Facebook Horizon

Facebook Horizon
Facebook Horizon
Developer(s)	Facebook, Inc.
Publisher(s)	Facebook, Inc.
Engine	Unity
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows and Oculus Quest
Genre(s)	Game creation system, massively multiplayer online
Mode(s)	Multiplayer

Facebook Horizon is a virtual reality, online video game with an integrated game creation system developed and published by Facebook, Inc. for Microsoft Windows and Oculus Quest (2). It is currently in an invite-only beta phase.

Gameplay

The game may be played with an Oculus Rift (S) or Oculus Quest (2) virtual reality headset and uses full 3D motion via the motion capture system of the headset and two hand-held motion controllers, which are required to interact with objects in the game. Players can explore the space around them within the confines of their physical floor-space, while roaming further by using controller buttons to teleport a short distance or to move continuously through the virtual space. The hub world (also known as “plaza”) includes portals to featured user-generated worlds, which are created by players using an integrated game creation system.

Development

The development of Facebook Horizon followed earlier social VR apps by Facebook (Oculus Rooms, Oculus Venues, and Facebook Spaces) and focused more on user-generated content than these earlier apps. Facebook announced Facebook Horizon as a new social virtual world at the Oculus Connect 6 conference in September 2019.^[1] In August 2020, Facebook announced that more users will receive access to an invite-only beta phase.^[2] In an interview with Scott Stein in January 2021, Facebook Reality Labs head Andrew Bosworth conceded that the experiences in Facebook Horizon are not ready for the public and expressed concern that “[i]f you don't have … something driving a lot of people to the place, then you run the risk they're not going to get it.”^[3]

Horizon Workrooms

In August 2021, Facebook released the open beta of Horizon Workrooms, a collaboration app targeted at teams managing remote-work environments. The app offers virtual meeting rooms, whiteboards and video call integration for up to 50 people.^[4]^[5]

Reception

When Facebook Horizon was first announced in 2019, Josh Constine writing for TechCrunch compared it to other social virtual worlds such as Second Life, The Sims, AltspaceVR, Dreams, Roblox, as well as the fictional “OASIS” described in the novel Ready Player One,^[6] while Sam Machovech writing for Ars Technica emphasised similarities to Rec Room and VRChat.^[7] Machovech noted a key difference to other social virtual worlds in Facebook's plan to let employees welcome new users.^[7]^[8] Scott Stein writing for CNET agreed that “[m]aybe Horizon is better than whatever Oculus had before”; however, he also observed that “there are a lot of social VR questions Horizon leaves unanswered”.^[9]

David H. Freedman writing for Newsweek tried to answer some of these questions by predicting that Facebook's knowledge about users' online behavior “will explode when someone straps on a Facebook headset”.^[10] This prediction is supported by Facebook's public plans to include face and eye tracking in future headsets.^[11] Freedman speculated that Facebook could use this knowledge to generate advertising revenue with ads that permeate Facebook Horizon and “might appear as billboards, signage, skywriting, computer-generated characters hawking goods and services, logos embedded in objects and surfaces, and any other form that can be crammed into any nook or cranny of fake reality.”^[10] Similarly, Cathy Hackl writing for Forbes observed that in Facebook Horizon “relating to a target audience isn't through ads (text, image, or video). It's becoming part of a customer's world and presenting a brand or business as a real being they can interact with in a natural way.”^[12]

References

↑ Holt, Kris (2019-09-25). "Social VR world 'Facebook Horizon' comes to Oculus in 2020" (in en). https://www.engadget.com/2019/09/25/oculus-social-vr-world-facebook-horizon/.
↑ Hardawar, Devindra (2020-08-27). "Inside Facebook Horizon, a social VR playground" (in en). https://www.engadget.com/facebook-horizon-oculus-vr-hands-on-170017517.html.
↑ Stein, Scott (2021-01-14). "Facebook has VR plans for your virtual office, with smart glasses coming soon" (in en). https://www.cnet.com/news/facebooks-evolving-plans-for-vr-are-aiming-for-your-virtual-office-with-smartglasses-coming-soon/.
↑ "Facebook launches VR remote work app, calling it a step to the 'metaverse'" (in en). 2021-08-19. https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/19/facebook-launches-vr-remote-work-app-calling-it-a-step-to-the-metaverse.html.
↑ "Introducing ‘Horizon Workrooms’: Remote Collaboration Reimagined" (in en). https://www.oculus.com/blog/workrooms/.
↑ Constine, Josh (2019-09-25). "Facebook announces Horizon, a VR massive-multiplayer world" (in en). https://techcrunch.com/2019/09/25/facebook-horizon/.
↑ ^7.0 ^7.1 Machovech, Sam (2019-09-26). "Facebook's new VR chat app will throw paid staffers at "on-boarding" trolls" (in en). https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2019/09/facebook-reveals-staffing-plan-to-be-your-vr-chat-concierge-service/.
↑ "Facebook to create VR world called Horizon" (in en). 2019-09-27. https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-49851798.
↑ Stein, Scott (2019-10-06). "I tried Facebook's vision for the social future of VR, and it's full of question marks" (in en). https://www.cnet.com/news/i-tried-facebooks-vision-for-the-social-future-of-vr-full-of-question-marks/.
↑ ^10.0 ^10.1 Freedman, David H. (2020-12-23). "Facebook's Plan to Dominate Virtual Reality—And Turn Us into 'Data Cattle'" (in en). https://www.newsweek.com/facebooks-plan-dominate-virtual-reality-turn-us-data-cattle-1556805.
↑ Robertson, Adi (2021-03-08). "Mark Zuckerberg says realistic avatars are Facebook's next big VR bet" (in en). https://www.theverge.com/2021/3/8/22319737/mark-zuckerberg-facebook-vr-ar-face-sensors.
↑ Hackl, Cathy (2020-08-30). "Social VR, Facebook Horizon And The Future Of Social Media Marketing" (in en). https://www.forbes.com/sites/cathyhackl/2020/08/30/social-vr-facebook-horizon--the-future-of-social-media-marketing/.

External links

Official website

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[engadget2019-1] Holt, Kris (2019-09-25). "Social VR world 'Facebook Horizon' comes to Oculus in 2020" (in en). https://www.engadget.com/2019/09/25/oculus-social-vr-world-facebook-horizon/.

[engadget2020-2] Hardawar, Devindra (2020-08-27). "Inside Facebook Horizon, a social VR playground" (in en). https://www.engadget.com/facebook-horizon-oculus-vr-hands-on-170017517.html.

[cnet2021-3] Stein, Scott (2021-01-14). "Facebook has VR plans for your virtual office, with smart glasses coming soon" (in en). https://www.cnet.com/news/facebooks-evolving-plans-for-vr-are-aiming-for-your-virtual-office-with-smartglasses-coming-soon/.

[4] "Facebook launches VR remote work app, calling it a step to the 'metaverse'" (in en). 2021-08-19. https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/19/facebook-launches-vr-remote-work-app-calling-it-a-step-to-the-metaverse.html.

[5] "Introducing ‘Horizon Workrooms’: Remote Collaboration Reimagined" (in en). https://www.oculus.com/blog/workrooms/.

[techcrunch2019-6] Constine, Josh (2019-09-25). "Facebook announces Horizon, a VR massive-multiplayer world" (in en). https://techcrunch.com/2019/09/25/facebook-horizon/.

[arstechnica2019-7] 7.0 ^7.1 Machovech, Sam (2019-09-26). "Facebook's new VR chat app will throw paid staffers at "on-boarding" trolls" (in en). https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2019/09/facebook-reveals-staffing-plan-to-be-your-vr-chat-concierge-service/.

[bbc2019-8] "Facebook to create VR world called Horizon" (in en). 2019-09-27. https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-49851798.

[cnet2019-9] Stein, Scott (2019-10-06). "I tried Facebook's vision for the social future of VR, and it's full of question marks" (in en). https://www.cnet.com/news/i-tried-facebooks-vision-for-the-social-future-of-vr-full-of-question-marks/.

[newsweek2020-10] 10.0 ^10.1 Freedman, David H. (2020-12-23). "Facebook's Plan to Dominate Virtual Reality—And Turn Us into 'Data Cattle'" (in en). https://www.newsweek.com/facebooks-plan-dominate-virtual-reality-turn-us-data-cattle-1556805.

[theverge2020-11] Robertson, Adi (2021-03-08). "Mark Zuckerberg says realistic avatars are Facebook's next big VR bet" (in en). https://www.theverge.com/2021/3/8/22319737/mark-zuckerberg-facebook-vr-ar-face-sensors.

[forbes2020-12] Hackl, Cathy (2020-08-30). "Social VR, Facebook Horizon And The Future Of Social Media Marketing" (in en). https://www.forbes.com/sites/cathyhackl/2020/08/30/social-vr-facebook-horizon--the-future-of-social-media-marketing/.

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