Facebook launches VR remote work application, calling it a step towards “metafest” | Facebook Technology News

New Delhi: Facebook Inc launched a test of a new virtual reality remote work application on Thursday, where users of the company’s Oculus Quest 2 headset can hold meetings in their avatar version. As Facebook’s Horizon Workrooms app is undergoing beta testing, many companies continue to work from home after the COVID-19 pandemic has closed their physical workspaces, and a new variant is sweeping the world.

Facebook views its latest launch as an early step towards building the futuristic “meta universe” touted by CEO Mark Zuckerberg in recent weeks.

The world’s largest social network has invested heavily in virtual reality and augmented reality, developed Oculus VR headsets and other hardware, dedicated to AR glasses and wristband technology, and acquired a large number of VR game studios, including BigBox VR.

The company said that to gain a dominant position in this field, Facebook is betting that this will be the next large-scale computing platform, which will make it less dependent on other hardware manufacturers in the future, such as Apple.

Andrew “Boz” Bosworth, group vice president of Facebook’s Reality Labs, said that the new Workrooms app “has a good understanding” of how the company envisions meta-universal elements.

“This is one of the basic steps in this direction,” Bosworth told reporters at a VR press conference.

The term “metauniverse” created in the 1992 dystopian novel “Avalanche” is used to describe an immersive shared space accessed across different platforms, in which physical and digital merge. Zuckerberg described it as the “physical Internet.”

Technology CEOs, including Zuckerberg, Satya Nadella of Microsoft, David Baszucki of Roblox, and Shar Dubey of Match Group Inc, mentioned this in recent earnings conference calls, and they talked about them. How your company is shaping this future field.

In July, Facebook stated that it is creating a product team to develop Metaverse, which will become part of its AR and VR team, Facebook Reality Labs.

In its first full VR press conference, the company showed how Workrooms users can design their own avatar version to meet in a virtual reality meeting room and collaborate on a shared whiteboard or document, while still interacting with their physical desktop and Computer keyboard to interact. The application can be used free of charge through Quest 2 headsets, the price is about 300 US dollars, and up to 16 people can participate in VR together, and a total of up to 50 people including video conference participants. Bosworth said that Facebook now regularly uses Workrooms for internal meetings.

The company stated that it will not use people’s work conversations and materials in the Workroom to target ads on Facebook. It also stated that users must comply with its VR community standards and can report violations of the rules to Oculus.

Facebook recently cooperated with the US Consumer Product Safety Commission to stop selling its Oculus Quest 2 headset and recalled foam facial cushions because of reports of skin irritation. Please also read: Honda CB200X ADV launched in India: check the price, specifications and features in the picture

The recall notice stated that it affected approximately 4 million units in the United States and provided estimates of Quest 2 headset sales that the company has not officially announced. Facebook reported that non-advertising revenue from AR and VR businesses and e-commerce in the second quarter of 2021 was US$497 million. Please also read: LIC and EPFO ​​may start investing in Indian start-ups, should investors worry about it?