Business | Reality bites

How much trouble is Mark Zuckerberg in?

As Facebook fades, Meta hopes for success in another dimension

An avatar of Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer of Meta Platforms Inc., speaks during the virtual Meta Connect event in New York, US, on Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022. Zuckerberg unveiled his company's newest virtual-reality headset, the Meta Quest Pro, the latest foray into the world of high-end VR devices that Meta Platforms hopes will entice creators and working professionals to adopt its vision for a virtual future. Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images
|THE METAVERSE

It is night-time at the Soapstone Comedy Club. In fact, it always is. The club is a space in Horizon Worlds, Meta’s flagship metaverse app, where users can watch and perform comedy in virtual reality (vr). “It’s hard to do stand-up when you have no legs,” quips one performer, gesturing to his hovering avatar, before accidentally dropping the virtual microphone and floating offstage. A night out in vr lacks some of the atmosphere of a real bar, though it does cause authentic dizziness and nausea.

This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline “Reality bites”

Welcome to Britaly

From the October 22nd 2022 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

Discover more

Food packaging with "Notpla Coating" is pictured at Notpla.

Could seaweed replace plastic packaging?

Companies are experimenting with new ways to reduce plastic waste

A sequoiq tree with a metal detector scanning around the Silicon valley and California.

Has Sequoia Capital outgrown its business model?

Venture capital’s hardiest perennial gets back to its roots


A man cutting the red tape that tiies him.

On stupid rules and quick wins

Why every boss can benefit from asking employees what most infuriates them


TikTok wants Western consumers to shop like the Chinese

It still has some convincing to do

Will the trouble ever end for Volkswagen and its rivals?

From strikes to Trump tariffs, calamities abound

After Northvolt’s failure, who will make Europe’s EV batteries?

The continent looks ever more reliant on Asian producers