All the action, if you hear it from a Web3 or metaverse proponent, will be virtual in future, with people interacting in cyberspace with ever more immersive experiences instead of meeting so often physically.
To get there, however, you still need to open a store today to sell people the gear they need to get into the metaverse in the future. That’s what Meta just did.
Its first-ever retail store, just opened this week in California in the United States, offers shoppers the chance to try out virtual reality (VR) headsets like the Quest Two, which lets users explore the metaverse for the first time, reported CNBC.
At the 1,500-foot store near Meta’s Reality Labs HQ, there are also Ray-Ban Stories, essentially smart glasses that help capture photos and videos to share on social platforms, according the report.
Yes, we’ve seen that before with Google Glass, haven’t we? But here’s Meta taking a stab at it with the help of sunglass maker Ray Ban.
After all, VR isn’t new, either, but people’s expectations change and technologies improve over time to drive adoption. Think of how MP3 players changed the way music is listened to, or how smartphones have evolved into today’s indispensable gadgets.
What the Meta store is out to do is not just to sell the gadgets to consumers, but also to gain feedback from them.
“The Meta Store is going to help people make that connection to how our products can be the gateway to the metaverse in the future,” said Martin Gilliard, the head of Meta Store.
We’re not selling the metaverse in our store, but hopefully people will come in and walk out knowing a little bit more about how our products will help connect them to it,” he added.
