news Race to the metaverse: The fight to shape the future of the internet | Science & Tech News

Last week, I was invited to get my hair done in the metaverse.In what was the strangest PR email I'd received for some time, a leading haircare manufacturer offered up a seat in a

virtual salon, where my avatar would get a luxury treatment the real me could only dream of. Blurring the lines between the physical and the digital, the idea is that this will

become a way for people to "test run" new looks on themselves before perhaps choosing to go ahead with it. While I don't foresee myself ever asking a hairdresser for anything more

extravagant than a two round the back and sides and a bit off the top, thanks, the metaverse offers a risk-free opportunity to experiment.And in this instance, all without ever

strapping on a bulky headset.Like me, there's a good chance that when you think metaverse, the first thing you associate with it is virtual or augmented reality. But in a week when

Mark Zuckerberg's relentless bid to put his stamp on the concept was brought into stark relief by thousands of job cuts at Metathis bizarre invitation was a timely reminder that

it's much more than that. Image: Meta's latest headset, the Quest Pro, launched last month for $1,499 Meta's place in the metaverseWhen Zuckerberg talks about the metaverse, he's

predominately talking about Horizon, which is the virtual world his company has created to host various experiences - from chatting with friends, to collaborating with work

colleagues - while you wear a Meta Quest headset. Since the release last month of its $1,500 "Pro" headset, you'll likely have seen Meta adverts and billboards pitching the

metaverse as the perfect home for those exact kinds of experiences. And there are certainly believers.Nicky Danino, principal lecturer in computer science at the University of

Central Lancashire, counts herself as one of those already on board, saying the metaverse offers "amazing opportunities and possibilities" in educational and training settings in

particular. The university already uses virtual spaces to place students inside situations and environments they would never normally be able to, while institutions like the RAF

have showcased how augmented reality can enhance the work of their fighter jet maintenance crews. But just like rebranding Facebook as Internet Inc wouldn't indicate ownership of

the web at large, don't let Zuckerberg renaming it Meta make you think his vision is all there is when it comes to the metaverse. What Meta is building should really be seen as a

platform within the metaverse, although admittedly one with an astonishingly large amount of money (tens of billions of dollars already) being thrown at it.But there are plenty of