Meta has decided to give Reality Labs a makeover, splitting it into the Metaverse and Wearables departments — with some expected layoffs.
A staff memo obtained by The Verge revealed that Meta’s Ray-Ban smart glasses turned out to be “a much bigger success than we expected.” It seems folks really want their sunglasses to be smarter than their smartphones; hence, the newfound focus on Wearables.
The Metaverse department will handle the Quest headsets and Horizon, Meta’s virtual reality platform.
“We have the leading AI device on the market right now, and we are doubling down on finding a strong product market fit for wearable Meta AI, building a business around it, and expanding the audience,” according to Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth’s memo, which was packed with optimism. “Our north star to overlay digital content seamlessly onto the physical world remains the same, but the steps on that path just got a lot more exciting.”
“We are deeply committed to investing in Horizon as the core foundation of our social, spatial Horizon OS, and high-quality experiences for both mixed reality and mobile,” Bosworth continued.
“The org chart doesn’t primarily determine whether we succeed or fail, our execution does. But by setting it up this way I hope we reduce overhead and allow people across teams to come together and execute with a more unified view of who our customers are and how we can best serve them,” he added.
So, the plan is to shuffle things around, cut some red tape and hopefully not bump into any virtual walls along the way, Meta said.
The restructuring report comes alongside news that Meta is working on Ray-Bans with a heads-up display and a wristband to control the glasses.
And if that wasn’t enough, Meta is also developing a pair of AR glasses with a holographic display — currently code-named Orion — because nothing says “future” like holograms you can wear on your face.
So, if you’ve ever dreamed of living in a sci-fi movie, Meta seems determined to make that a reality.
Just don’t trip over the digital cables.
