Meta Platforms Inc, owner of Facebook, told ad agencies that technology that fuses the virtual and physical worlds could begin to become a reality for consumers in a few years, giving more details of its vision to create the metaverse.
Mixed reality (MR) technology can allow a person wearing an MRI headset to use an object from the real world to elicit a virtual world interaction, such as hitting a video game character with a real baseball bat, for example, as it is one of three types of extended reality technologies often associated with palmitaverse;
Augmented reality exists, with mobile games such as Pokemon Go, but players cannot affect the digital world with a physical object, as virtual reality headsets, such as the Meta Oculus, immerse users in a fully virtual world where they can interact with the environment.
The comments from Meta came on Zoom's call with ad agencies recently, which was set to help advertisers better understand the metaverse, according to an agency executive who attended the call, and it was Meta's first roundtable discussion with agencies about the metaverse.
A mixed reality estimation a few years away brings additional details to the timeline for building the metaverse, the futuristic idea of a network of virtual worlds accessible from different devices, which Meta said could take a decade, as some mixed reality headsets are available, but aren't. Geared toward mainstream consumers, Microsoft's HoloLens 2, introduced in 2019, retails for $3,500 and is geared for workplace use.
And at Connect's annual conference in October, Meta announced Project Cambria, a headset that will feature mixed reality capabilities and include face and eye tracking.
The headset is expected to launch this year, and Meta, meanwhile, has continued to advise advertisers to experiment with augmented reality ads, such as photo and video filters that overlay digital images in the real world, the ad agency CEO said. Commentators have reiterated Meta's presentation at ad industry conferences.
Meta said brands could partner with content creators in augmented reality ads or use technology to try on virtual clothing, and the agency's executive said the agency's roundtable lacked details about what ad formats could be built for the metaverse, or what specific controls that would be. They exist to prevent brands from appearing with inappropriate content or actions.