Meta nudges its big VR push another step away from the Facebook legacy
Summary
Meta is introducing a new way for people to log in to virtual reality headsets without using their Facebook credentials, the companys latest effort to separate its futuristic metaverse ambitions from its core social media business. While Meta still gets substantially all of its revenue from its Facebook family of apps, Zuckerberg is trying to convince investors and a certain subset of customers that the business is headed in a different direction as the metaverse evolves. Although VR and AR headsets are still niche devices in a world dominated by smartphones, the Facebook founder has indicated they represent the future of computing and he recently said he envisions 1 billion users spending hundreds of dollars each in the metaverse by the second half of the decade. Reality Labs, Metas division responsible for developing the metaverse and its underlying technologies, posted a $10 billion loss in 2021. Meta also is trying to make amends with its current customer base of Quest VR users after the company previously required them to use their Facebook accounts to access headsets.