Facebook Bets Billions on VR to Replace the World Wide Web
Facebook acquires CTRL-Labs and prepares to launch its Horizon VR universe as part of a long-term strategy to transition users from traditional web browsing to living inside a virtual shared space.
Facebook makes a massive, multibillion-dollar bet on virtual reality by acquiring neural-interface company CTRL-Labs and preparing to launch its Horizon VR universe. Under Andrew Bosworth and the newly renamed Facebook Reality Labs, the company plans a long-term transition from the traditional World Wide Web to a fully immersive digital frontier often described as cyberspace.
Despite the fact that virtual reality feels like a perpetually delayed retro-future, Facebook sees a clear and plausible path forward by using gaming as a bridge. The strategy involves leveraging Facebook's massive scale and wealth to build the world's best massively multiplayer VR game, drawing in millions of users to create a thriving community that proves the technology's worth over mixed reality competitors like Magic Leap.
The ultimate goal is to slowly supplant the traditional internet by replacing laptops with headsets, smartphones with smart glasses, and keyboards with neural interfaces. As the Horizon gameworld gradually evolves over the coming years to include socializing, messaging, and work, internet users will eventually stop merely visiting a website or app and instead live entirely inside Facebook's virtual walled garden.