In the era of global development of the "meta-universe", every Internet manufacturer is racking its brains to attract users. The money and time required to create a more perfect "metaverse" is unimaginable, and may even face the tragic result of failure.
At present, Google and Meta have built their own laboratories, focusing on research and development in different fields.
Facing the two laboratories, what is the difference between them? What will they bring us? Sina VR today introduces the real strength of the two laboratories.
Meta Reality Labs
Reality Labs Research brings together a world-class team of researchers, developers, and engineers to create the future of AR and VR that will be as ubiquitous and essential as today's smartphones and PCs, transforming our work, play, and connectivity.
All the technologies needed to achieve breakthrough AR glasses and VR headsets are being developed, including optics and displays, computer vision, audio, graphics, haptic interactions, full-body tracking, perceptual science, and true telepresence.
The lab is the main force behind Meta's creation of a "metacosm" focused on creating Meta's VR/AR-related projects. When Facebook acquired Oculus Research in 2014, it renamed it Facebook Reality Labs. In terms of hardware, the lab is developing the Meta Quest series of all-in-one machines and Rift PCVR. On the software side, the lab has developed some 3D chat avatars, as well as tracking and haptic feedback functions.
Last year, Joshua To, Google's AR director, left to join the Reality Labs team, where he began in 2013 as head of Google Workspace (which includes Gmail and Docs applications) and later played a key role in creating and managing Google's AR/VR team.
His addition has helped Reality Labs grow more rapidly, and he's not the first talent meta has brought in, and certainly not the last. Ryan Cairns, vice president of Portal, worked on Google's AR/VR team for many years before joining Facebook, while Jonathan Huang joined Facebook in 2019 after 12 years at Google.
Meta has not stopped after attracting many talents. At present, Reality Labs is still introducing more talents, and the positions on reality Labs on the Meta recruitment website are constantly being recruited.
According to Meta's 2021 financial report, Reality Labs incurred operating losses totaling $10.2 billion in 2021. But Reality Labs' revenue has roughly doubled for two consecutive years, from $501 million in 2019 to $1.1 billion in 2020 and $2.3 billion in 2021.
Although Reality Labs has been "burning money", the laboratory has undoubtedly achieved a qualitative leap forward in recent years. In the future, the laboratory will become the top team under Meta, and will also become the mainstay of Meta's "metacosm".
Google Labs
In November 2021, Google announced the restart of Google Labs. As early as 2011, Google announced the closure of Google Labs (Google Labs) services, and Google Labs, which returned again after 10 years, has undergone many changes.
Between 2002 and 2011, Google Labs produced products such as Personalized Web Search, Google Web Alerts, Google Docs and Spreadsheets, Google Reader, Google Shopper (now Google Shopping), Aardvark, lens predecessors, and other products called Google Goggles, Android Gesture Search, iGoogle, Google Maps, Google Transit, Google Video, Google Talk, Google Trends, Google Scholar, Google Code Search, Google Suggest, Google Groups, and others became Google Products of core products and services.
Google Labs brings together AR/VR, Starline, and other high-potential long-term projects such as Web3 and blockchain.
Google Labs is led by Clay Bavor, who has led product and design teams for many Google consumer and enterprise applications, including Gmail, Google Docs, Google Drive, and the Google Apps Enterprise Suite. He took over the VR and AR projects around 2015. Bavor launched Cardboard and then led the Daydream VR initiative. He also helped Google's transition from VR to smartphone AR.
According to a Bloomberg report, Google is forming a blockchain division. Google's president of commerce said: "Cryptocurrencies are things that we are very concerned about, including Web3 is becoming Google's concern. Shivakumar Venkataraman runs the advertising department and manages the blockchain group, which is part of the "Google Labs" division.
Since Google isn't currently dabbling further into VR, Bavor should pay special attention to AR. Rumor has it that Google is preparing AR glasses code-named "Project Iris" for 2024.
Also in Google Labs is Stephen Lake, founder of AR glasses startup North, which Google acquired in the summer of 2020 and temporarily halted the development of data glasses. Lake can participate in Project Iris alongside former Google Lens's Eddie Chung and Sophie Miller from Moonshot Lab X.
The difference between the two
Meta Reality Labs' goal is clear, to create "a truly more open and connected world."
Meta calls it a "metaverse", and Reality Labs develops from multiple directions such as software and hardware to bring users more and better experiences. Of course, this operation is also very easy to be regulated by antitrust agencies.
Reality Labs only focuses on VR/AR-related projects and is not involved in other Meta projects.
Google Labs focuses on high-potential long-term projects, along with projects such as Web3, VR/AR, and blockchain. Google's focus and direction are the same as Meta's, but they also have different goals.
Meta's future Reality Labs, which focuses on VR, AR and Metaverse, has about 10,000 employees and is expected to double the division in the coming years. At Apple, about 2,000 employees work in the XR division, and at Microsoft, about 1,500 employees are said to be working on AR.
So no matter which company, they are all researching and developing for the next generation of technology, and in the future, Google Labs may pay more attention to the development of the AR field, and Meta will continue to develop VR and "meta-universe". In fact, from the perspective of the enterprise itself, Meta is very different from Google. It is also normal that the two laboratories have differences, but they are both for the development of enterprises and to bring a better experience to users.