The metaverse is poised to be the biggest year yet, as Facebook parent Meta, Apple, Microsoft and Google gear up to release new hardware products and software services in what so far has been a niche market for early adopters.
The metaverse describes software and hardware that allow users to play or work in virtual 3-D spaces or pull in information from the internet and integrate it with the real world in real time. Someday, the metaverse will be accessed through advanced virtual reality or augmented reality headsets, backers say.
Big Tech companies are betting that gadgets that transport their users into enhanced or imaginary worlds will open up the biggest new market in software since Apple introduced the touchscreen smartphone in 2007. If the metaverse takes off, then maybe everyone who has a phone will also have a computer or a headset in a few years.
The rise of mobile computing apps has led large tech platforms to look toward augmented reality as the next computing platform shift, according to a December note from Goldman. He said that it appears to be the next logical shift in consumption patterns and will create new industry leaders.
Companies are pouring research and development dollars into prototypes and technologies and preparing for a battle when their products hit the market.
According to a report by Crunchbase, venture capitalists invested $10 billion in virtual world start-ups in 2021. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that the company spent so much money on virtual reality and augmented reality that it cut the company's profit by $10 billion.
Goldman Sachs analysts think that as much as $1.35 trillion will be invested in developing these technologies in the next few years.
The big names in technology are expected to release next year.
This handout image was obtained by a news agency and shows a test of the new Facebook app for virtual reality headsets.
Facebook is a leader in metaverse technologies. The company changed its name to Meta Platforms in 2021.
Meta has a lead over its competitors, as it is currently manufacturing and selling virtual reality hardware.
The most popular app in the U.S. App Store was the virtual reality app needed to use a headset, an imperfect but meaningful sign that a lot of people found virtual reality gear under the tree.
Meta hasn't released sales numbers for its product. The company that makes the chip for the Quest estimated that it had shipped 10 million units by November. The numbers are significant and boosted by TV ad campaigns.
Meta is going to release a virtual reality headset called Project Cambria this year. The device will have hardware that makes it better for mixed reality, or using cameras on the outside of a virtual reality headset to show the real world in to the viewer. Meta says that it will include face and eye tracking, which will make the device more responsive to user commands.
Meta has given the company an early look at what software users want to boot up on their headsets. People can attend comedy shows and movie nights on the new social platform called Horizon Worlds, which was launched this month.
Supernatural, a workout game in which users hit floating blocks in time with a beat, is one of the popular apps that Meta has acquired.
This strategy may come under scrutiny. The $400 million acquisition is being investigated by the Federal Trade Commission.
The Technology Development Group at Apple has been working on prototypes for a long time.
Apple is working on a new product category. The Lidar sensors on the newer iPhones can measure how far away an object is. The software that is installed on the recent iPhones and iPad allows developers to create apps that use the iPhone's sensors for precise room mapping and localization.
The foundation for an Apple-made high-end headset that mixes virtual reality and augmented reality is being created, which could be launched in 2022.
Apple does not discuss new hardware products until they are ready to be revealed. When Apple releases a headset, it is likely to shake up the entire market and provide a new approach for many challengers, like the Apple Watch did for smartwatches.
Apple CEO Tim Cook will be watched closely by his competitors to see what he has to say about the advantages and selling points of his headset.
Content and how Apple integrates its services will be crucial to the device's appeal. Is there an app store for virtual reality? Will the Apple headset have exclusive content, like sports or music, as a result of its purchase of NextVR?
If Apple releases its first major new product category in seven years, investors and market analysts are starting to wonder if future sales of headsets or other reality-based gadgets will push Apple's stock even higher.
In December, analysts from Citi wrote that Apple's current market value does not reflect new product category launches. The launch of the new augmented/ virtual reality headset will change this.
Apple won't call it averse. I will stay away from the words. Cook said in September that they just call it augmented reality.
Glass is being used in manufacturing.
The headset craze began in Silicon Valley when it was introduced by Google. The experiment didn't go well, but that didn't stop them from continuing. Glass headsets are sold to businesses, but they aren't generally available to consumers.
Although it doesn't have as many products or publicly announced technologies as its rivals, there are signs that Google is getting serious about augmented reality again. Since Glass first came out, newer augmented reality headsets have been introduced with more advanced displays, better sensors and more powerful processors.
If headsets and metaverse devices replace the smartphone with a new operating system, it will be one of the most lost.
North, a well-capitalized start-up working on lightweight augmented reality glasses that were a spiritual successor to Google Glass, was bought by Google in 2020.
In December, senior director Mark Lucovsky shared a post about a new team that was focused on operating systems for augmented reality. Lucovsky worked at Meta.
According to the job listings, this team is working on an innovative augmented reality device and is adding products to the portfolio.
The soldiers are wearing the IVAS system.
In 2016 Microsoft was the first Big Tech company to introduce a fully featured augmented reality headset. Its current product is not a device that consumers will wear on a regular basis.
Microsoft has focused on selling headsets to businesses that want to see if the technology makes their workers more productive.
The U.S. military is the highest-profile client. Microsoft won a $22 billion deal earlier this year to sell 120,000 custom HoloLenses to the government so soldiers can use them to increase lethality. The start of a field test for a new augmented reality headset was delayed earlier this year.
The ultimate health of the augmented reality market will be an important signal if the deal continues to get delayed or if it turns out to be a winner for both sides.
Medical companies want to see if augmented reality can help improve operating rooms or even help do surgery remotely, and that's one of the reasons why they're interested in HoloLens.
Microsoft is investing heavily in cloud services to be the glue for virtual worlds that will be released to the public.
The company announced in March that they were going to allow software makers to create apps that allow different devices to share the same digital reality. The holograms on mesh work like a video call. The push began when Microsoft acquired AltspaceVR.
The metaverse software features will be launched in 2022. Microsoft will integrate Mesh into its videoconferencing app, Teams, later this year. Features for Xbox games are in the works, but no release date has been set. It is not known if the kind of productivity applications that Microsoft is best known for will be improved by the use of augmented reality headsets.
Still, the CEO is enthusiastic.
In November, Nadella said how much of a breakthrough it was.
