Meta's Future Planning Report: Shining Light on Idealistic Vision

Meta has been focusing on VR, but they also group all of their next-generation projects into one bucket. This can be slightly confusing, but what Meta is trying to do is stake a claim in the

Meta has recently published an in-depth report about its plans for the metaverse and how it will work to foster inclusion and opportunity. The underlying technologies and concepts are being built by a diverse group of creators and experts. 

While the stats might seem optimistic and somewhat fabricated, the report has some cool insights into Meta's broad-reaching metaverse vision - or 'the next chapter of the internet,' as they say. 

The Metaverse that Meta sees will include key interaction elements. 

Meta has been focusing on VR, but they also group all of their next-generation projects into one bucket. This can be slightly confusing, but what Meta is trying to do is stake a claim in the future by being an industry leader across all these fields. 

It also means enhanced collaborations with creators. 

The METARETROVERSE is the next technology frontier, and it's being developed by a variety of cutting-edge technology companies. Early versions of this reality already exists in Fortnite and on your smartphone with photo filters. 

Those are two very different experiences, but Fortnite seems like a good proxy for what Meta wants the metaverse to be: a digital environment where users interact with avatars and can travel between different worlds. 

Photo filters? Maybe. 

The metaverse will include augmented reality (AR) glasses, which will provide digital information on the world around us. And just as shopping is now a hybrid of online and offline, the metaverse will be a mixed reality that blends the digital and physical. 

It’s an interesting overview of current use cases and how they would potentially interact in a new environment. But whether these things will actually align remains to be seen. 

As the developer of a metaverse, it's important to make sure that people  who have traditionally been excluded from the digital frontier will be able to participate. 

As the metaverse blossoms, many creators are finding their skills valued over those of the past. They're able to monetize their own intellectual property and co-create in new ways. 

The ethos at Meta is designed to be inclusive, equitable and empathetic. In turn, this helps provide a platform for so many more people to create meaningful experiences meant to bring us all together. 

The quote said that creators will play a critical role as a link to the metaverse. 

Meta points out that some of these goals are more hopeful projection than reality - but the hope is that the metaverse shift will provide more opportunity for creators from all walks of culture to build their business and career around their passions in all-new ways. 

I agree that opportunities may be within reach, but I'm not sure Meta's claiming that they're as accessible as they seem to suggest. 

Meta is emphasizing these points about the Metaverse shift. They discuss how brands are approaching the change in elements like: 

By focusing on these elements and looking for new ways to make use of it, the space will be able to reach its full potential. 

The idea of a utopia sounds great in theory, but I question whether it will work in reality. There are plenty of reasons why past visions for this type of virtual world haven't worked out well. 

One example of this is if you put a lot of people in a room. You might end up with the negative or less useful elements being amplified, not the best ones. While building toward hope and facilitating such is a noble approach, it's unlikely this will actually happen. 

And virtual reality – all of this is, of course, theoretical at the current moment. We're waiting for the metaverse to develop. 

If this is all theoretical fiction, then you can make it any story you want. It's kind of what this report is all about: imagining the possibilities in a world where words and images can be anything we wish them to be. 

Check out this blog post to learn more about Meta's latest insights into the metaverse here.