The major technology companies in the world are racing to build their own Metaverse, and Meta and Microsoft seem to be pioneers in this field, especially since the founder of “Meta” Mark Zuckerberg has mortgaged his future and the future of his company to this new world, as stated by the “Meta” platform. The Sydney Morning Herald reported recently.
Metaverse is the next big technological revolution, according to many experts and observers, as it attracts online game makers, social networks, other technology leaders, large, small and emerging companies to be part of this future, and to take its share of a market whose expected profits are expected to reach about $800 billion. As reported by Bloomberg recently.
The exception company that is moving itself away from this fever is Apple, which does not seem to believe in metaverses as promoted by Zuckerberg, and is seeking to launch a new product for mixed reality (virtual and augmented) sometime this year, and this new product will be something different from metaverse, According to Mark Gorman, a prominent Apple watcher who writes a popular newsletter called Power On for Bloomberg, Gorman emphasized that "Metaverse will be banned on all Apple alternate reality products."
"I've been told first-hand that the idea of a virtual world just like metaviruses promoted by Meta is off-limits to Apple," Gorman explained.
He noted that Apple believes that new visitors to the virtual space will be more interested in "bursts" of activity than the experience that Mark Zuckerberg and his company are working on.
And writer John B. Mello, a specialist in technology, confirms in a report published by the TechNewsWorld platform;
Apple's vision is more realistic than Zuckerberg's, as immersion in metaviruses requires wearing special glasses all the time, and this is impractical, as the writer quotes Ross Rubin, principal analyst at Reticle Research, an information technology consulting company. in New York.
"Over time, these glasses will become lighter and more slender, but no one expects us to wear them all day to stay in touch with the metaverse," Robin said in his interview with Milo.
"Head-mounted devices will continue to be cumbersome for the next few years," Jane Munster, co-founder of Loup Ventures - an American venture capital management company - told Tech News World. Its focus is on short-term experiences that will be more accessible to users.” He added, "Over time, Apple may create lightweight, all-day wearable glasses."
Embrace Augmented Reality
Rubin pointed out - according to Milo in his report - to some additional reasons that may make Apple avoid metaverses at this time, and said, "They may not see a clear revenue model in it yet."
"They tend to focus on broad business opportunities, despite rumors that their first headset is technically 'fantastic' and overpriced."
He also noted that the strategy Apple has used in the past is to step back and watch to see how the market develops.
"Then, when the noise fades, they jump into the fray to win a big slice of the pie," he explained.
Apple's embrace of augmented reality as an alternative to virtual reality could play a role in its rejection of the metaverses that Zuckerberg is advocating. The real world, which is why the company has always preferred augmented reality over virtual reality, and this is quite evident from the tools that Apple makes, and it is clear that they are targeting augmented reality rather than virtual.”
“Virtual reality is great for gaming and for use in certain markets, but Apple believes that providing enhanced augmented reality data that can be imposed on the real world is where it should put most of its effort and energy,” said US technology strategist Tim Bajarin. Milo in his report.
VR is great for gaming and for use in certain markets (Getty Images)
The danger of avoiding metaviruses
This strategy can work for Apple if metaverse fails to gain consumers and users around the world, and even this strategy may distort Zuckerberg's face metaverse by reducing interest in virtual reality.
Bajarin explained that "Metaverse, as defined by Zuckerberg, focuses on virtual reality and is based on a three-dimensional and closed environment, and it needs three-dimensional glasses to immerse in it, and this immersion cannot be achieved without these glasses."
Of course, Apple can ignore metaverses at its own risk, but that disregard could harm Apple-made hardware and gadgets, said Munster, who explains that “the lines between the real and virtual worlds will be blurred, and metaverses will be central to those virtual worlds. If Apple wanted to Build a huge wearable company that has to have hardware that works with metaverse."
high price obstacle
According to reports circulating about the price of the augmented reality glasses that Apple is working on, the expected price will range between one thousand and three thousand dollars, and this means that it will remain in the company's stores, and only a few people can pay this high price.
In this context, Munster said, "We are years away from a reasonable price for these glasses, and it is likely that the price of the headphones that Apple will introduce in 2023 will be about $3,000."
He continued, "Over time, Apple will learn and work to produce headphones that are less expensive and accessible to the public, just as happened with the iPhone," stressing that "high prices have never been an obstacle for some consumers addicted to Apple products, and these products were never cheap, and it is likely The technology might be expensive at the moment, but that wouldn't stop early adopters from buying it.”
Despite the great interest that metavirs has received in some technical circles, it is still in its infancy (communication sites)
Are metaviruses still just a fad?
Despite the great interest that metaverse has received in some technical circles, it is still in its infancy and needs a great deal of work to develop it, and Robin said, “A number of consumers have tried metaverse, wearing Oculus virtual reality glasses produced by Facebook or playing a game “PlayStation” using these glasses, but we are still in the beginnings, and metaverses are still not widespread or prevalent so far.”
"Younger consumers have embraced metaverses, as evidenced by the success of Roblox," Munster said.
"Most consumers and technologists still don't know what form metaviruses will eventually take, which puts them in the category of indifference," he added.
"Consumers don't care much about metaviruses now, it's a vague term that is still being defined," Bajarin emphasized.
He explained that it is like asking consumers what the Internet means to them;
"You may get a number of different answers, some will tell you the Internet is Google, and others will say it is Twitter, Facebook or YouTube, each according to the way it deals with the Internet, but you will not find anyone who defines the Internet as metaviruses, and that is why it does not exist yet."