She said that while metaverse, which is mostly a 3D rendition of the internet that can be played through virtual reality headgear on augmented reality content on smartphones, is currently popular in gaming and entertainment, the scope of applications will grow manifold in the coming years.
“We are in early stages, and it’s not there yet,” Zuckerberg said at the Times Network India Economic Conclave.
Speaking about immediate opportunities on the metaverse, she listed out education and training, and customer support helplines as “tremendous businesses” in the new internet eco-system.
And while brands have not really gone big on the metaverse right now, she said that the momentum is slowly building up. “Right now, people are buying real estate on metaverse. There are multi-million-dollar virtual real estate deals. Around $500 million worth of real estate has been sold over the past few months. Categories such as fashion and art are leading the way.”
She also said that the hardware to access the metaverse will also get simpler, and less complicated. “There will be an explosion of hardware for the metaverse. The current VR headsets are getting better, but are still large and cumbersome.”
Zuckerberg said that faster telecom networks will help provide the much-required computing power to enable the growth of metaverse.
On crypto, she said that while she remains “very excited” about the digital currency, she is equally “realistic about the good and bad” when it comes to the tender. “There needs to be a middle ground between complete centralisation and decentralisation.”
