Add “explainer of the metaverse” to the long list of roles Keke Palmer has played. The Nope actor stars in Are We There Yet?, Meta’s video series that offers a closer look into what exactly the metaverse is.
Through the series, which debuted its first episode Tuesday, the actor will chat with creators, educators and experts “to find out where the metaverse stands now and what’s coming in the future,” Palmer said in the first episode. Palmer has worked with Meta before to showcase some of its technologies, like Horizon Worlds and Meta Quest 2.
Meta’s vice president of the metaverse, Vishal Shah, took a virtual ride with Palmer to explain what exactly the metaverse looks like today.
“I think the simplest way of thinking about it is, the metaverse is the next phase of the internet,” Shah said. “And the main difference between the internet we use today and the next phase is that we can feel like we are there with other people in a way we can’t feel in our digital experiences today. We are going to see things around us and touch things with our hands.” The metaverse generally signifies a new stage of the internet, with an increased reliance on virtual and augmented reality, where people will gather, work and play.
Along with explaining what the metaverse is, Shah also promoted Meta’s Horizon World, which lets users create their own virtual experiences and places in the metaverse.
Meta made clear its focus the metaverse in October, when it shed its corporate identity as Facebook, and has since focused on reframing the social media platform to focus on virtual reality endeavors and experiential tools. But it’s a long-term endeavor, and in the early going, at least, investments in metaverse technologies have eaten into the company’s profits.
