Meta, the company that owns Facebook, opened this Thursday (9) to the North American and Canadian public its virtual reality platform Horizon Worlds, the new step in the construction of its metaverse.
Horizon Worlds is far from being a completely finished metaverse — a kind of internet of the future where online experiences like talking to friends could simulate face-to-face interactions thanks to virtual reality devices.
However, users can already gather on the new platform to chat, play games and build their own virtual worlds, as long as they are over 18 years old and have the appropriate equipment.
As of last year, a trial version of Horizon Worlds has been made available to a limited number of users.
In order to emphasize its new objective as a company, Facebook renamed the matrix to Meta, with the intention of leaving behind the image of a social network prone to controversy, for a new vision as a virtual reality platform.
“We want Horizon Worlds to be a safe environment in which everyone can follow our virtual reality conduct policy,” says the company’s announcement at launch.
“There are several security options […] that allow you to pause and then block, mute or report other users,” the ad adds.
Meta’s main social networks, Facebook and Instagram, have been fighting to leave behind the crisis that was triggered in September this year by a huge leak of internal documents to journalists and US authorities by the whistleblower Frances Haugen.
The leaked documents led to articles against Mark Zuckerberg’s company arguing that, despite knowing that some of its products could be harmful to users, it chose to prioritize growth over security.
The company’s path to the metaverse also includes remote work tools, an activity that has increased considerably with the pandemic.
In August, the company introduced “workrooms” technology that enables remote collaboration between users with access to the Oculus virtual reality device.
The “Horizon Workrooms” project allows you to quickly switch from virtual workspaces to videoconferencing and adapt to different work situations.
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