This may actually turn out huge

Don’t get me wrong, I still stand in opposition to what Facebook’s been doing all these past years, but today’s keynote got me thinking Meta’s vision may turn out huge in not-that-far-future.

Here’s a few bullet points illustrating why I think the above:

  • Mixed reality headset - finally they’re breaking out of that VR visor and trying to include the world around the user in the experience. This particularly matters for collaboration and I firmly believe is the direction when looking for the next iPhone-like product.
  • Future of work - we’re not going back to the office and we’re going to work with much more diverse, geography-wise, workforce than ever before. This device makes it bearable even at the stage it’s in now, I’m super-curious to see what the Pro incarnation brings to the table. Good bye Zoom!
  • Fitness - I’d probably include this in cons section of this post, however lately I had an opportunity to FitXR on Ocullus Quest 2, and I really think this can be the Peloton killer, if it’s even alive though. I’ll continue to do my daily 5k’s but will gladly replace evening Netflix session with an immersive fitness one.
  • Partnerships - Microsoft is a huge one to have on-board. You can drink all the Meta kool-aid you want, but Satia Nandella is IMO one of the top CEOs of this decade, he’s not committing to bullshit.
  • Meta’s research initiatives - work towards improving navigation for folks with sight loss or 3d scanning to generate a photo-realistic avatar are impressive initiatives of Meta’s research arm. Hopefully they can keep up the AI research momentum.
  • Success stories - developers are who make or break the platform, and in order to attract them you need success stories. Meta showcased a few of these today and making 2m USD revenue in first days after the release is enough of a story to convince a bunch of folks who can really push the boundaries of this hardware with their software craftsmanship.

Now, it’s not to say I think this keynote’s content was flawless or it’ll be easy for Meta to achieve this:

  • Price tag - yeah, I know it’s a pro grade device, but to reach millions of users it needs massive haircut, like two-fold. Hopefully this trail-blazes the technology limitations and we’ll see the SE version very soon.
  • Not eating their own dog food - ok, so Zucks is creating an ultimate collaboration device, Accenture is doing a huge company-wide rollout, yet Meta is mandating return to the office in at least 50% capacity.
  • Legs… - yeah, now avatars will have legs, let that sink in for a bit. That’s all.
  • Reels integration - I may be wrong here, but flooding the Instagram with VR and avatar generated content is what will be its nail in the coffin. Already ton of folks I know are departing the platform which pivots away from its original mission in order to to chase TikTok audience.

Your move Apple, I’m just waiting to put all these hours of poking around in RealityKit to use.