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Pics: Taking a look inside Facebook’s Meta Store

Sibahle Malinga
By Sibahle Malinga, ITWeb senior news journalist.
Johannesburg, 26 Apr 2022

Facebook parent company Meta has announced the Meta Store, the social media giant’s first physical retail space, is set to open in California next month.

In the Meta Store, customers will be able to get their hands on Facebook's range of hardware products, including Ray-Ban Stories smart glasses, video-calling device portal and Quest 2 virtual reality (VR) headset.

The new retail space is the first of what is expected to be the company’s global long-term strategy, after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in October introduced Meta, the social network company’s new name and major re-brand strategy.

According to Zuckerberg, the company’s metaverse strategy is the next frontier of the social media platform, which seeks to create an “embodied internet” where users interact and live in an immersive virtual world and are not just viewers.

Last year, Facebook reportedly spent over $10 billion on Reality Labs, its metaverse division that specialises in developing augmented reality and VR hardware, software and content.

Through interactive demos, Meta Store visitors will be able to make video calls to retail associates with Portal, learn how Ray-Ban Stories can help them stay present with the world around them, and explore virtual reality technologies with what is billed a “first-of-its-kind” immersive Quest 2 demo.

Visitors to the 144 square metre store, which will open on 9 May, will also be able to shop for Facebook devices directly in the retail store and on its e-commerce store.

Meta Store visitors will be able to test Facebook's range of hardware products.
Meta Store visitors will be able to test Facebook's range of hardware products.

Meta says it was important to build the first Meta Store near its Reality Labs headquarters, where it is in the process of building the metaverse.

“Once people experience the technology, they can gain a better appreciation for it. If we did our job right, people should leave and tell their friends, ‘You’ve got to go check out the Meta Store’,” says Martin Gilliard, head of Meta Store.

The Meta Store will feature an interactive Quest 2 display wall, allowing customers to explore the hardware, its accessories and the breadth of content. It will have an immersive Quest 2 demo area, where customers can try Beat Saber, GOLF+, Real VR Fishing or Supernatural on a large, wall-to-wall curved LED screen that displays what is seen in-headset.

They will also get a 30-second mixed reality clip of their demo experience that they can share online.

Ultimately, the goal with the Meta Store is to show people what’s possible with innovative products today, while giving a glimpse into the future as the metaverse comes to life − and hopefully demystifying that concept in the process, says Meta.

“The Meta Store is going to help people make that connection to how our products can be the gateway to the metaverse in the future. We’re not selling the metaverse in our store, but hopefully people will come in and walk out knowing a little bit more about how our products will help connect them to it,” concludes Gilliard.

The interactive Quest 2 display wall.
The interactive Quest 2 display wall.
A customer wearing Ray-Ban Stories smart glasses.
A customer wearing Ray-Ban Stories smart glasses.
Young visitors using the video calling device portal.
Young visitors using the video calling device portal.

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