Facebook piloting its new virtual reality remote working tool

Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ: FB) began testing a new virtual-reality teleworking tool on Thursday, allowing users of its Oculus Quest 2 headsets to conduct meetings as avatars versions of themselves.

The Horizon Workrooms beta test comes as many organizations continue working from home after the pandemic shut down traditional workplaces and as a new delta strain spreads around the world. Facebook sees this as a first step toward creating the futuristic "metaverse" its CEO Mark Zuckerberg has talked about in recent weeks.

Facebook investing in AR and VR

The social media company has invested considerably in augmented and virtual reality, creating gears such as Oculus VR headsets and acquiring several VR gaming studies like BigBox VR. In addition, it is working on wristband technologies and AR glasses.

According to the company, gaining early dominance in the sector, which they are betting to be the next big computing platform, will allow Facebook to be less reliant on hardware manufacturers such as Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL).

The social media giant's VP of the Reality Labs group, Andrew "Boz" Bosworth, stated that the workrooms app offers a good sense of how the company is envisioning metaverse elements. Bosworth said:

The word "metaverse," invented in the 1992 dystopian novel "Snow Crash," refers to immersive, shared areas that may be accessible over several platforms and where the digital and physical worlds converge. Zuckerberg has dubbed it an "embodied internet." Other executives, including Microsoft Corp's (NASDAQ: MSFT) Satya Nadella, Match Group Inc.'s (NASDAQ: MTCH) Shar Dubey, and Roblox Corp's (NYSE: RBLX) David Baszucki have previously spoken about how they will define this futuristic realm.

Workrooms allow connection of up to 50 people in a video conference

Facebook said in July that it was forming a metaverse product team as part of its Facebook Reality Labs AR and VR department.

The firm demonstrated how Workrooms customers could create avatar representations of themselves to join in virtual reality meeting rooms and communicate on shared whiteboards or documents while using a physical desk and PC keyboard. The program, which is available for free with the Quest 2 headsets, which cost around $300, allows up to 16 individuals to interact in VR and up to 50 people in total, including video conference participants. As a result, according to Bosworth, Facebook now uses Workrooms for internal meetings on a regular basis.