In a company blog post, the tech giant quoted a study by the Analysis Group saying that metaverse adoption in Europe will potentially be able to help with a $440 billion contribution to the regional gross domestic product (GDP) in 10 years.
“The metaverse has the potential to deliver real-world benefits that we’re only just starting to imagine, like a surgeon practicing an operation virtually to students traveling to ancient Rome to study its history,” the company wrote in the post.
Meta said its new campaign, “The Impact Will Be Real,” will investigate likely benefits of the metaverse, including the ability to learn in 3D and bring studying architecture, history or basic geometry to life in new ways, per the post. And there will be opportunities for healthcare to benefit, including practicing virtual surgery and training first responders.
“While virtual reality is here now and already having real impact, much of what we envision for the metaverse is still about a decade away and requires collaboration across industries and with experts, academics, civil society, governments and regulators to get it right,” the company wrote in the post. “We’re starting these conversations early and hope the campaign will help to spark further conversation and collaboration across industries and with experts in Europe and beyond.”
Meta has also been looking into “possible paid features” for its Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram apps.
Read more: Meta Exploring Paid Facebook, Instagram Features
A group called “New Monetization Experiences” will examine the features. It will be led by Pratiti Raychoudhury, who was previously Meta’s head of research.
Meta Vice President of Monetization John Hegeman said there are no plans to allow a new paid service to let people turn off ads by paying.
“I think we do see opportunities to build new types of products, features and experiences that people would be willing to pay for and be excited to pay for,” he said, but he declined to elaborate on paid features that are being considered.
For all PYMNTS crypto and EMEA coverage, subscribe to the daily Crypto and EMEA Newsletters.
