The opportunity to spend out with friends without really hanging out with friends is perhaps the most enticing aspect of the so-called metaverse.
According to an official press release, Meta has now launched Horizon Home for Quest platform users, making VR events easier to organize and access. The program is a virtual conference room with a full feature set for folks who utilize virtual reality to communicate with others.
Horizon Home allows users to invite friends to hang out in their “home,” which is the first screen that appears when you put on your Quest headset. This environment has always been entirely customisable, but it’s been a solo experience up until now.
Participate in a group chat, start your favorite multiplayer game, or watch a movie on a (virtual) theater screen once your friends arrive to your Horizon Home.
Finally, only Oculus TV currently supports this feature, so you won’t be able to watch Netflix, Hulu, or any of the other major streaming services. Many of these streaming behemoths, on the other hand, have their own Quest apps with multi-user capabilities.
Oculus TV, on the other hand, allows for shared immersive VR experiences like touring the International Space Station or seeing a bird’s eye view of a professional mountain climber in action.
The company promises to “add more features and improve the experience over time” in response to these constraints.
Horizon Home is available to Quest users today, but because it is a staggered rollout, it may take a day or two for everyone to get the update.
More information on Horizon Home you need to know
What Is Meta Horizon Home?
When Facebook (now Meta) first announced its version of the Metaverse, it promised a slew of new and exciting features, including the Horizon Home. During the Facebook Connect 2021 speech, Mark Zuckerberg, Meta Founder and Chief Executive, gave a sneak peak into his futuristic vision, despite the fact that most of these are still in beta testing.
Facebook’s Metaverse is a web of digital environments linked together by virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR). These are unified simulated settings where people may socialize, hang out, and discover new worlds with their friends and relatives.
While discussing Horizon Home, Mike Proulx, Media and Marketing Strategist and CMO Research Director at Forrester, tweeted this response to anchor Susan Tran.
I’m going to acquire both of us @oculus Quest 2s once #HorizonHome is finished so we can check it out together – perhaps live on-air?
Horizon Home is an important aspect of this Metaverse, providing users with a social and participatory “home away from home” experience.
So, what is Horizon Home, exactly? So far, here’s what we know.
Horizon Home is a virtual retreat where you can relax and unwind.
Mark Zuckerberg took us on a voyage into a digital world where pleasant avatars spent time with one other in a notional virtual realm when he revealed his version of the metaverse in October.
These avatars, which are digital representations of users, can now be invited to your virtual home. This is exactly what the Horizon Home has to offer. The most important part of the Metaverse, according to Zuckerberg’s keynote speech, is “connecting people.”
Horizon Home, one of Meta’s most exciting new products, embodies that mindset–a’safe haven’ free of the limits of the physical world where people may socialize, learn about one another, and collaborate.
It’s the most recent addition to Horizon, Meta’s social platform where users may build their own perfect worlds and communicate with one another throughout the huge metaverse.
Horizon Home combines Horizon Worlds, Workrooms, and Venues in enabling interoperability to provide a better user experience.
What, according to Zuckerberg, is the Horizon Home? He stated in a founder’s letter:
“In the future, you’ll be able to teleport as a hologram to be at work without having to commute, at a concert with pals, or in your parent’s living room to catch up.” This will expand your options regardless of where you live. You’ll have more time to focus on what important to you, less time stuck in traffic, and a lower carbon impact.”
Horizon Home from Meta is a step up from the Oculus Home that users already have in their VR headsets. Quest gamers can now choose from a range of distinct surroundings, ranging from a cozy cottage to a futuristic cyberpunk flat.
Users can accomplish a lot more in the newly redesigned version. They can bring their pals over to hang out, watch immersive videos, or play multiplayer games. Users of Quest 2 will be able to enjoy Horizon Home by just putting on their headphones.
In his keynote address, Zuckerberg emphasizes how users in Horizon Home would be treated to an incredible digital wardrobe for their avatars.
They will eventually be able to design and personalize their own Horizon houses based on their preferences, a feature that may inspire developers and producers to contribute to the Metaverse’s creative economy.
Horizon Home will be available in a Quest update soon, and the Quest Store will now be open to 2D apps for the first time as Meta takes Horizon Home to the next level.
You’ll be able to use apps like Dropbox and Slack from your Horizon House, allowing you to relax in your virtual home while staying on top of your work–all without removing your VR headset.
Of course, as part of the Home experience, Meta plans to incorporate its popular social programs like Facebook and Instagram into the Oculus store.
What Sets Horizon Home Apart?
Horizon Home’s ultimate strength resides in the virtual reality technology that underpins it. It’s a significant improvement over the current home experience, and it promises to add numerous more through third-party applications.
But the most unique aspect of home is that it serves as a portal to Meta’s rich virtual reality environment – and, very soon, the entire metaverse.
Meta is pouring billions of dollars on the development of their metaverse. The Oculus 2 headsets required to access Horizon Home are $299, and Meta announced a $150 million new project to train future creators to create immersive educational material during Connect 2021.
They’re also collaborating with Unity, a gaming engine company, to train and develop people’s talents in generating cutting-edge AR and VR content. It illustrates why VR innovation is so important in making the Horizon Home a success.
Into the Virtual Reality Home-Verse
Aside from Horizon Home’s virtual hangout space, a new VR home trend is gaining traction: the utilization of virtual real estate.
Facebook may have hit the right notes with its Horizon Home concept, but since the epidemic, real estate companies have been using virtual reality to imitate real-life properties.
According to experts, virtual reality is one of the most popular emerging technology trends in real estate today because of its capacity to captivate and hold user attention. Virtual reality home tours, which are similar to the Horizon Home experience, are one of the largest influences VR has in real estate.
People are warming up to the idea of integrating their homes into virtual reality, as evidenced by this integration of VR with real estate.
Horizon Home by Meta speaks louder than ever to this trend. It claims to create and deliver a personalized area that is completely yours, while also being shared with your friends, community, and other metaverse residents.
Horizon Home – and other Horizon services – are so appealing because they bring together the personal and the social.
Virtual reality, in the end, gives the metaverse life by not only mimicking the physical world but also giving it creative capabilities that allow it to evolve and flourish.
