- Oil giant BP reports drop in third-quarter net profit
- World's first green energy island sails into cost storm
- Georgia to partially recount disputed votes
- Pope's commission against abuse to publish first report
- Grieving parents fight to make Bulgaria's killer roads safer
- Taiwan worries about 'transactionalist' Trump as US votes
- Cuba's Buena Vista trumpeter Manuel 'Guajiro' Mirabal dies
- Spain seeks ground-breaking law for great apes
- Japan nuclear reactor near Fukushima to restart
- Suns scorch Lakers, Celtics stay perfect
- HSBC reports $8.5 billion pre-tax profit in third quarter
- A rare rehab centre fixes victims of Ethiopia's war
- The growing scourge of plastic pollution: in numbers
- Plastics: lifesaver turned environmental threat
- Outrage as Iran executes German-Iranian Jamshid Sharmahd
- China's only woman spaceflight engineer in crew for 'dream' mission
- Ohtani, Buehler overcome injuries to lift Dodgers a win from glory
- India temple firework explosion injures over 150
- S. Korean golfer Tom Kim sorry for damaging locker after playoff loss
- Dodgers beat Yankees to reach brink of World Series crown
- Asian shares rise as markets await tech results
- Iraq opens arms to Lebanese fleeing Israeli attacks
- Bruised Japan PM scrambles for support
- Saudi 'Davos in the desert' opens with region on war footing
- Myanmar's lost generation battles trauma, addiction at jungle rehab
- 'No one heard our cries': Tigray war rape survivors recount their ordeals
- Countdown to Busan: is a plastic pollution treaty in reach?
- Japan voters say 'punished' ruling party over scandal
- UNRWA, a lifeline for Palestinians amid decades of conflict
- Cuban blackout highlights urgency of boosting renewables: experts
- 'Amazing' AI de-ages Tom Hanks in new film 'Here'
- Big guns descend on Cali for final push in UN biodiversity talks
- 'I'm not a Nazi,' Trump insists as Harris blasts vile rhetoric
- Rodri wins men's Ballon d'Or as Real Madrid boycott
- Curry to miss at least two NBA games with left ankle injury
- Hefty electric vehicle costs dent Ford profits
- COP16 chair hails biodiversity attaining 'equal footing' with climate crisis
- Aitana Bonmati wins second successive women's Ballon d'Or
- Ohtani named in Dodgers starting line-up for World Series game three
- Real Madrid boycott Ballon d'Or ceremony
- US finalizes curbs on investing in Chinese tech
- Harris blasts Trump after racist rally rhetoric
- Tens of thousands protest in Georgia over 'stolen' election
- Man Utd sack Ten Hag, reportedly set to appoint Amorim
- Bolivia says Morales falsely claimed assassination bid
- Portuguese coach Ruben Amorim set for Manchester United job: reports
- Retiring Popp signs off as Germany's first female football superstar
- Chopin waltz unearthed after 200 years
- England's Freeman keen to make 'life a misery' for All Blacks' Reece
- Serie A strugglers Genoa sign Mario Balotelli
Meta lays out moves being made to build the metaverse
Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday talked up his company's efforts to build the metaverse, an immersive virtual world he has billed as the Facebook parent's future.
Doubts have swirled about whether the major metaverse investments will pay off for Meta, which changed its name from Facebook last year to highlight its shifting focus -- though critics claim it was to distract from negative media reports.
Meanwhile, formidable rivals such as Apple, Google and Microsoft seem poised to compete with Meta on the new virtual terrain.
The metaverse is a 3D virtual world where people will be able to interact using sensors, head gear and other gadgets.
Meta's early metaverse platform, called Horizon Worlds, already allows people to socialize virtually while represented by avatars.
"The kinds of experiences you'll have in the metaverse are beyond what's possible today," Zuckerberg said as he opened a conference aiming to offer a glimpse inside Meta's development labs.
"That's going to require advances in a whole range of areas from hardware devices to software for building and exploring worlds."
Artificial intelligence is key to unlocking those advances, according to Zuckerberg, who noted that future platforms will need to be able to understand virtual worlds, and provide translation services for the many languages used in them.
Hit global video games such as Fortnite, Minecraft, and Roblox, which run on traditional gaming platforms, are seen as precursors to the metaverse.
But rivals are not letting Meta's claim to the metaverse go unchallenged.
Google, which stumbled early with augmented reality glasses, has a team of engineers, designers, and scientists "building the foundations for great immersive computing," according to an online job posting.
Apple, meanwhile, has bought start-ups specializing in the field and is rumored to be working on its own mixed-reality headgear.
Microsoft, a video game industry powerhouse through its Xbox system and titles such as "Minecraft," has made a $69 billion deal to buy Activision Blizzard, mentioning the metaverse as part of its motivation for the merger.
Meta's stock price has plummeted since its most recent quarterly earnings showed growth slipping and its revenue taking a major hit due to Apple's changes to its ad targeting rules.
In addition to Facebook, Meta's products include Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, and virtual reality headset Oculus.
On Wednesday, Meta shares sank lower than $200 for the first time in nearly two years.
J.Oliveira--PC