Compile/VR Gyro
Meta today announced plans to open its first retail store, giving customers the opportunity to experience the company's hardware for themselves. The store will include a dedicated Quest 2 demo area and will provide participants with a short MR video to commemorate their experience.
Image source: Meta
Meta may currently have only three physical product lines, but that doesn't stop the company from opening its first retail store in Burlingame, Calif., on May 9.
The store will allow customers to purchase Meta's Portal, Ray-Ban Stories and Quest 2 products, but it looks like VR could be the theme of the store, as a large portion of the relatively small footprint is the Quest 2 demo area, which includes a giant LED wall that shows customers the footage in the headset.
Image source: Meta
"A great way to learn about VR is to experience it. In the new Meta Store, anyone can experience popular apps on Quest 2 and project what you experience onto a big wall for your friends to see," said Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta. "You can also try our other products, like Ray-Ban Stories and Portal, and see what we're going to see when we build the metaverse."
The Quest 2 demo area will be more than just showing what's happening in the headset on the wall. Meta said the device will be able to capture participants and insert them into vr experiences, making MR clips that will allow them to take the clips home and share them.
Image source: Meta
Martin Gilliard, the head of stores at Meta, said the company wants to place its first store close to meta Reality Labs headquarters, where much of the company's hardware development takes place so it can ensure that feedback from people using its products can be easily received by the company.
Gilliard said: "Having a store at Burlingame gives us more opportunities to experiment and put customer experience at the heart of our growth. What we learn here will help define our future retail strategy. "
Meta called the new store its "first" in its announcement, hinting that more retail stores will emerge in the future.
Source: roadtovr