Mark Zuckerberg recently rebranded Facebook as Meta.  My initial reaction was “so what”?  Who really cares what he does with his social media company?  And also why should I care? Read on and you’ll see why I changed my mind.

In his announcement he said “It is time for us to adopt a new company brand to encompass everything that we do,” he said. “From now on, we’re going to be metaverse first, not Facebook first.

NPR reported in this article https://www.npr.org/2021/10/28/1049813246/facebook-new-name-meta-mark-zuckerberg that he said “the metaverse is the next big computing platform to which people’s attention — and dollars — will shift in the coming years. And he wants the newly christened Meta to play a prime role in creating it and turning it into big business”

“Building our social media apps will always be an important focus for us. But right now, our brand is so tightly linked to one product that it can’t possibly represent everything that we’re doing today, let alone in the future,” Zuckerberg said.

NPR went on as follows:

So just what is the metaverse anyway?

Zuckerberg announced the new name, Meta, in a glitzy video presentation that served as an explainer about the metaverse, a futuristic and vaguely defined concept that has become a Silicon Valley buzzword in recent years.

The term “metaverse” was coined by science fiction writer Neal Stephenson in his 1992 novel, Snow Crash. Enthusiasts use it to refer to immersive virtual spaces where people can play games, attend concerts, meet with colleagues and buy all kinds of digital goods and services.

Facebook demonstrated many of those experiences in Thursday’s slickly produced video, showing Zuckerberg riding a virtual reality electric hydrofoil (in a nod to his real-life hobby), fencing with a hologram and walking through a 3D rendering of his “home space.”

All well and good, but what does it mean to you and your real estate clients?

The world of virtual reality has been creeping up on us for years now.  One of the most recognizable features has been the availability of augmented reality.  Think Google Glass as an example.

We have also had virtual tours of our listings for years, but no matter how good they are, it’s still a “flat” experience.  It’s linear in that you start at the beginning and proceed through the tour from beginning to end.

In a pure virtual reality environment, you wouldn’t be able to tell that you weren’t actually in the house.  VR would not only give you visuals, but you’d have a sense of smell.  You could hear the floor creak under you or the sound of your shows on the hardwood floor.

You could “feel” the textures of the carpet or window coverings.

VR in the metaverse would literally give you all the sensations that you get in a real life showing, but from the comfort of your home or where ever you happen to be. (Virtual Reality (VR) is not really the metaverse, but a part of the whole experience.  See the TechRepublic article below for more info)

You could hold client meetings, show property, preview property and be present for presentations and signings!

A believe that a lot of industries will be changed by the metaverse and that we as real estate professionals have a lot to gain from this exciting new technology!

In short

You will want to stay on top of this emerging technology. At present, the metaverse is loosely defined and I am sure that there will be “battles” over standards and how people will access and use it. It’s just a shame that it was Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg who are leading the charge.

For more in depth reading, check out this article by TechRepublic: https://www.techrepublic.com/article/metaverse-what-is-it/