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The term Metaverse was coined in 1992 by Neil Stephenson, in the sci-fi novel Snow Crash. The fictional Metaverse is basically a networked version of the the sc
by riskneutral 5y ago
The term Metaverse was coined in 1992 by Neil Stephenson, in the sci-fi novel Snow Crash. The fictional Metaverse is basically a networked version of the the sci-fi Holodeck from Star Trek, which first appeared in an episode aired in 1974.
There is no way at all that Facebook is anywhere near having VR capabilities like the Holodeck in Star Trek, let alone the Metaverse in Snow Crash. So I don't understand what their pitch is. I like that they're spending $50 million working on the problem, but I don't think that the Oculus Rift is the going to turn into a Holodeck, or Facebook into the Metaverse, with just $50 million and 3-5 years.
- jacobr1 5y agoThe $50M isn't their internal R&D budget. It is the budget to spend on external groups, mostly university grants, to focus on things like how to make whatever "metaverse" gets built is somehow more inclusive and less-cyberpunk with all the dystopian overtones. I don't have any real expectations that we'll anything meaningful for the spend, but I'd like to be surprised.