The metaverse and how we’ll build it’

The political economy of Meta’s Reality Labs

Datos Bibliográficos

ID12654540
AutoresBen Egliston (0000-0002-7878-7208, Queensland University of Technology, autor de correspondencia), Marcus Carter (0000-0002-4866-4928, The University of Sydney)
Año2022
Volumen26
Número8
Páginas4336-4360
Fecha de publicación2022-09-04
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaNew Media & Society (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1461-4448 • E-ISSN: 1461-7315
EditorialSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/14614448221119785
OpenAlexW4294585832
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas29
Referencias citadas45

Spatial computing – that is, a form of human–computer interaction that retains or manipulates referents of real object and spaces – is an increasingly intense focus for Meta. In 2018, Meta launched ‘Reality Labs’ (RL), a research and development division to oversee the company’s production of spatial computing technologies. Drawing on a media historiographical approach from platform studies, this article charts the development of the company’s spatial computing ambitions through RL from 2018 to 2022. In so doing, we find that Meta attempts to consolidate complementors through acquisitions, capture policymakers and academics, convene third-party businesses and developers, and expand its ecosystem through enhancing platform programmability. We argue that RL’s efforts to grow the platform from within, and through drawing in third-parties, signals an ambition to grow their spatial computing offerings such that they take on a central, infrastructural role in society

Historiography · History of computing · Object (grammar · Political science · Politics · Sociology · World Wide Web · Augmented Reality Applications · Computer Science · Innovative Approaches in Technology and Social Development · Virtual Reality Applications and Impacts · Artificial Intelligence