‘The metaverse and how we’ll build it’: The political economy of Meta’s Reality Labs

Abstract

Spatial computing – that is, a form of human–computer interaction that retains or manipulates referents of real object and spaces – is an increasingly intense focus for Meta. In 2018, Meta launched ‘Reality Labs’ (RL), a research and development division to oversee the company’s production of spatial computing technologies. Drawing on a media historiographical approach from platform studies, this article charts the development of the company’s spatial computing ambitions through RL from 2018 to 2022. In so doing, we find that Meta attempts to consolidate complementors through acquisitions, capture policymakers and academics, convene third-party businesses and developers, and expand its ecosystem through enhancing platform programmability. We argue that RL’s efforts to grow the platform from within, and through drawing in third-parties, signals an ambition to grow their spatial computing offerings such that they take on a central, infrastructural role in society.

Japan’s retreat to the metaverse

“…As in much of the world, these 'weak' metaverse approaches echoed earlier attempts by governments and corporations to stake a claim in persistent online 3D social environments like Second Life (2003-present) and, in Japan, the virtual Tokyo of Meet-me (2007Meet-me ( -2018. As with Meta's more general approach to platform building (Egliston and Carter, 2022), the goal here was to provide basic social infrastructure to substitute for existing offline services.…”

Realizing consumers’ existential dreams via product marketing and mixed reality: a perspective based on affective neuroscience theories

“…Furthermore, the spatial immersion inherent to MR may stimulate consumer engagement and responses in intricate environments, enabling customers to scrutinize product functionality in various contexts and interpret the narratives brands aspire to convey. The refinement of AI, crucial to augmenting this immersion, must progress in conjunction with MR’s integration into marketing, with the concept of spatial computing serving as a prime illustration ( Delmerico et al, 2022 ; Egliston and Carter, 2022 ). Ethical considerations and accessibility should be prioritized, ensuring that MR technology resonates with diverse demographics.…”

The promise of beginnings: Unpacking ‘diversity’ at Oculus VR

“…For example, while sexual and racial harassment across social media is an ongoing problem (Vickery and Everbach, 2018), social VR applications add (among other things) new forms of physical harassment in online spaces (Blackwell et al, 2019). These extensions of VR are also entangled with the corporations that stand to gain from increased adoption: amid an effort to integrate VR into their social media ecosystem, Meta is also increasing their data tracking capabilities (Carter and Egliston, 2021; Egliston and Carter, 2020, 2021, 2022).…”