The tech giant, which <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/facebook-name-change-meta/">changed its name </a> to Meta last month, plans to invest <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/metaverse-facebook-wall-street-risks/">$10 billion this year </a> to develop products that support <a href="https://www.techrepublic.com/article/augmented-reality-for-business-cheat-sheet/">augmented </a>and <a href="https://www.techrepublic.com/article/virtual-reality-a-cheat-sheet-for-business-pros/">virtual </a>reality — a <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2021/11/16/22782860/meta-facebook-reality-labs-soft-robotics-haptic-glove-prototype">robotic hand </a>, <a href="https://www.cnet.com/tech/facebook-drops-oculus-name-as-part-of-meta-rebrand/">high-tech VR glasses </a>and sophisticated software applications, to name just a few. Analysts <a href="https://www.theinformation.com/articles/inside-facebooks-ar-vr-strategy-the-informations-tech-briefing">expect </a>the company to spend at least $50 billion to achieve its promise of a virtual reality future.

Birth Of Meta

Google Cardboard might be the most successful VR project in history. In 2014, what was then the world's largest tech firm asked millions of people to strap their smartphone to their face with a piece of cardboard. Google says it shipped "tens of millions" of foldable headsets and Google Cardboard <a href="https://arvr.google.com/cardboard/apps/">apps </a>were downloaded over 160 million times. It wasn't the highest-resolution, or high-tech, experience but the strategy helped introduce millions of <a href="https://arvredtech.com/blogs/news/10-ideas-google-cardboard-vr-in-the-classroom">students </a>and <a href="https://developers.google.com/cardboard/develop">aspiring developers </a>to virtual reality.

Google

Microsoft <a href="https://www.techrepublic.com/article/hololens-public-demo-opens-should-businesses-and-developers-be-bullish/">announced </a>the <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/hololens">Hololens </a>mixed reality glasses in 2015. Rather than flood the consumer market with marketing hype, Microsoft quietly launched Hololens a year later as an <a href="https://dynamics.microsoft.com/en-us/mixed-reality/guides/?&ef_id=CjwKCAiAs92MBhAXEiwAXTi25x_k1gNytcTC1oifZYXRWvfSpEQbZ6OaBiFWScIKeh2uaHqRFyo7HRoCQZYQAvD_BwE:G:s&OCID=AID2200014_SEM_CjwKCAiAs92MBhAXEiwAXTi25x_k1gNytcTC1oifZYXRWvfSpEQbZ6OaBiFWScIKeh2uaHqRFyo7HRoCQZYQAvD_BwE:G:s&gclid=CjwKCAiAs92MBhAXEiwAXTi25x_k1gNytcTC1oifZYXRWvfSpEQbZ6OaBiFWScIKeh2uaHqRFyo7HRoCQZYQAvD_BwE">industrial manufacturing tool </a>targeted to a select group of enterprise firms. The $3,000 commercial suite shipped with a professional edition of Windows, with extra security features and software to aid application development. The second iteration had a better set of cameras and lens mounts allowing for more precise operation, and offered a broader range of software capabilities including <a href="https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/hololens/hololens2-options-industrial-edition">industrial applications </a>.

Microsoft

If you <a href="https://www.theinformation.com/articles/apple-eyes-2022-release-for-ar-headset-2023-for-glasses">believe </a>the <a href="https://www.macrumors.com/roundup/apple-glasses/">rumors, </a>Apple has been on the <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2017-06-15/apple-s-tim-cook-on-donald-trump-the-homepod-and-the-legacy-of-steve-jobs">cusp of releasing </a>AR glasses for <a href="https://www.theverge.com/21077484/apple-tim-cook-ar-augmented-reality">years </a>. The iPhone maker released <a href="https://www.techrepublic.com/article/apples-arkit-everything-the-pros-need-to-know/">ARKit </a>, the developer framework for creating augmented reality applications for Apple devices, with iOS 11 in 2017. According to the tech website <a href="https://www.theinformation.com/articles/apple-eyes-2022-release-for-ar-headset-2023-for-glasses">The Information </a>, Apple held a 1000-person meeting in 2019 to discuss AR on the iPhone and two potential future products, the <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-06-19/apple-team-working-on-vr-and-ar-headset-and-ar-glasses?sref=ExbtjcSG">N421 smart glasses and N301 VR headset </a>. Analysts <a href="https://www.cnet.com/tech/gaming/apple-vr-and-ar-headset-rumors-release-date-price-wi-fi-6-support-and-more/">now speculate </a>that Apple is gearing up to release AR products in 2022 and beyond.

Apple

Valve's <a href="https://store.steampowered.com/valveindex">Index </a>headset is arguably the most robust consumer virtual reality product on the market. The high-resolution screen is smooth, and the controllers offer unmatched control inside virtual reality and gaming environments. The Index is also integrated with Value's <a href="http://store.steampowered.com/">Steam </a>video game marketplace, which means the device is already stacked with compatible content.

Valve

Although the idea of virtual reality was partially inspired by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_Crash">science fiction novels </a>, Big Tech's modern vision of an AR and VR future is directly inspired by Magic Leap. Founded in 2010, the company raised over $500  million  in 2014 from companies like Google and chip maker Qualcomm. In 2015 the firm released a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPMHcanq0xM">stunning video </a>that purported to demonstrate the product's technology. But skeptics <a href="https://www.techradar.com/news/magic-leap-might-not-be-quite-as-magic-as-it-claimed">questioned </a>the technology and the eventual product was <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2XQHLSuETs">panned </a>.

Magic leap

Facebook would like to own the metaverse, but Apple, Microsoft and Valve have a head start with products you can buy today.

The Metaverse is already here: 5 companies building our virtual reality future

Devarsh Patel