Facebook is serious about this metaverse thing.
The company announced Monday that it will create 10,000 jobs in the European Union to help develop its "metaverse". According to Facebook, it's "a new phase of interconnected virtual experience using technologies such as virtual and augmented reality."
The term "metaverse" was first coined by Neal Stephenson in Snow Crash 1992, and is a staple of any cyberpunk library. The term "metaverse" has come to be used to refer to a variety of things. Facebook, just like Stephenson, uses it to describe virtual and augmented realities that go beyond gaming. The Metaverse, a digital art platform launched by Sotheby's just recently.
Facebook's metaverse will not be its own. It will work with other companies to create it and says that "no single company will own or operate the metaverse."
While the details may be a little confusing at the moment, the heart of Facebook's new initiative lies in its investment in European talent. Over the next five-years, the company claims it will create 10,000 new high-skilled jobs in the EU.
The company released a press release stating that the EU offers many advantages, including a large consumer market, top universities, and high quality talent. The EU has a significant role in shaping the new rules for the internet, and this goes beyond emerging tech talent. European policymakers lead the charge in embedding European values such as freedom of expression, transparency, and individual rights into the daily workings of the internet.
Facebook has recently launched Horizon Workrooms via Oculus, which allows users to hold meetings in a virtual setting.
In July, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg spoke to The Verge about the metaverse. He described it as "the successor of the mobile internet." According to Zuckerberg, the metaverse is not just VR and AR. It also includes PCs and mobile devices. He called it a "synchronous environment that allows us all to be together".
