Takeaways: Meta Connect 2022 Keynote
Social, gaming, and virtual work are the main things to do in Meta's metaverse
Our Takeaways
Social, gaming, and virtual work are the main applications that Meta is planning to attract mass adoption. In each category, Meta has announced new partnerships to onboard more users. Personally speaking, I find the emphasis on the revenue created through games quite interesting, which also aligns with our previous takeaways that games continue to be at the center stage of how metaverse can monetize in creative business models and act as social platforms for new generations. Through the incorporation of Microsoft’s Xbox Cloud gaming service, we can also see how games can be the first step in making two tech companies collaborate on the level of metaverse platforms.
The below notes are supported by Quantarrange, a metaverse engine platform of interactive metaverse content
Intro
VR is meant to be for social connection, top VR application(VR Chat) is a VR metaverse where people can meet and play with other people. Next year, NBCUniversal will build experiences around <Office>, <Universal Monsters>, <Dream Work>, <Blum House>, <Halloween Horror Nights>, and more in Horizon Worlds.
Horizon Worlds will be available on VR, the website, and mobile. Horizon Worlds will allow customers to have their own private space rule by themselves.
Gaming
Meta highlights that over $1.5 billion has been made through games and apps purchases in the Quest Store. More than one-third of the company’s 400 Quest titles have generated over $1 million in sales, with 33 titles having surpassed $10 million in gross revenue. Some highlights of individual games:
<Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners> made $50M+ in revenue in Quest alone
<Zenith: The Last City> made $1M in revenue on Quest Store in 24 hours
<Resident Evil 4> made $2M in revenue in 24 hours
<Blade and Sorcery: Nomad> made $1M+ in 2 days
New games are also launching to Quest2 including:
Marvel's <Iron Man VR> is coming to Quest 2 this November
<Population: One — Sandbox>is coming to Quest 2 this December
<Among Us VR> launch on Quest this November 10th
<Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners — Retribution> launch on December 1st
<Behemoth> from Sky Dance will be launched on 2023
<Gym Class> launch this fall;
See more: https://www.oculus.com/blog/vr-games-meta-connect-2022-marvel-iron-man/
Meta Quest Pro
Open for pre-order and ready for shipping on Oct-25 for $1499
Comparison with Quest 2:
40% thinner optical stack/ 37% more pixels per inch/ 75% more contrast
Snapdragon XR2+ chip by Qualcomm
50% more power
Controllers are working independently with the headset, and the charger can now charge the headset and controllers at the same time. Quest Pro can capture your facial expressions. MX collaborative working APPs will be launched next year.
Microsoft Partnership
Meta and Microsoft are joining hands to build future working environments for distributed teams. <Windows 365>, < Azure Active Directory>, < Microsoft Intune> Microsoft’s Xbox Cloud Gaming service is also coming to Quest 2.
Horizon Worlds & Horizon Workrooms
Horizon Avatar SDK is coming on iOS, and Android on Unity, Horizon avatars can be used in more applications like Ins, Facebook, Reels, Message, and Zoom for message and video chat. (which Apple did years ago)
Other partnerships of future work besides Microsoft include Accenture which acts as an IT consultant to deploy solutions for potential customers. Multi-party collaborations for business settings are what Meta hope to achieve for business customers.
Avatar Store 2 is coming on VR later this year for digital avatar clothes. Leg tracking is coming next year for Horizon.
Technology
Hand tracking will adopt neural networks and AI to learn customers’ preferences, conditions, and physiques for better accuracy. Carnegie Mellon University teamed up with Reality Labs and used Meta Project Aria glasses to build an international airport 3D map to help blinds find their way.
Meta can use a cellphone to scan an object and with neural radiance, and fields object can be duplicated into the VR space. And it can interact on a basic level.
Codec Avatar
Meta photorealistic avatars can reflect lights difference on skin or hair, and capture micro facial expressions.
Now meta offers a more easy and quicker(still needs hours) way to generate on your phone, but the avatar is slightly off.
To see the original presentation of Meta Connect 2022 Keynote, check here. There are also a few side events that focus on embedded tech from Reality Labs.
About Quantarrange
Quantarrange provides the Metaverse Engine to build an open creation ecosystem of real metaverse content. Its first flagship product Quanta Simulator is an AI-assisted simulation engine delivering both physics and rendering in real time. Based on MBD, it powers diverse simulation contexts from soft materials and rigid bodies to avatars and more, as well as sophisticated interaction between multiple materials.