Recently, Facebook announced a two-year $50 million investment for developing its virtual metaverse. The Metaverse will enable people to interact with one another, digital objects and the physical world via their avatar in a virtual environment.
Facebook said that as it focuses on building the next computing platform, its work across augmented and virtual reality and consumer hardware will deepen the human connection regardless of physical distance. People will be able to hang out with friends, work, play, learn, shop, create and more.
According to Facebook, the metaverse is not a single product that one company could build alone and it can't be built overnight. Many of the metaverse products and tools will only be fully realized in the coming 10-15 years. FB will work in conjunction with experts in industry, government, and academia to think through issues and opportunities in the metaverse.
Through the initial $50 million XR Programs and Research Fund, the company plans to collaborate with governments, industry partners, civil rights groups, and academic institutions to shape how to build these technologies responsibly.
Source: about.fb.com
Few of the initial partners include the Organization of American States, Africa No Filter, Electric South, Imisi3D, and Women In Immersive Tech. The company is also facilitating independent external research with institutions across the world such as Seoul National University and The University of Hong Kong. The Centre for Technology, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence & the Law at the Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore will focus on topics like privacy and data use.
The key areas where Facebook will work with others to anticipate the risks and get it right include Economic opportunity, Privacy, Safety and integrity, and Equity and inclusion.
Well, as the social media giant announces funds to begin developing its metaverse, crypto developers have already made strides in building out decentralized and interoperable metaverses of their own. Decentraland.org offers a decentralized community-owned virtual world built on the Ethereum blockchain. There, users can create avatars, build 3D environments, or showcase a range of digital content which can be monetized.
