The Reality of Meta’s Metaverse — It Looks Really, Really Bad
10 billion dollars wasted and counting
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On Aug 15, 2022, we got another glimpse of our impending Metaverse future.
And it blew our minds.
Unfortunately, it blew our minds because it was bad. Like, really, really bad. And when set against the context that Zuckerberg rebranded Facebook to Meta, pivoted the entire strategy away from the blue app to focus on all-things-Metaverse, and has already thrown billions of dollars at developing the concept, the current state of Zuck’s Metaverse dream is laughable.
In the post on his Facebook page, Zuckerberg announced that Horizon Worlds — the social VR application that allows users to explore virtual worlds through the Oculus headset — is set to launch in France and Spain. He also added that he can’t wait for people to “explore and build immersive worlds.” And thankfully, we no longer have to imagine what that immersive world looks like.
In the picture, Zuckerberg’s eerily life-like avatar can be seen standing next to France’s Eiffel Tower and Spain’s Tibidabo Cathedral, within luscious green hills and landscapes.
It truly is immersive.
Okay, I lied.
The snapshot is a far cry from the Meta announcement video that kicked this whole pivot to the Metaverse off. In that vision, we saw detailed worlds full of textures and colors. We saw avatars — WITH LEGS — interacting in high-resolution environments full of potential.
While I sit on the side of the fence that is fully against the concept and of the overarching desire to have us constantly connected to digital devices, I admitted at the time that it at least looked enjoyable. A work meeting would be more fun if everyone turned up as an alien and it was held around a table on a spaceship. It would be cool to design your own home and fill it with shit you could never afford in real life. At least for a little while anyways.
