Mark Zuckerberg envisions a world where physical objects are replaced by interactive holograms and AI avatars become part of our social and professional circles. This ambitious vision is what he calls the “metaverse”. Zuckerberg shared his plan during Meta Connect, the annual conference hosted by his company, Meta, which marked its first in-person gathering since 2019.
In his opening address, Zuckerberg acknowledged the two realities that people navigate today: the physical world, which he deemed “amazing,” and the digital world brimming with “content”. He described how these two realms have intertwined over time, with the “real world” evolving into a blend of the physical and digital. This, he posited, raises the intriguing question of how to unify these experiences.
Zuckerberg then delved into his vision of a future where physical reality and its tangible objects become redundant. He prophesied, “In the future, I think not too far from now, you’re going to walk into a room and there are going to be as many holograms of digital things for you to interact with as there are physical objects”. He emphasized that numerous physical items—paper, media, games, art, workstations, and screens—could all transform into interactive holograms.
Expanding this concept to human interaction, Zuckerberg envisioned a world where some of the people you meet with are physically present while others appear as avatars or holograms. He assured that everyone would feel equally “present”. And it wouldn’t stop at human avatars; there would also be “a bunch of AIs who are embodied as holograms” assisting with various tasks.
As fascinating as this future sounds, one can’t help but ponder how it might feel to remove a headset and confront a decaying physical reality, abandoned in favor of a world inhabited by AI avatars. What would remain of our homes, our walls, and the remnants of the past?
Going Meta
Back in 2021, Mark Zuckerberg rebranded Facebook as Meta. This move signaled a shift away from the company’s primary focus on social media advertising. Meta aimed to become a hardware company. Over the years, Meta invested heavily in the research and development of virtual reality headsets and smart glasses. Its Reality Labs division, tasked with realizing Zuckerberg’s metaverse vision, reported a staggering US$7.7 billion loss in the first half of 2023, according to financial statements.
By October of the previous year, Meta had already poured a cumulative US$36 billion into the metaverse project. Creating mixed reality, the merging of the physical and digital worlds, proved to be a formidable technical challenge. Achieving this required developing low-latency, high-fidelity hardware that was lightweight, comfortable, and stylish enough for people to wear on their faces.
Apple, a veteran hardware company, has been working on a similar device known as the Reality Pro, set to be released for US$3,499 next year. The introduction video for the Reality Pro contained a surreal moment in consumer tech history. It showcased a scene in which a father wearing the headset records his children playing together. In this reverse shot, we glimpse what the children see: not their father’s loving eyes capturing a cherished moment but an expensive piece of Apple-designed headgear.
Technology, particularly smartphone cameras, has increasingly mediated our realities for decades. However, there’s something noteworthy about this scene—it raises questions about whether we want to relinquish control of our reality to Silicon Valley executives in the name of convenience, productivity, and “vibrant digital content.” The answer, perhaps, is a resounding no.
