Facebook parent Meta brings Metaverse experience to users through physical store

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  • Meta will offer an immersive virtual world Metaversive experience by allowing users o explore the breadth of hardware and content.
  • The Meta store which opens next month will feature an interactive Quest 2 display wall.

Facebook’s parent company Meta (NASDAQ: FB) is really pushing up its efforts to bring the Metaverse experience to its users across the world. On Monday, April 25, Meta announced that it will introduce people to Metaverse through a new retail store on the San Francisco Peninsula.

The store will open in Burlingame, California on May 9 and shall also feature all hardware for virtual reality space. With this move, Meta aims at providing interactive demos for its hardware products including virtual reality headsets, smart glasses, and video communication displays.

Meta will open this first physical store on its own Menlo Park campus. It will basically feature a wall-to-wall curved LED screen displaying what users see in virtual headsets. Speaking of this initiative, Martin Gilliard, the Meta store head said:

The Meta Store is going to help people make that connection to how our products can be the gateway to the Metaverse in the future. We’re not selling the Metaverse in our store, but hopefully people will come in and walk out knowing a little bit more about how our products will help connect them to it.

Once people experience the technology, they can gain a better appreciation for it. If we did our job right, people should leave and tell their friends, ‘You’ve got to go check out the Meta Store.’

Meta’s interactive quest 2 display wall

Meta said that its physical retail store will feature an interactive Quest 2 display wall. Thus, users shall be able to explore the breadth of the hardware and content. Also, in Meta’s immersive Quest 2 demo area, users can explore and “try Beat SaberGOLF+Real VR Fishing, or Supernatural on a large, wall-to-wall curved LED screen that displays what you’re seeing in-headset”.

Last year, Facebook announced its completely rebranding as the company shift its major focus to Metaverse. The company is willing to up the game for social media interactions among users worldwide with this project. However, Facebook’s entry into the Metaverse has encouraged several crypto projects to jump into it.

We have seen several projects adopting the Metaverse bandwagon as they can foresee a bright future here. Furthermore, as per sources familiar with the matter, Meta is planning to launch its own tokens in the Metaverse. Currently dubbed ‘Zuck Bucks’ these will be basically in-app gaming tokens controlled by Meta.

Furthermore, Meta is also planning on having reputation tokens rewards for meaningful contributions to the community. Although not necessarily blockchain-based, Meta is still trying to with the token economy.

In the past, Meta faced strong regulatory hurdles with its stablecoin project Diem which it has ultimately closed. Furthermore, the Meta stock (NASDAQ: FB) has been through a severe correction over the last year. The stock is down 50% from its September 2021 highs.