtumassaan, mutta odotetuin uutuus oli ilman muuta Vision Pro -lasit, joiden tehtävät on mullistaa virtuaali- ja lisätyn todellisuuden markkinat. Mikäli Apple siinä onnistuu, se voisi olla onnenpotku myös suomalaiselle Varjolle.
IDC:n mukaan AR/VR-laseja myytiin viime vuonna 9 miljoonaa kappaletta. Määrä on 21 prosenttia pienempi kuin edellisvuonna, joten voidaan sanoa, että markkina on ollut pettymys. Meta kaappasi markkinoista 80 prosenttia, mutta totuus on, että kuluttajat eivät ole innostuneet virtuaalilaseista.
Applen lasit ovat yhtiölle tuttuun tyyliin raudaltaan hämmästyttävät. Lasien mekaaniseen suunnitteluun on kulutettu paljon aikaa. Panta näyttää paksulta, mutta on Applen mukaan hengittävä ja hyvinistuva. Lasien reunus blokkaa kaiken ympäröivän valon. Akku riittää kahden tunnin käyttöön, mutta laseja voi käyttää myös piuhaan kytkettynä.
Laseja ohjataan Applen ensimmäisen ”tilallisen” käyttöjärjestelmän avulla. VisionOS-alustaa pyörittää läppäreistä tuttu M2-prosessori, kamerat heijastavat kummallekin silmälle 4K-näkymää ja kymmenkunta anturia tulkitsee käsieleitä.
Lasien avulla käyttäjä voi ottaa FaceTime-puheluita, joissa ruutu leijuu ilmassa. Virtuaalisen työpöydän avulla voidaan ohjata Mac-tietokoneen ja iPadin sovelluksia. Käyttöliittymä näyttää MacOS:stä tai iPadista tutulta, paitsi että kuvakkeet leijuvat ilmassa.
Kummassakin OLED-paneelissa on 23 miljoonaa pikseliä. Kyse ei ole ihan fotorealistisesta kuvasta Varjon tapaan, mutta silti ollaan jo aika lähellä. Mutta Varjollakin toivotaan, että Visio Pro -lasit ovat massiivisesta 3500 dollarin hinnastaan huolimatta hitti, kun ne tulevat ensi vuonna markkinoille.
Tomi Engdahl says:
“Seamlessly blends the real world and the virtual world”.
Vision Pro: Apple’s new augmented reality headset unveiled
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-65809408?at_campaign=Social_Flow&at_format=link&at_bbc_team=editorial&at_campaign_type=owned&at_link_origin=BBC_News&at_link_id=0F964022-03E6-11EE-B0C3-F4D4FF7C7F44&at_link_type=web_link&at_medium=social&at_ptr_name=facebook_page
Apple has unveiled a much-anticipated augmented reality headset, Apple Vision Pro, in its first major hardware launch for almost a decade.
Apple chief executive Tim Cook said the new headset “seamlessly blends the real world and the virtual world”.
The tech firm also announced its latest iPhone operating system, as well as updates to MacBook Air.
The headset has a two-hour battery life, costs $3,499 (£2,849) and will be released early next year in the US.
The cost is considerably higher than virtual reality headsets currently on the market. Last week Meta announced its Quest 3 – which costs $499.
Apple said little about generative artificial intelligence – the buzzy technology that is the talk of Silicon Valley.
The company’s share price fell slightly during the announcement, made at a developer’s conference at Apple Park, the company’s headquarters, in Cupertino, California.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The mixed-reality headset, which will run on a spatial operating system, could push Apple to a $3 trillion valuation depending on first-year sales. https://ie.social/V1o1Y
Tomi Engdahl says:
Speaking on “Good Morning America,” Apple CEO Tim Cook has acknowledged that Apple Vision Pro will be too expensive for many, but says the cost is because of the “mind-blowing” engineering in it.
Tim Cook: Apple Vision Pro tech is mindblowing, and will be too expensive for many
https://appleinsider.com/articles/23/06/06/tim-cook-apple-vision-pro-tech-is-mindblowing-and-will-be-too-expensive-for-many
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.facebook.com/100059516290428/posts/pfbid02dzhskD8KvRuoHWLdfCogj8HjYJSQpqrCzGiDqnuY8msD9pWpsryffUW4LVbXgjVzl/
We’ve never met. We’ve never talked. And still, I feel confident telling you that the Vision Pro isn’t for you.
If you know one thing about the headset, it’s probably the fact that it’s $3,500. When the one thing most people know about a product is its price, that product is almost certainly prohibitively expensive. The Vision Pro certainly is.
It’s a fact everyone in the media (ourselves certainly included) ran with. Apple is a consumer company that makes consumer products for consumers. Sure, the company has been known for its premium pricing for several decades now, but $3,500 isn’t a consumer price. The Vision Pro isn’t a consumer product.
Read more from Brian Heater on why the Apple Vision Pro isn’t for you here:
Sorry, but Apple’s Vision Pro isn’t for you
https://techcrunch.com/2023/06/06/sorry-but-apples-vision-pro-isnt-for-you/?fbclid=IwAR1XowyEbq8bUpMoS2DqJWsqmq1lQLvDkyhMyBzVZCQdBx5I_WXEVVsPjyg&guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cDovL20uZmFjZWJvb2suY29tLw&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAFyhoib2PNlPxyMB1w5oVmphXHRHcI4B7eqzK5A5el8gLD8f4trziG_bNpRgtkmWTHOMQflswKLK2bQNOXuRIIm7hsKQM89E-p4GGLAiwmAPaC26SN_4UOxmHIp_irOoVrxgJyTXlwIXJbNZGQ9FLXJle07bRmohYzs7BaUDqG6M
Apple is a consumer company that makes consumer products for consumers. Sure, the company has been known for its premium pricing for several decades now, but $3,500 isn’t a consumer price. The Vision Pro isn’t a consumer product.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Matthew Panzarino / TechCrunch:
Hands-on with the Apple Vision Pro, which seems to be a genuine leapfrog in XR capability and execution, offering near-perfect eye tracking and gesture control
First impressions: Yes, Apple Vision Pro works and yes, it’s good
https://techcrunch.com/2023/06/05/first-impressions-yes-apple-vision-pro-works-and-yes-its-good/?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cudGVjaG1lbWUuY29tLw&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAIar-RBA7QScU1_mR8XkM9TNNWf2oRZby4CKNuMrD4J24XaP8hpOxmLdauwuz9uoFrZrbEACA-gz9_Vlq9ajQP6DFrcYVBAIYiCw4QYyFstu7vyqZldImdctesUKRGhiZT7RdHGHhtLFsah3ymZDCrXbpRg34w35cbrn0uxPEt0R
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Verge:
Apple acquires Los Angeles-based Mira, which makes AR headsets for companies and the US military; the startup had raised ~$17M and was once advised by Jony Ive — Apple has acquired Mira, a Los Angeles-based AR startup that makes headsets for other companies and the US military …
Apple has bought an AR headset startup called Mira
https://www.theverge.com/2023/6/6/23751350/apple-mira-ar-headset-startup
/ If you’ve ridden the Mario Kart ride at Nintendo World theme parks recently, you’ve used one of Mira’s headsets. The startup also has contracts with the US military.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Mark Gurman / Bloomberg:
Apple Vision Pro may take at least five years before it’s seen as an iPhone alternative, let alone a product killer, as Apple still needs to address its quirks
Apple Heralds the Post-iPhone Era, But Getting There Will Take Years
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2023-06-06/apple-vision-pro-a-post-mac-iphone-and-ipad-future-with-new-visionos-and-apps#xj4y7vzkg
Hey everyone, it’s Mark. Apple introduced the Vision Pro on Monday at WWDC, looking to an era beyond the iPhone, iPad and Mac. The company also rolled out a new high-power computer chip, three new Macs and software updates across its main devices.
Last week in Power On: Apple’s long-awaited next big thing is nearly here.
Tomi Engdahl says:
“What does it say about a device when a CEO refuses to use it on launch day?”
APPLE EXECS SEEM TERRIFIED OF BEING PHOTOGRAPHED WEARING DORKY AR HEADSET
https://futurism.com/the-byte/apple-execs-terrified-photographed-ar-headset?fbclid=IwAR2GxW1c6-_0CZiHpwzGF8_HWQ0qSAugCzeon8G_VzEgmwC3kiQCIHi5I6M
Dorky Goggles
Apple launched its next big thing, a scuba goggles-like mixed-reality headset called Vision Pro, with soaring music and rapturous speeches during a flashy event on Monday.
But avid Apple watchers noticed that the company execs were never seen, let alone photographed, wearing the device, leading to speculation on social media that they were embarrassed to be seen with an odd-looking pair of animated eyes, a bizarre feature of the new headset.
Models in the company’s presentation video were shown extensively wearing the $3,499 headset. In a segment for “Good Morning America” earlier today, Apple CEO Tim Cook presented the odd-looking googles to co-host Robin Roberts, who took them for a spin — but curiously, Cook never put them on himself.
“Unless I missed something, it is very curious to me why there are no photos of Tim Cook or other Apple executives actually wearing the Vision Pro,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Vision Pro: Apple’s new augmented reality headset unveiled
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-65809408
Apple has unveiled a much-anticipated augmented reality headset, Apple Vision Pro, in its first major hardware launch for almost a decade.
Apple chief executive Tim Cook said the new headset “seamlessly blends the real world and the virtual world”.
The tech firm also announced its latest iPhone operating system, as well as updates to MacBook Air.
The headset has a two-hour battery life, costs $3,499 (£2,849) and will be released early next year in the US.
Tomi Engdahl says:
APPLE’S NEW AR HEADSET SCANS YOUR EYEBALLS TO UNLOCK
https://futurism.com/the-byte/apple-ar-headset-scans-eyeballs-unlock