On Oct. 28, 2021 Facebook sent out a founders letter announcing that they were rebranding their company and changing the name to “Meta.” This new name is short for metaverse: something that Facebook, like many other companies, are hedging their bets on for an all virtual future.
On the most basic level, the metaverse is a virtual reality space enabling a fully online experience. The technology is not all the way there but the future looks bright in terms of what will be able to be done.
This virtual landscape will take many forms and has unlimited possibilities. Many people think that virtual reality is just meant for video games and other similar 3D experiences but the plan is to have it be more than just that. Basic everyday things could become fully online such as school and work. Even parties and concerts will be common practice virtually.
This new type of connection could change the world as we know it. This also involves new ways that big technology companies will be able to track you. The idea that scares people the most about the metaverse is the amount of data that could be available.
As of now, there are no laws preventing big companies from tracking you. This technology would let them be able to track blood pressure, breathing rates, and other health aspects.
Richard Pucci, a Glen Rock High school sophomore, received an Oculus Rift for Christmas two years ago. An Oculus is the most modern version of virtual reality which was originally released in 2016.
“At first I wasn’t too excited but the more I used it the more things I found to do that I liked. The video games are unlike any I’ve ever played and I love how immersed you can be when playing, ” said Pucci.
The official name for the original Oculus was the Oculus Rift CV1. It was released in 20 countries for around $600. Much has changed since, including the number of competing companies.
“The technology is definitely ahead of its time though I wonder how long it will take people to adjust to virtual reality, ” said Pucci.
The future of this technology remains unknown but with the right people a whole new world can be at our fingertips in seconds.