In late 2021, Mark Zuckerberg undertook what was arguably the most significant pivot in Facebook’s then 17-year history.

Speaking at the social media giant’s Connect conference, he announced that they were going all-in on his vision of the ‘Metaverse’; a virtual world where people could communicate, socialise and work.

This, he said, was the next chapter for the internet and his company. Even the company’s name changed to reflect the importance of the move.

And it was more than just a branding exercise. Since then the company has directed tens of billions of dollars towards the area. Appearing on Joe Rogan’s podcast in August 2022, Zuckerberg described the metaverse as his “holy grail”.

So far, though, his quest to create the metaverse hasn’t quite lived up to the hype.

Various reports have suggested that, internally, staff have struggled to get to grips with exactly what they were being asked to create. Some working in the area have even shown a disinterest in the technology, with management reportedly admonishing some for failing to actually use the platform they were supposed to be building.

Externally, many have questioned the point of the entire exercise. The dated-looking graphics from Meta’s Horizon Worlds game, and the fact that avatars didn’t even have legs, also became the butt of many online jokes.

It’s been an expensive business, too.

Last year alone Meta lost $13.7 billion on Reality Labs, its division tasked with realising this virtual future.

And now the future of Zuckerberg’s metaverse has become uncertain.

Last week, in a 2,202-word post announcing the laying off of 10,000 workers, the CEO only used the word ‘metaverse’ twice.

Instead, Zuckerberg turned the spotlight towards artificial intelligence, an area which he said was Meta’s “single largest investment”.

Beyond Meta’s metaverse

Some believe that this shift in priorities within Meta will signal the quiet demise of the metaverse; but others believe it will actually liberate the burgeoning sector.

“I’ve gotten a little bit tired of the hype, finally the real work can get underway,” said Rafa Pagés, co-founder and CEO of Volograms.

Volograms, a spin-out from Trinity College Dublin, is a virtual and augmented reality firm that allows people to use their phones to create 3D avatars and objects, for use in the likes of the metaverse.

“I wasn’t a fan of what Mark Zuckerberg did when they changed the name of the company and announced a very far-into-the-future concept of what the metaverse could be,” he said. “I think that when you do this kind of PR play it can kind of backlash, and I think it has happened to them.”

Others, though, feel that Meta’s pivot has ultimately been of benefit to the sector.

“When all of this came out business got busier,” said Camille Donegan, who specialises in VR-based training and experiences. “Companies that were maybe putting it on a longer roadmap suddenly decided that they needed to look at the metaverse and immersive technology solutions sooner.

“It did normalise the conversation and helped us with our agenda as well.”

While Zuckerberg’s 2021 move may have attempted to tie Meta to the metaverse, it does not claim to have any ownership over the concept or the name.

The term ‘metaverse’ actually dates back to a 30-year old science fiction book Snow Crash, which paints a bleak picture of a world enabled by this kind of virtual platform. But however the metaverse develops in the real world, it’s likely to include multiple versions and iterations that users hop between, just like they do with apps and websites today.

Meta(multi)verse

“There are so many more views of what augmented reality and virtual reality can be, and can be used for,” said James Corbett, managing director of virtual training firm Simvirtua.

Aside from that role, James is also a director of Irish immersive technology representative group Eirmersive.

It uses the word ‘immersive’ as a catch-all that covers the full spectrum of technologies in this space. That includes the fully virtual world that Mark Zuckerberg imagines; but also the augmented, extended or mixed realities that blend 3D images in with our real world view.

And while Meta’s pitch is built on what might be possible in the future, immersive technology is already a reality for many businesses here.

A report by Eirmersive last year said there were at least 32 Irish companies working in the space. And, beyond the hype of the futuristic metaverse, many of these firms are already making sales – with the sector estimated to have combined revenues of €43m.

“There are highly practical use cases that have been going on for a few years now,” said James.

That includes companies like James’, virtual reality-based training companies like VRAI, and Engage – which is helping other firms to build their own virtual events and platforms.

Camille Donegan, who is also involved with Eirmersive, previously developed a virtual environment that helped FBD Holdings to train up call centre recruits.

“You were in this 360 video of the busy call centre environment, with spatial audio – so it was the closest simulation of being in the call centre while you’re actually in the safe environment of a training room,” she said. “They found that people would realise on day 2 of training that this wasn’t for them, and that was brilliant because it saved on attrition.”

That concept was also taken to CAMHS, where users were able to experience a first-person perspective of a teenager with anxiety – and their interaction a coach trying to help them.

Immersive technology has also been used by major multinationals here, including one large pharmaceutical firm that was able to facilitate virtual regulatory audits during the height of the pandemic.

Meanwhile, those working in sectors as disparate as gaming, the arts and wellness are dabbling with the form.

“I do use it for gaming, I use it for meditation, I’m often trying out new social spaces to see what’s out there,” said Camille. “I go to events – I’m going to a Fatboy Slim concert on the Engage platform, which is from Waterford, so that’s fascinating and the use cases bring me into the headset.”

Vologram’s technology is flexible enough to work in the fully immersive, virtual world that Zuckerberg imagines. But co-founder Rafa believes the sector’s growth will be more grounded, and part of the gradual shift that has been underway in technology for decades.

“In the same way that we first needed to be in front of our computers to interact with the internet, then our laptops, then our phones,” he said. “Each of those iterations allowed us to do more things and access new services like our location, or sensors in our devices.

“I think that the metaverse will be AR-based, with a lot of information around us that is 3D, that interacts with the real world around us and doesn’t isolate us.”

Other Irish firms are already realising that augmented vision; like Imvizar, which creates AR-based, visual experiences for landmarks and tourist attractions.

“We have experiences in Ireland, the UK, the US, Portugal and most recently in Sydney in Australia,” said Michael Guerin, founder and CEO of Imvizar.

Using its app, visitors to specific locations – like Spike Island in Cork – can use their phones to overlay 3D animations onto what’s really in front of them.

“Spike Island used to have an audio tour, now they have a tour on the Imvizar app,” he said. “When you go into the guard’s room you’ll see the prison guard and he’ll be telling you off for speaking, when you go to the punishment block you see somebody chained to the wall and they tell you how awful it is to be chained to the wall for 23 and a half hours a day.”

Imvizar is also building a platform for the AR content others are creating, aiming to become a kind of Netflix of the augmented reality world.

Last month it raised €800,000 in seed funding, and it was the only Irish company to be invited to pitch at SXSW earlier this month.

Headset hesitancy

One of the key factors that has aided its rapid growth has been its decision to focus on what is possible in the space now, rather than what may be technically possible in the future.

“It’s definitely not the most advanced AR which you can get on a pair of glasses with hand tracking, which will be released in three years’ time,” he said. “There’s no point in building something like that because nobody can use it at the minute.

“It’s the most advanced that can be used on the devices that are currently in people’s pockets.”

The emphasis others have put on headsets is often cited as a stumbling block for the advancement of immersive technology.

While there is an ever-growing number of companies producing AR and VR devices, they generally remain expensive, bulky and often downright ugly.

“People don’t mind wearing that kind of thing in the home, but when you’re talking about people wearing it outside of the home that’s going to have to be augmented reality experience and that’s just a harder technology to perfect,” said James Corbett. “You can have an AR experience in your home but that’s never going to be the same as having it on your headset – but we’ll get there.”

The general consensus is that the technology will eventually advance to the point that it is practical – and desirable – to wear all the time.

A potentially significant step in that process is expected to come in a matter of weeks, as Apple is predicted to announce its first mixed reality headset at WWDC in June.

“We’re waiting years for Apple to jump into this space,” said James. “You remember the old Bluetooth headsets… they looked ridiculous and people never thought they’d be cool to wear; then a few years later and AirPods have become extremely cool.

“There’s no doubt that Apple can just make anything cool, technology-wise, just because they’re Apple.”

But the rumour mill suggests that Apple’s first foray will be focused on professionals – with a consumer-based, every-day headset still some time away.

Microsoft, Sony and Google are among the other big firms that are actively investing in and developing for the space.

As for Meta, even with Zuckerberg’s recent sidelining of his metaverse vision, it’s likely the social media giant will remain at the forefront in the coming years.

A new, consumer-focused version of its Quest headset is expected at some point this year, while it continues to try to lure users into its Horizon World environment.

Companies in the space are confident that more and more use cases will come as the technology develops – just as touchscreen smartphones went from being gimmicky to ubiquitous over the past 15 years.

Terminology termination

But while convincing users to don headsets may help the sector’s growth, there’s broad agreement that it needs to shed its clunky terminology before consumers can fully embrace it.

“I’m tired of the term ‘metaverse’, probably in the same way that people in the 90s were tired of the term ‘cyberspace’,” said Rafa from Volograms. “We’re at the stage right now where people are building hype about it, but eventually we won’t be thinking about metaverse, we’ll be thinking about this application, this platform, this experience and this game.

“And in some ways we are already over that.”

Michael from Imvizar points out that millions of regular consumers are already using augmented reality on a daily basis but, because they’re being spared the jargon, they probably don’t realise it.

“Snapchat and Instagram are the biggest AR companies in the world,” he said. “But they never call it AR – it’s a lens and a filter to them.”

In his previous work in the Internet of Things space, Michael saw the industry transition from talking about technical networking specifications to a focus on the benefits of the ‘smart’ technology they were making.

He expects the same will happen with immersive technology too.

“The messaging moved to the benefit rather than the technology and I think that’s where AR and VR will go.”