Facebook revealed on Thursday it would change its name to Meta to encompass the work it wished to achieve in the next phase of the social media giant’s development.
Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s Chief Executive and Founder, explored the possible use cases for Meta’s future extended reality (XR) goals at the Facebook Connect event.
The Metaverse, According to Zuckerberg
Speaking at the event, Zuckerberg said the name change, which comes from the Greek word for “beyond”, would allow the company to expand its reach beyond designing social media platforms to developing the Metaverse.
He explained the Metaverse would be an interconnected world of virtual and physical content seen as the successor to the Internet in the coming years and involve open standards for connecting worlds seamlessly, which users can access via virtual, augmented, or mixed reality (VR/AR/MR) headsets and smart glasses.
In his speech from an extended reality (XR) stage broadcasted on the Reality Labs page, Zuckerberg said the Metaverse would be “an embodied internet” with fully immersive, ubiquitous experiences.
Users can teleport to distant locations, view real-time 3D content and avatars to feel “truly present with one another,” which is a goal shared since launching Facebook back in 2004, Zuckerberg explained.
Speaking further, he added,
“In this future, you will be able to teleport instantly as a hologram to be at the office without a commute, at a concert with friends, or in your parents’ living room to catch up. This will open up more opportunity no matter where you live. You’ll be able to spend more time on what matters to you, cut down time in traffic, and reduce your carbon footprint”
Zuckerberg concluded his speech, stating Facebook rebranded as Meta as the former name could not “possibly represent everything that we’re doing today, let alone in the future.”
Announcing @Meta — the Facebook company’s new name. Meta is helping to build the metaverse, a place where we’ll play and connect in 3D. Welcome to the next chapter of social connection. pic.twitter.com/ywSJPLsCoD
— Meta (@Meta) October 28, 2021
He concluded his speech, adding,
“Over time, I hope that we are seen as a metaverse company and I want to anchor our work and our identity on what we’re building towards [and] as part of this, it is time for us to adopt a new company brand to encompass everything that we do, to reflect who we are and what we hope to build”
New Products Revealed
At the event, Zuckerberg stated Meta had separated its operations into two divisions: a family of social media apps which include Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger.
The second family apps under Meta’s Reality Labs division will encompass its Metaverse ambitions with new platforms such as Horizon Workrooms, Horizon Home, and Horizon Worlds, among others.
The company also unveiled numerous upcoming devices such as Project Cambria, a high-end VR headset aimed at the enterprise market, Project Nazare, a pair of AR-powered smart glasses, and numerous updates to the company’s Spark AR software development kit, further investments, and many others.
The move follows a similar restructuring under Google, who named its parent company Alphabet in 2015. Facebook also plans to trade under a new stock ticker, MVRS (or Metaverse) from December 1 this year, and will use a blue infinity symbol on its logo representing the companys development over time.
Zuckerberg’s announcement comes after the Menlo Park-based firm revealed in early August it planned to shift to becoming a “Metaverse company” and appointed Andrew Bosworth, Head of VR/AR, to his new role to build the new company division.
For more information, kindly visit Meta’s Reality Labs website.
