DStv Channel 403 Wednesday, 09 October 2024

Meta's Zuckerberg shakes off Apple Vision Pro: report

Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg is reported to have told employees that Quest virtual reality gear is meant to be affordable and social, which appears to be a different approach than Apple is taking with its coming $3,499 Vision Pro 'spacial reality display'

SAN FRANCISCO - Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday told employees that while Apple's mixed reality gear may be nice, it is not his vision of the future, according to US media reports.

Zuckerberg's comments came during the first all-hands gathering at its Silicon Valley campus since the pandemic, and just days after Apple unveiled Vision Pro mixed reality headsets.

"I mean, that could be the vision of the future of computing, but like, it's not the one that I want," Zuckerberg reportedly said while assessing what he has seen of Apple Vison Pro.

READ: Eyes on Apple to join quest for the metaverse

"There's a real philosophical difference in terms of how we’re approaching this."

Meta makes Quest virtual reality headsets and has invested heavily in Zuckerberg's belief that internet life will one day play out in virtual worlds referred to as the metaverse.

"Our vision for the metaverse and presence is fundamentally social," Zuckerberg said, according to a transcript of remarks posted by tech news website The Verge.

"By contrast, every demo that (Apple) showed was a person sitting on a couch by themself."

READ: Facebook's Zuckerberg targeted in US privacy lawsuit

Meta was so confident it could create the metaverse -- an idea of a 3D immersive internet -- that it changed its name from Facebook in 2021 and began funneling billions into the project.

But the idea has been hampered by botched launches, dodgy graphics, no clear path to profitability and a general feeling that few people know what it is.

Meta's Reality Labs, the division helming its metaverse effort, has lost $4 billion so far and Zuckerberg has been increasingly talking up artificial intelligence rather than the metaverse.

Zuckerberg was quoted by CNBC as saying at the all-hands gathering that Meta planned to build generative artificial intelligence into "every single one" of its products.

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