WASHINGTON, Oct. 18 (BNA) – Facebook Inc. (FB.O) plans to create 10,000 jobs in the European Union over the next five years, the social media giant said Monday, to help build so-called metaverses online. The world where people can use different devices to navigate and communicate in a virtual environment.
Reuters has said that CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been talking about the metaverse since July, and the word loud, first coined in a dystopian novel three decades ago, has been referenced by other tech companies like Microsoft.
“Not one company will own and run Metaverse,” Nick Clegg, Facebook’s vice president of global affairs, wrote in a blog post. “Bringing this to life requires collaboration and collaboration between companies, developers, creators, and policymakers.”
Using technologies such as virtual reality and augmented reality, Facebook plans to create a greater sense of “virtual presence,” which will simulate the experience of in-person interaction.
The coronavirus pandemic has transformed a lot of online office meetings, giving rise to conferencing apps like Zoom, and major tech companies are looking to capitalize on the shift.
Facebook, which has invested heavily in virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), including buying companies like Oculus, plans to connect nearly three billion users through a multitude of devices and apps.
Zuckerberg believes the metaverse will be available across VR, AR, PC, mobile devices, and game consoles.
It has already put $50 million into building the metaverse, and testing a new remote work app where users of the Oculus Quest 2 headset can hold meetings as avatars of themselves.
While Facebook hasn’t said what roles it will hire for and where they will be based, the company faces antitrust investigations in the region, often criticized for online security and hate speech on its platform.
“We look forward to working with governments across the EU to find the right people and the right markets to take this forward, as part of the upcoming recruitment drive across the region,” Clegg wrote.
NS