Mark Zuckerberg became optimistic about the metaverse technology when he changed the name Facebook to Meta in September 2021. Despite successive losses in his metaverse-specific unit, Zuckerberg has kept his faith in this branch of emerging technology intact. On September 28, the 39-year-old CEO appeared for a podcast interview with YouTuber and AI researcher Lex Fridman. However, the interview was conducted in a photorealistic metaverse simulation that seems to have excited the crypto Twitter community.
Fridman and Zuckerberg, in their meta-avatar personalities, sat virtually across from each other for this third podcast episode they created together. The interview came after Zuckerberg presented more details about the Meta Quest 3 mixed reality headset at the annual Meta Connect conference on Wednesday.
“This was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. It really felt like we were talking in person, but we were miles apart. It gave me a glimpse of an exciting future with many new possibilities and fascinating questions about the nature of reality and human connection,” Fridman, who has three million followers on with Zuckerberg’s vision of the metaverse.
Here’s a video footage shared by the podcaster, showing Meta Chef and Fridman wearing the Meta Quest 3 headset and participating in what appears to be a face-to-face conversation.
Here’s my conversation with Mark Zuckerberg, his third time on the podcast, but this time we spoke in the Metaverse as photorealistic avatars. This was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. It really felt like we were talking in person, but we were miles apart :exploding_head: It’s… pic.twitter.com/Nu8a3iYWm0
— Lex Fridman (@lexfridman) September 28, 2023
Members of the Web3 community expressed bewilderment at the hyper-realistic communications system that the metaverse technology could make possible.
The world is changing very quickly. People start interacting, interacting and transacting in ways without permission.
— Kashif Raza (@simplykashif) September 29, 2023
Everyone should watch this.
You’ll miss out if you don’t
— Mark Zuckerberg – Parody (@MarkZuckss) September 28, 2023
Despite Meta posting one of its best quarters since Facebook’s 2021 rebrand, the company’s metaverse sector remains lackluster. Meta’s revenue rose to $32 billion (approximately Rs. 2,62,377 crore) in the second quarter of 2023. Its second quarter net profit in 2023 was $7.79 billion (approximately Rs. 63,870 crore), up from $6.7 billion (approximately Rs. 63,870 crore). 54,928 crore) compared to the second quarter of last year.
Reality Labs, the metaverse-focused division of Meta, lost a whopping $13.7 billion (approximately Rs. 1,12,200 crore) last year.
Zuckerberg still expects more losses in his Metaverse unit for now, but remains firm on his prediction that Metaverse technology will evolve and see adaptation for day-to-day operations.
According to Statista, the global metaverse market was estimated to reach $65.5 billion (approximately Rs. 5,44,035 crore) by 2022. This year, the market is expected to rise to $82 billion (approximately Rs. 6,81,082 crore), before rising to $936.6 billion (approximately Rs. 77,79,526 crore) by 2030.