It appears Meta’s Horizon Worlds may literally and figuratively not have legs after all.
Meta (the company hilariously rebranded with this non-sense as their foundation) has moved on to the next grift: AI and mobile surveillance devices.
Looks Like We Can Finally Kiss the Metaverse Goodbye
Submitted 2 weeks ago by BrikoX@lemmy.zip to technology@lemmy.zip
https://gizmodo.com/looks-like-we-can-finally-kiss-the-metaverse-goodbye-2000695825
Comments
artyom@piefed.social 2 weeks ago
NaibofTabr@infosec.pub 2 weeks ago
To be fair, they’ve been doing mobile surveillance for a long time.
artyom@piefed.social 2 weeks ago
Sure, but I did specifically say mobile video surveillance. Pretty sure their goal is to reduce the friction of taking out your phone to start capturing a video.
I’ve already ended a friendship over these stupid things.
Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 2 weeks ago
after thier propaganda feeds in fb wasnt generating enough profit.
Kirk@startrek.website 2 weeks ago
I love that they changed their name to show how serious they were about the metaverse being the future of tech and it never even came close to being a thing.
Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 2 weeks ago
isnt meta kinda late in the game for AI anyways, apple was even later and they abandoned for the most part.
Miaou@jlai.lu 2 weeks ago
Considering they developed the framework everybody builds upon nowadays, I doubt it.
howrar@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
They’ve been in the AI game for about as long as everyone else. I would consider their lab to be one of the best in CV tech.
artyom@piefed.social 2 weeks ago
Not later than anyone else that hopped on the chat gpt bandwagon.
pyre@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
IT WAS STILL AROUND???
finitebanjo@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Second Life outlived it lmao
pyre@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
it was also more advanced despite having been released like a hundred years before
BCsven@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
Metaverse was like the AI nobody asked for getting pushed into apps. Nobody wanted Wii Mii like hangout rooms where you have to water a clunky headset.
hperrin@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
I never watered mine. Was that the issue?
zipzoopaboop@lemmynsfw.com 2 weeks ago
I assumed face sweat was sufficient
partial_accumen@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Metaverse was like the AI nobody asked for getting pushed into apps. Nobody wanted Wii Mii like hangout rooms where you have to water a clunky headset.
I was willing to give a shot to something like the Metaverse, but the instant I heard it was a Facebook/Meta project I had zero interest and hoped it would die. This was my same experience with Occulus. These are both technologies I want for a cyberpunk future, but Facebook cannot be the one to control them.
cassandrafatigue@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
I actually liked it back when it was called second life
bystander@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
The original guy that made Oculus stuck around after the buy out, until a couple years ago and rage quit. Because he said that Meta is killing his original vision. So yeah.
SkunkWorkz@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
It’s funny how almost everyone from FAANG is failing hard in the gaming space. Like Google fails with Stadia, Amazon shutdown how many game studios, Netflix shutdown that studio that were making a Squidgame game and the Zuck dumped billions into the metaverse void. Looks like the Silicon Valley way of doing business just doesn’t work in the games industry.
ltxrtquq@lemmy.ml 2 weeks ago
Which is weird, because the gaming industry is full of low effort, hyper monetized slop that sells extremely well.
paraphrand@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
VRChat is the most popular “metaverse” and it’s still growing every year.
So it’s weird to call the metaverse dead when Horizon wasn’t even in the lead among its competitors.
Randomgal@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
VRChat is not owned by meta, therefore not part of the meta verse.
Metaverse is not the same as VR.
Xavienth@lemmygrad.ml 2 weeks ago
Metaverse is a (imo cringe) term for VR experiences in general, but in particular VR social experiences. Facebook changed their name to Meta specifically to try to brand themselves as the metaverse company, it wasn’t the other way around.
kittenzrulz123@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
No but undeniably the death of the metaverse is taking VR with it, once meta leaves the VR space it will be exclusively for enthusiasts and low quality indie games.
JackbyDev@programming.dev 2 weeks ago
I get your point, I genuinely do. But the way the general public uses the term metaverse is to refer to Horizon, not that style of game/app in general.
golden_zealot@lemmy.ml 2 weeks ago
It’s funny because the meta quest recently had an update that got rid of custom/user created environments for the home area and only gave you some shitty options. The default one was a shitty balcony that overlooked a big stupid tower advertising this and they made the “portal” to it permanent and unremoveable.
In addition to this almost every time you opened a menu it would pop up a fucking ad/link to enter the application almost every time.
Pretty sure now this was a desperate last ditch effort to try to increase traffic - but clearly NO ONE wanted it and it just pissed everyone off more.
If they want to save face to any degree they should revert that fucking patch ASAP. I miss my home environment being a fucking derelict warehouse.
bluesheep@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
It always amazes me that some executives think that taking away customization is the way to get more traffic instead of driving away to people who put effort into making a customized thing
Bob_Robertson_IX@discuss.tchncs.de 2 weeks ago
It amazes me that so many people bought this product from Meta. When the Oculus Rift was first announced I was so excited and hopeful that we were finally going to get VR right… then they got bought by Facebook and I knew right then that I’d never own one. Here’s hoping the new Steam headset can live up to the hype.
vithigar@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
I miss my original Oculus Home. Had a nice arrangement of furniture, a shooting range, a little shelf that held virtual cartridges of all my games, various little statues and trophies that you could display for achievements… and they just got rid of it all.
Immediately killed any interest I had in customizing my virtual space. Why bother if they’re just going to rug pull it at any time. They could’ve at least let us continue to visit it “offline”.
Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
But a device you kind of use sometimes (if you remember you own it)
Oh shit I do own one. Thanks for the reminder
bus_factor@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
May I ask why? It seems like a huge risk due to being tethered to a Facebook account which could get banned at any time. Was the price too good to pass up?
Anivia@feddit.org 2 weeks ago
They pretty much have a monopoly on standalone VR headsets atm
Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I got it for free like four years ago and have barely used it since
ImgurRefugee114@reddthat.com 2 weeks ago
The metaverse, in some form, is nearly inevitable IMO. But it’ll be a federated-like infrastructure and I’m very glad Facebook will have fuck all to do with it.
schnurrito@discuss.tchncs.de 2 weeks ago
It seems that you understand what the term “metaverse” was even supposed to mean; care to enlighten the rest of us?
agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
Not them, but I think I’ve got a bead on it, assuming you treat it as a general concept and not a trademark:
It’s basically the Platonic ideal of a game lobby. Kinda like what Miiverse was supposed to be, or Ready Player One. They were both after my time but I think maybe kinda like Club Penguin or Roblox? Like an overworld with a custom avatar that you can socialize in and sync into other apps or games together.
It does seem basically inevitable, fast forward gaming 10 years and I’d be surprised if something like that wasn’t the norm.
Malgas@beehaw.org 2 weeks ago
Like many crappy things these days, the name and some of the concept were stolen from good sci-fi. Snow Crash, in this case, in which it was as if the entire Internet was VR.
Which, the Web barely existed when that book was written, so wild visions of what the Internet might turn out to be were to be expected. And something like it remains a common cyberpunk trope to this day.
That said, I disagree with the other poster that it will ever happen, let alone is inevitable.
ImgurRefugee114@reddthat.com 2 weeks ago
Think gravatar meets roblox VR web.
10TH_OF_SEPTEMBER_CALL@hexbear.net 2 weeks ago
we’ll live in pods and have jobs in second life
cassandrafatigue@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
Read the book ‘snow crash’, he was trying to do an even more dystopian version of… Just that entire book.
SubArcticTundra@lemmy.ml 2 weeks ago
But it’ll be a federated-like infrastructure
Unfortunately I don’t see any guarantees for this. Unless the incentives that led to the enshittification of the internet disappear, the Metaverse will probably eventually look and function much the same. It really is that predictable.
ImgurRefugee114@reddthat.com 2 weeks ago
Perhaps an open set of standards at the least. Some form of super-oauth would be required but I should have clarified that the openness of a true federation-like model is aspirational: invisioned as a conscious and intentional rejection of the ever-increasing monetization, financialization, and enshittification of all mediums of social interaction.
People didn’t jump on the FB metaverse partly because it was shit, but partly because it was painfully obvious it was full of grift and a billionaire’s wet dream of further social monopolization. The friction and frustration has been increasing. The world falling apart makes the little nagging annoyances just that much more irritating, and people are starting to actively resist them rather than just rant and succumb.
paraphrand@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Yea, and asset ownership will make federated Social VR awkward. As in, few will put in time making spaces and games that can be instantly duplicated and rehosted.
It’s an upside that platforms have, they can do at least some moderation regarding content theft. It’s never perfect, but it’s better than a free for all.
fluffykittycat@slrpnk.net 2 weeks ago
Meta couldn’t make their digital shopping mall work with unlimited money. Tailscale made hosting from home 100x easier. Federation protocols are maturing. It’s fundamentally no different from hosting a Minecraft server, which even kids do
nymnympseudonym@piefed.social 2 weeks ago
How can I say goodbye to a place neither I nor anybody I know has ever been
Carl@hexbear.net 2 weeks ago
For real, they should have either bought or cloned VRChat as a first step, and then looked into expanding from there. That shit is a metaverse that people willing go into primarily because it enables a ton of free expression.
cassandrafatigue@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
Yes but that expression wasn’t commercial, so it wasn’t what the snow crash company really wanted.
arsCynic@piefed.social 2 weeks ago
Even his avatar looks dead.
Blackmist@feddit.uk 2 weeks ago
Pretty life-like tbh
Kolanaki@pawb.social 2 weeks ago
What’s dumb is that they have the hardware for it, and 3rd party software can use the inside-out tracking to making your legs work. What the fuck is Meta’s problem? Do they only have vibe coders on staff?
bus_factor@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Facebook once explained that their mobile app is so huge because they encourage everyone to just roll their own thing instead of sharing code, because it’s faster to not have to coordinate or something. Well, if you never leverage other people’s work ever, you’re going to spend a lot of time reinventing wheels, and a lot of those wheels will look more like hexagons.
cassandrafatigue@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
Lol! Ephebophile management philosophy!
SpruceBringsteen@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
This will die, but in one year GTA6 will release. People are already “working” virtual jobs for pennies in unofficial servers for the last game and Rockstar has prepared the ground even more for the next.
Raiderkev@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I love how Facebitch changed the name of the company to Meta, and still haven’t changed it back.
Woht24@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
… What?
Raiderkev@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
The parent company changed their name to Meta because they were “focusing on the metaverse.” It’s still called Meta despite no a single person ever using their shitty second life oculus clone.
hperrin@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
So long and thanks for all the memes.
Doomsider@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Oh seriously. In a sane world this shit stain would be fired for incompetence.
SubArcticTundra@lemmy.ml 2 weeks ago
They could have spent them much better, on me.
rizzothesmall@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
That’s the most human looking picture of Mark Zuckerberg I’ve ever seen
onnekas@sopuli.xyz 2 weeks ago
Say ‘goodbye’ already??
I never got to say ‘hello’ in the first place!!
Zier@fedia.io 2 weeks ago
Oh no! Shock!
I would rather join MySpace before I purchased a house in the "metaverse".SendMePhotos@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I miss the Playstation Home game. Wish that was vr.
SteveNashFan@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
“I just bought more land in the Metaverse”
SubArcticTundra@lemmy.ml 2 weeks ago
Can’t wait for Metaverse land annexations (hackers)
fluffykittycat@slrpnk.net 2 weeks ago
The whole appeal is that “land” is free. No one will pay
boaratio@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
horn_e4_beaver@discuss.tchncs.de 2 weeks ago
Is he being hunted in this picture?
1995ToyotaCorolla@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Billionaires are the most dangerous game
boaratio@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Nah, he’s on one of those stupid foil boards.
rizzothesmall@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
That’s still a thing? Is it just Zuck wondering around his own digital universe trying to find people to be friends with?
Doomsider@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
You can’t run with an idea if it has no legs?
huf@hexbear.net 2 weeks ago
Looks like meatverse is back on the menu
rayquetzalcoatl@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Oh no but I was just about to join
mesamunefire@piefed.social 2 weeks ago
It will happen to ai too.
And009@lemmynsfw.com 2 weeks ago
Everything is ai, maybe after ww3
frog_brawler@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
What the fuck is the Metaverse?
Lumisal@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Basically a terrible bootleg of “Ready Player One”.
ArmchairAce1944@discuss.online 2 weeks ago
Basically a VR space that Mark Zuckerberg thought was going to be the new internet and everyone will do their stuff there while wearing a VR headset and represented by an on screen avatar.
Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
It means different things to different people.
Roblox is the most successful example.
horn_e4_beaver@discuss.tchncs.de 2 weeks ago
It’s like an centralised version of lemmy where you have to spend thousands on hardware just to join - and that isn’t even hosting costs.
ArmchairAce1944@discuss.online 2 weeks ago
So long… never knew you.
ristoril_zip@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
hahaha think of all the money stupid people spent on that.
hypnicjerk@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
and nothing of value was lost
glibg@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
(Except of course the billions of dollars spent building it)
pelespirit@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
That’s the only thing I like about this situation. That money went to the people who worked on the project.
yakko@feddit.uk 2 weeks ago
Holy tax write-offs, Batman!