Can A New Surge Of Tech Interest Make The Metaverse A Thing? - Science Friday

The Meta motion astatine the entranceway to the Meta Platforms office successful Menlo Park, California. Credit: Shutterstock

Late past year, Mark Zuckerberg took the institution past known arsenic Facebook successful a caller direction. He renamed it Meta, abbreviated for “metaverse.” And helium promised the institution would spell each successful connected gathering a virtual world satellite similar the archetypal celebrated metaverse—the fictional taxable of Neal Stephenson’s 1992 caller “Snow Crash.” 

While galore companies person tried to marque metaverses successful the 30 years since “Snow Crash” came out, including the fashionable virtual satellite called Second Life, we look to beryllium entering a caller epoch of metaverse hype: too Zuckerberg, Apple seems to beryllium investing successful a VR world. And even Nike wants to marque a metaverse.

So what are users really getting if these companies win astatine their goals? And are determination other, possibly better, ways to spell astir bringing radical unneurotic virtually? Ira talks to subject fabrication writer and tech writer Annalee Newitz, and Avi Bar-Zeev, a pioneer of extended-reality technologies for companies similar Disney, Apple, and others.

Segment Guests

Meet the Producers and Host