With Meta (formerly Facebook) due to report fourth-quarter numbers on Wednesday, some analysts are looking for more information on where the company plans to go with its new efforts to develop virtual worlds.
Reuters reports that Meta’s Reality Labs division working on AR and VR could cost the company $10 billion in the short-term, corresponding with a decrease in non-advertising revenue.
However, the report also shows how meta-fans (and Meta-fans) are bullish on the long-term potential of these efforts.
Analysts expect Meta to report an estimated $33.3 billion in revenue and EPS of $3.84.
Total expenses for 2021 are estimated at around $70 billion, with estimated expenses for 2022 at $91 to $97 billion.
As for the impact of virtual reality on enterprise, Hannah Mayer, writing for Forbes, has some projections:
“The future of work will be redefined by new metaverse experiences,” Mayer, a former researcher at HBS and HSG, writes. “Besides Nvidia’s Omniverse Enterprise, Meta’s Horizon Workrooms and Microsoft’s Mesh are also designed to empower work in a virtual world, both enabling remote collaboration across devices through mixed reality applications. Virtual meetings will move to the metaverse – as quickly as within three years, Bill Gates predicts – and workers will increasingly rely on using VR headsets and avatars at work. Thus, the role of corporate real estate could take yet another hit, empowering multiple generations of people already accustomed to work from home because of Covid to demand yet more spatial flexibility in their work lives, with the metaverse decreasing the need for a formal workplace even more.”
Mayer also illustrates how other non-vocational impacts might develop.
“School and social life, too, will evolve,” Mayer writes. “Roblox, for instance, is planning to bring educational videogames to classrooms. Platforms such as AltspaceVR enable community-based experiences in the metaverse, allowing people to gather for live virtual events, such as comedy clubs or bar nights. Roblox sees itself as a future hub for metaverse experiences beyond games, such as concerts.”
In any case, look for VR to become more of our society’s focus in the near future.
