The metaverse may have been eclipsed by the launch of various generative artificial intelligence (AI) products throughout 2022 to 2023, but 2024 may bring it back to the spotlight, thanks to the arrival of the Vision Pro. Others, however, think that the term “spatial computing,” made more popular by Apple’s new device, may instead take center stage and replace “metaverse” in the future of Web3D.
Big Projects are Now Avoiding Mention of the “Metaverse”
The start of the year saw the emergence of big metaverse projects such as Disney’s partnership with Epic Games for the major expansion of Fortnite and the arrival of the Vision Pro from Apple. Strangely, both cases have avoided mentioning “metaverse” in their press releases, speeches, and other marketing resources.
In its place, Disney and Epic Games have used “persistent, open, and interoperable ecosystem” and “persistent universe” when referring to the world within Fortnite. Meanwhile, Apple placed heavy emphasis on “spatial computing” in the integration of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) within the Vision Pro.
Although they haven’t provided any explanation for snubbing the “metaverse,” analysts suspect that the omission may have been a deliberate effort to prevent consumers from linking or confusing their products with Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta (formerly Facebook).
In late 2021, Zuckerberg capitalized on the popularity of the metaverse by rebranding Facebook into Meta. The company revealed that the reason behind the change is to reflect its long-term goal of creating a virtual world powered by AI where users can “spend increasing parts of their lives” using their avatars.
Amid the waning fame of the metaverse in 2023, Meta VP of Metaverse Vishal Shah boldly claimed that the hype for the metaverse may have died down but the idea lives on. While referencing Gartner’s Hype Cycle, he pointed out, “…we didn’t invest for the hype, we have been investing in the space for years.”
The Term “Metaverse” May Be Getting Replaced, but Not the Concept
Both “metaverse” and “spatial computing” are interlaced, and the latter is often thought of as a part of the former. Jon Jaehnig, a writer and metaverse aficionado, best described them by saying, “The metaverse is the end experience and product, and spatial computing is one of the technologies that allows some of those experiences.”
“But a spatial computing-enabled experience might not be a metaverse experience and not all metaverse experiences use spatial computing,” he clarified.
Meanwhile, Andrew Schwartz, Director of Metaverse Engineering at Nike, told Forbes, “If the organizing principle of the internet is that information wants to be shared, and the organizing principle of the metaverse is that information wants to be experienced, spatial computing brings together the tools necessary to create those experiences.”
From the statements of these experts, there appears to be a clear distinction between the evolved concept of the metaverse and spatial computing.
Only time will tell whether or not spatial computing may end up eclipsing other metaverse projects. Nonetheless, Meta appears to be bullish about the developments as it gives their $50 billion investment in metaverse some justification. Likewise, the company sees Vision Pro complementing the Meta Quest in the market in some way; similar to how the IOS devices and Android are having healthy competition in the industry.