With reports that Facebook Inc. is expected to rebrand as a metaverse company, the not-so-novel term has made its way into headlines around the world.
Technology news website The Verge reported Tuesday that the company, known for its social network and messaging platforms, will announce a new company name to better reflect its ambitions to build the metaverse.
“Facebook has plenty of reasons to want us to look at something else,” said Beth Coleman, a professor at the University of Toronto’s Institute of Communications, Culture, Information and Technology.
But beyond Facebook’s legal challenges, experts say the metaverse could be the next frontier of the social web where companies create new platforms to hook users.
What is the metaverse?
Like many modern technologies, the idea has roots in science fiction. Neal Stephenson’s novel Snow Crash first mentioned the metaverse in 1992, describing it as a shared, virtual space where users can interact.
It isn’t a platform or experience owned by one single company. While it’s often used to describe digital worlds in which users can communicate, play and do business with others, the idea is much broader.
“It’s this kind of catch-all term for anything that seems like it’s something that comes after the mobile internet, which was the thing that came after the desktop internet,” said Adi Robertson, senior reporter for The Verge.
A man uses a virtual reality (VR) headset. VR technology is expected to be a driving force behind the metaverse, creating immersive experiences for users. (Benoit Tessier/Reuters)
Ramona Pringle, an associate professor at the Ryerson University RTA School of Media, says it’s an idea decades in the making. Virtual spaces inhabited by digital avatars — popularized by the virtual world of Second Life in the 2000s — promised to “take over our lives” long before social networks had users glued to their phones all day long.
The metaverse as it’s now described would be an evolution from that original idea combined with social networking as we know it today, she says.
Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technology is expected to a driving force for the virtual worlds by creating immersive experiences for users, and could further blur the lines between real and digital life.
WATCH | Tech reporter says Facebook is on the verge of a massive rebrand:
Tech reporter says Facebook is on the verge of a massive rebrand
4 days ago
The Verge’s senior reporter Alex Heath tells Power & Politics the social media giant is set to undergo a series of changes — including a new company name. 5:31
What will users do there?
Facebook’s vision of the metaverse isn’t too far off from Stephenson’s sci-fi concept.
The company describes it as a “set of virtual spaces where you can create and explore with other people who aren’t in the same physical space as you.”
But the metaverse will go beyond providing space to chat with new and old avatar-based friends. In the video game worlds of Roblox and Fortnite, early entrants to the metaverse popular among younger players, pop stars have held live concerts and digital goods are traded for in-game currency, for example.
“There’s this desire to be more immersive and … an active participant in these virtual experiences because we realize that we’re just going to have to spend a lot more time there and we’re OK with that,” said Annie Zhang, host of the podcast Hello Metaverse and a senior product designer at Roblox.
Zhang predicts a future with economies that transcend the real world — an idea that began years ago in Second Life.
A child customizes their avatar in the popular game Roblox. The game, which allows players to explore virtual worlds with a unique avatar, has been billed as part of the metaverse. (Phil Noble/Reuters)
She says content creators could use virtual platforms to sell and release new music or videos, freeing some from the constraints of algorithms they say devalue their work.
Others may turn to virtual worlds to buy and sell “land” or other goods using cryptocurrency and non-fungible tokens (NTF), said Zhang. That’s already happening in Decentraland, a platform that uses the Ethereum blockchain.
“It’s a product of people not feeling like one they have control or an understanding of systems that they have to participate in,” she said, noting concerns that younger generations will struggle to own property in the real world as one example.
Currently, platforms like Roblox and Fortnite operate as walled gardens, run by the companies that own them. Some imagine a future within the metaverse where users could wander between worlds with a single avatar, carrying goods they’ve created or own from one platform to another.
Why is Facebook getting in on this?
Interest in building the metaverse is likely driven by financial goals and collecting user data for marketing, Pringle says. She expects companies will advertise on metaverse platforms, bringing in revenue for the companies that host them.
That could make the metaverse “a very compelling, very sticky and very immersive medium for ads” with users “still being targeted by people who want to sell us either products or ideologies,” Pringle said.
A shift toward the metaverse also serves as a rebuke of social media. For users unhappy about how social networks are “splintering society” or impacting users’ mental health, companies are promoting their investments into new kinds of experiences as a way forward, Pringle said.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks at Facebook Inc.’s annual F8 developers conference in San Jose, California, on May 1, 2018. Zuckerberg has spoken publicly about his ambitions to build the metaverse. (Stephen Lam/Reuters)
Though Facebook’s push into the metaverse comes at the same time it’s under fire, Coleman notes that the company has been laying the groundwork for years.
Facebook purchased Oculus, a startup that builds VR headsets, back in 2014.
After years of what she calls “mediocre” virtual worlds built by various companies, Coleman says the success of the metaverse will ultimately depend on what company releases the “killer app” that users flock to.
Given Facebook Inc.’s success connecting people online — it boasts more than 2.85 billion monthly users on Facebook alone — it could be the company to do just that, she adds.
“If you were going to bet on a horse in terms of who is going to make this important to not just a population, but globally, you’d say that Facebook has a pretty damn good track record.”
Written by Jason Vermes with files from Sameer Chhabra and Reuters.
TORONTO – Roots Corp. may have built its brand on all things comfy and cosy, but its CEO says activewear is now “really becoming a core part” of the brand.
The category, which at Roots spans leggings, tracksuits, sports bras and bike shorts, has seen such sustained double-digit growth that Meghan Roach plans to make it a key part of the business’ future.
“It’s an area … you will see us continue to expand upon,” she told analysts on a Friday call.
The Toronto-based retailer’s push into activewear has taken shape over many years and included several turns as the official designer and supplier of Team Canada’s Olympic uniform.
But consumers have had plenty of choice when it comes to workout gear and other apparel suited to their sporting needs. On top of the slew of athletic brands like Nike and Adidas, shoppers have also gravitated toward Lululemon Athletica Inc., Alo and Vuori, ramping up competition in the activewear category.
Roach feels Roots’ toehold in the category stems from the fit, feel and following its merchandise has cultivated.
“Our product really resonates with (shoppers) because you can wear it through multiple different use cases and occasions,” she said.
“We’ve been seeing customers come back again and again for some of these core products in our activewear collection.”
Her remarks came the same day as Roots revealed it lost $5.2 million in its latest quarter compared with a loss of $5.3 million in the same quarter last year.
The company said the second-quarter loss amounted to 13 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Aug. 3, the same as a year earlier.
In presenting the results, Roach reminded analysts that the first half of the year is usually “seasonally small,” representing just 30 per cent of the company’s annual sales.
Sales for the second quarter totalled $47.7 million, down from $49.4 million in the same quarter last year.
The move lower came as direct-to-consumer sales amounted to $36.4 million, down from $37.1 million a year earlier, as comparable sales edged down 0.2 per cent.
The numbers reflect the fact that Roots continued to grapple with inventory challenges in the company’s Cooper fleece line that first cropped up in its previous quarter.
Roots recently began to use artificial intelligence to assist with daily inventory replenishments and said more tools helping with allocation will go live in the next quarter.
Beyond that time period, the company intends to keep exploring AI and renovate more of its stores.
It will also re-evaluate its design ranks.
Roots announced Friday that chief product officer Karuna Scheinfeld has stepped down.
Rather than fill the role, the company plans to hire senior level design talent with international experience in the outdoor and activewear sectors who will take on tasks previously done by the chief product officer.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, are set to resume today as a strike that has stopped most services drags into a second week.
No timeline has been set for the length of the negotiations, but Joe McCann, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they are willing to stay there as long as it takes, even if talks drag on all night.
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people unable to navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last Tuesday, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
Hundreds of drivers rallied outside TransLink’s head office earlier this week, calling for the transportation provider to intervene in the dispute with Transdev, which was contracted to oversee HandyDART service.
Transdev said earlier this week that it will provide a reply to the union’s latest proposal on Thursday.
A statement from the company said it “strongly believes” that their employees deserve fair wages, and that a fair contract “must balance the needs of their employees, clients and taxpayers.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
MONTREAL – Travel company Transat AT Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter compared with a profit a year earlier as its revenue edged lower.
The parent company of Air Transat says it lost $39.9 million or $1.03 per diluted share in its quarter ended July 31.
The result compared with a profit of $57.3 million or $1.49 per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue in what was the company’s third quarter totalled $736.2 million, down from $746.3 million in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Transat says it lost $1.10 per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of $1.10 per share a year earlier.
Transat chief executive Annick Guérard says demand for leisure travel remains healthy, as evidenced by higher traffic, but consumers are increasingly price conscious given the current economic uncertainty.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
