Metaverse: Zuckerberg’s Forgotten Dream of a Virtual World
Updated: Nov 13, 2025
In 2021, Zuckerberg’s idea of the “metaverse” overtook media headlines. Metaverse emerged as an alternative for regular internet users, and it promised to bring people even closer through virtual meet ups . It would be a mistake to equate metaverse to a high-end VR (Virtual reality) because it wants to be so much more. A headset could enable you to access a digital environment that would let you to play sports, games, work or go to concerts - to live your life virtually.
In October 2021, Facebook announced that it will hire 10,000 people in Europe to be in charge of developing the metaverse. It also changed its name to Meta to highlight its ambition and diversify their focus from social media. The company justified its decision by assuring that: "The metaverse has the potential to help unlock access to new creative, social, and economic opportunities. And Europeans will be shaping it right from the start."
One form in which the idea of metaverse manifested itself in Meta’s products is the Meta glasses. Since their first appearance on the market in 2021, the glasses implemented new AI technologies, enabling their users to film video footage, capture photos and upload them to Instagram or Facebook. Zuckerberg highlights how the glasses may help their wearers to regain the feeling of “presence” through allowing them to read texts, take calls or check directions without obstructing their view.
Although, with AI becoming the next “big thing” that’s being discussed in the technological world, it’s worth analysing how far has the development of the metaverse progressed over the past couple of years. In 2023, Reality Labs stated that the Meta project set the company back by 21 billion dollars. Metaverse was supposed to be a long term investment, however, there is no evidence that it will bring profit in the long run. Zuckerberg’s ambitious visions of augmented reality might not be accomplished the way he would hope, however, VR technologies are proving useful in manufacturing. In BMW factories the testing used to be a physical process and now 3D simulations are being run, saving money and time. The industrial metaverse is estimated to be worth 100 billion dollars by 2030, according to the World Economic Forum report. Neil Sahota, CEO of ACSILabs, explains that metaverse can also train policemen on how to approach people who are high on fentanyl, giving them more of a visualisation of how to behave in critical situations. This demonstrates how uses of VR or metaverse can in some form exist, even if not in the form that Zuckerberg might have hoped for.