Will Microsoft Beat Facebook to the Metaverse? (venturebeat.com) 45
"When comparing Meta — formerly Facebook — and Microsoft's approaches to the metaverse, it's clear Microsoft has a much more grounded and realistic vision," argues an analyst at data analytics/consultancy company GlobalData:
Meta is set to grab a large portion of the $51 billion revenues from VR that GlobalData expects will be generated by 2030. Facebook led the consumer VR headsets market in 2020 and registered 255 VR-related patents between 2016 and 2020. And, as Meta, the company also plans to launch an enterprise-grade headset in Q4 2021. However, VR hardware and software have not been widely adopted. This is attributable to several issues, including latency, nausea, high prices, privacy concerns, and a lack of compelling content. While technologies such as 5G, cloud services, and motion tracking should help to address latency and nausea issues, improving content and developing effective data privacy practices will be paramount for VR's success (more on data privacy in a moment). For these reasons VR is not yet ready to take on the task of the metaverse.
Microsoft seems to have understood better than Meta how people actually use technology. All you need to use Mesh — Microsoft's so-called gateway to the metaverse — is your current smartphone or laptop. No clunky headsets or expensive tech setups are needed. With this approach, Microsoft is keeping its focus on available capabilities and enterprise applications over Meta's vision of total lifestyle adoption. Microsoft Teams also currently has over 145 million daily active users, whereas the total cumulative installed base of VR headsets is less than 17 million. From these numbers alone, Mesh for Microsoft Teams has a possible user base of more than eight times the number of users Meta could hope to reach with its VR headsets.
Facebook's promises of protecting data's privacy in the metaverse "will not be enough to reassure most future users," the article argues.
"Microsoft, on the other hand, is a market leader in data privacy and, when ranked by the 10 themes that matter most to the social media industry, is in second place overall, according to GlobalData's Social Media Thematic Scorecard. Meta is ranked 21st overall out of 35 companies on the scorecard, and its activity with regards to data privacy will be highly detrimental to its future performance."
Besides new issues like hyper-personalized ads, the metaverse will still face the old problem of content moderation, the article suggests — only now spread across a massive scale. And the article ultimately argues that "The metaverse will suffer from the same issues that plague the current version of the internet unless the right actions are taken by those that end up with control..."
Microsoft's better position as a future leader in the metaverse "comes with responsibilities, and Microsoft needs to be prepared to face them...."
Microsoft seems to have understood better than Meta how people actually use technology. All you need to use Mesh — Microsoft's so-called gateway to the metaverse — is your current smartphone or laptop. No clunky headsets or expensive tech setups are needed. With this approach, Microsoft is keeping its focus on available capabilities and enterprise applications over Meta's vision of total lifestyle adoption. Microsoft Teams also currently has over 145 million daily active users, whereas the total cumulative installed base of VR headsets is less than 17 million. From these numbers alone, Mesh for Microsoft Teams has a possible user base of more than eight times the number of users Meta could hope to reach with its VR headsets.
Facebook's promises of protecting data's privacy in the metaverse "will not be enough to reassure most future users," the article argues.
"Microsoft, on the other hand, is a market leader in data privacy and, when ranked by the 10 themes that matter most to the social media industry, is in second place overall, according to GlobalData's Social Media Thematic Scorecard. Meta is ranked 21st overall out of 35 companies on the scorecard, and its activity with regards to data privacy will be highly detrimental to its future performance."
Besides new issues like hyper-personalized ads, the metaverse will still face the old problem of content moderation, the article suggests — only now spread across a massive scale. And the article ultimately argues that "The metaverse will suffer from the same issues that plague the current version of the internet unless the right actions are taken by those that end up with control..."
Microsoft's better position as a future leader in the metaverse "comes with responsibilities, and Microsoft needs to be prepared to face them...."
Microsoft and Facebook (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
future leader in the metaverse (Score:2)
Sounds like your regular dystopia there. On the internet there are only followers, no leaders
Jesus H. Macey⦠(Score:3, Insightful)
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Compare the Nvidia Omniverse, which is a 3d data visualization platform built on top of Pixar's Universal Scene Description format.
It sounds like MS might be leaning more in that direction, which would be more useful than FB's "VR with TVs showing ads."
No they will not (Score:5, Interesting)
Microsoft has no clue how to make VR hardware. HoloLens sucks. It is heavy and the field of view is too tiny for immersion.
Even Facebook making a compelling metaverse is iffy. It requires a headset that weighs no more than 150 grams (sunglasses are 30 grams.) Also the pixels per degree need to be at 60 or higher (like the Varjo-3 center view.) Also it needs to be microLED or OLED or some other tech that enables deep blacks. Only those features will make VR bearable for daily use of hours per day. Is it even possible? The display may have to be at 8K per eye with an optical diffuser to blur the space between pixels. Eye tracking for foveated rendering is required so the GPU can handle it.
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Microsoft has no clue how to make VR hardware. HoloLens sucks. It is heavy and the field of view is too tiny for immersion.
This is one of the daftest posts I've read in a while. The hololens is AR hardware not VR hardware. Also mucrosoft have no clue how to make spades. Have you TRIED digging a hole with a hololens? IT SUCKS. The hololens is an amazing piece of tech: the SLAM system on board with the extra low latency GPU and time warping makes it look like augmentations are solidly stuck to the world. The
Work avoidance? (Score:3)
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I suspect only a tiny majority of would be "influencers" really make a living out of it, but if someone manages to do it there's nothing inherently contemptible about it, just like there's nothing inherently contemptible about being a "millenial".
If someone can financially support their hobby by maintaining a social media presence, then that's perfectly legitimate and actually useful to others with similar interests. If they can make a living at it, more power to them. But I suspect that's not what most p
Re: (Score:1)
I don't think there are too many teens signing up to Slashdot. In any case, I doubt a bald obese moron virgin would be their idol...
Microsoft, market leader in data privacy (Score:3)
Since Microsoft's commercial tools are consistently the root cause of most security breaches, especially including zero-day vulnerabilities in their critical servers and client operating systems, this seems an ill-founded claim.
Drinking Metaverse Koolaid Already? (Score:3)
Both lost already (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
And now I'm ready (Score:2)
to see Snow Crash to play out in the real world. Oh, wait...
Outside of Xbox, MS has consistently (Score:2)
fucked up in the consumer market over and over despite throwing bloatloads of at cash at it (spelling intended). They only have the biz market due to compatibility. MS cannot compete on merit alone anymore. They lost their consumer sense and grew dependent on compatibility. You can't recovery from compatibility addiction overnight. They are stuck on the compatibility train because their culture is shaped by it. They don't know anything else except leveraging Wintel compatibility; it's an MS reflex.
What did I just read? (Score:3)
"5G, cloud services, and motion tracking should help to address latency and nausea issues."
No. Local fast graphics systems help with latency and nausea. 5G and cloud services have nothing to do with it, they're too high latency for VR.
Motion tracking already helps. That's why the Oculus dev kits were the last serious attempt at VR to have issues with nausea. Since the HTC Vive launch, VR has been less nausea inducing than gaming on a screen. I know several people who can't handle gaming on a screen--it's called "simulator sickness"--and are fine with the Vive.
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At some point these dumb-asses will have to face the fact that the remoteness of remote services is a primary cause of latencies.
Local hardware is pretty much the only thing that can help here. And it's not only about graphics systems. At least if we're talking about traditional architecture that splits workloa
I doubt it (Score:2)
Microsoft has never beaten anyone to anywhere.
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No, they usually don't resort to beating someone. Adhesion contracts work so much better and are also legal.
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Xbox is their only consumer market success.
Complete BS (Score:2)
Nobody can own the metaverse.... (Score:2)
I donâ(TM)t want it (Score:2)
LOL (Score:2)
The "adopters" can have their little fantasy cartoon world. I'll just go outdoors, plenty to see there.
This "Metaverse" sounds more and more like dot.com (Score:2)
Nobody knows what it is, it basically is fuck all at the current point and nobody really knows how to monetize it, but everyone is absolutely certain it's the big thing that everyone needs to be in... only to eventually realize that nobody gives a fuck about it.
Looking forward to the next Superbowl.
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Nobody knows what it is, it basically is fuck all at the current point and nobody really knows how to monetize it,
Aren't you, as your name suggests, an opportunist? Don't knock it, there was a tonne of money to be made by us techies making the dotcom bubble first time round (well, I didn't ride that wave), and there's a lot of money to be made building this one too. People are going to be hiring in a frenzy and prepared to pay well.
Also, because it's being fought over by existing, large companies not soon-t
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When I created the account about 2 decades ago, it was a joke.
Now, I'm cyncical and jaded enough that it's probably fitting.
I prefer analog ... (Score:2)
Suits me just fine. While everybody else spends time with the creeps in the Metaverse [youtube.com], I am going to visit the Icelandverse [youtube.com] instead. Guess who will have more fun ...
Facebook the keeper of the Metaverse? Ha! (Score:1)
What?? (Score:2)
PokerStars VR beat them both (Score:2)