Meta, formerly known as Facebook, is lobbying against a proposal pushed by European mobile network operators who want regional lawmakers to force major content providers to pay them a fee for carrying their data. This proposal, which Meta’s Kevin Salvadori, VP of Network, and Bruno Cendon Martin, Director & Head of Wireless Technologies, dub a “false premise”, suggests that major tech giants, including Meta, Netflix, and Alphabet, pay a fee to fund network infrastructure upgrades that are claimed to be necessary to make the metaverse happen.
Salvadori and Martin call the proposed network fee “arbitrary” and label the telcos’ argument as “nonsense”. They explain that metaverse adoption for the foreseeable future will continue to be driven predominantly through Virtual Reality (VR), and that almost all VR content is currently consumed over fixed networks through Wi-Fi, an infrastructure that is already well established across most of Europe.
Moreover, the duo suggests that looking ahead, Europe’s fixed network capacity, with easily upgradeable FTTH/B deployments, is more than enough to supply demand for the metaverse and other internet services for decades to come. This implies that there won’t be a significant difference in product experience between being tethered to a headset in VR and being ‘in the metaverse’ for many more years.
The immersive worlds that people can discover in VR are just one possible way to experience the metaverse, and Augmented Reality (AR) devices, which overlay digital content onto the real world in a small form factor, will be another important part of the metaverse in the future. However, Salvadori and Martin pour cold water on the notion of there being any meaningful mobile (AR) metaverse action on the horizon. They suggest that even the AR metaverse is going to be fairly static, likely tethered to home/other Wi-Fi most of the time too.
The blog post warns that creating true AR glasses will require years of progress to make the devices slimmer, lighter, faster, and more powerful, all while consuming less battery power and generating less heat. Devices will need to understand both the world and user expressions to effectively overlay pixels on top of reality to offer a truly transformative experience. While their engineers are some of the best in the world, and they continue to be at the vanguard of bringing their AR vision to life, it will take years before AR devices become ubiquitous.
Metaverse: Hype vs. Reality
The concept of the metaverse has been generating a lot of buzz lately. But as Meta, formerly known as Facebook, de-hypes the virtual world technology that its founder bet the farm on, it’s becoming -clear that the hype around the metaverse might not live up to the reality for many years to come.
The telcos’ proposal to force major content providers to pay them a fee for carrying their data to fund network infrastructure upgrades that are claimed to be necessary to make the metaverse happen has been labeled as “nonsense” and an “arbitrary” network fee by Meta’s Kevin Salvadori and Bruno Cendon Martin. They argue that metaverse adoption for the foreseeable future will continue to be driven predominantly through Virtual Reality (VR), and that almost all VR content is currently consumed over fixed networks through Wi-Fi, an infrastructure that is already well established across most of Europe.
The blog post suggests that looking ahead, Europe’s fixed network capacity, with easily upgradeable FTTH/B deployments, is more than enough to supply demand for the metaverse and other internet services for decades to come. Salvadori and Martin imply that there won’t be a significant difference in product experience between being tethered to a headset in VR and being ‘in the metaverse’ for many years to come. This assertion is bound to disappoint those who have been eagerly anticipating the arrival of a fully immersive, all-encompassing metaverse where people can interact with each other and digital objects in a seamless manner.
However, the reality is that we are still a long way off from achieving this vision. The Metamates acknowledge that the development of the metaverse will require significant investment and technological advancements, especially in the area of AR. They state that building a truly revolutionary new kind of computing platform will take years of research and development efforts.
Despite the challenges, Meta remains committed to building the metaverse of the future. In their blog post, Salvadori and Martin note that the company is investing heavily in R&D to create AR glasses that can deliver a transformative experience. They also point out that Meta is collaborating with other companies and organizations to develop open standards and best practices for the metaverse.
Meta’s efforts to promote the development of the metaverse have not gone unnoticed. The company has been at the forefront of the metaverse conversation, and its recent rebranding as a metaverse company has further cemented its position as a leader in this space. Meta’s vision of the metaverse has captured the imagination of many, and its efforts to lobby against the telcos’ proposed network fee are just one example of how the company is working to create a more open and accessible metaverse for all.
In conclusion, while the metaverse may not be as close to reality as we had hoped, it remains a compelling vision for the future. Meta’s efforts to build the metaverse of the future are laudable, and its recent lobbying against the telcos’ proposed network fee shows that the company is committed to creating an open and accessible metaverse. While there may be some disappointment that we won’t be floating in a fully immersive metaverse anytime soon, the reality is that building the metaverse of the future will require significant investment and technological advancements, and we should be patient as we wait for these developments to unfold.
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