After recently rebranding from Facebook, Meta is planning on expanding to the retail space by opening physical stores in the future.
While they have no opening date yet, Meta stores will showcase many of the company's devices such as the Virtual Reality headsets, the Oculus Quest 2. With their push towards a so-called "metaverse" in full swing, one of the hurdles they will need to overcome is the widespread adoption of virtual reality.
One of the problems with this tech is the high cost but the Quest 2 already solves this problem by being a relatively lower-priced alternative to some of the other devices. The Quest 2 comes in at around $500 while most of the other headsets are well over $1000, not to mention the need for a powerful computer to run them (the Quest 2 doesn't require a separate computing system).
The second problem is that Virtual Reality is a very tough thing to showcase on a 2D screen. Capturing what it really feels like to experience Virtual Reality is impossible without being able to physically try one yourself. Retail Meta stores will allow people to dive right in and try it for themselves.
Meta's vision of the future is still, by their estimate, 5 to 10 years away, but if images of "Ready Player One" are popping up in your head, you might not be far off albeit with fewer guns and explosions (and more virtual meetings instead).
Meta is also working with Ray-Ban to create Augmented Reality glasses, expanding the Metaverse even further.
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The first Meta store is planned for California where Meta has a Reality Labs office, but you'll most likely see more of them popping up around North America in the next half-decade.
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