The idea of the metaverse, a technological platform that shapes the future of Facebook, is also influencing Google's projects.
The American giant has in fact announced the integration, in the already existing Google Labs team, of all the programs concerning virtual reality, augmented reality and the other innovative products of the group, mainly software.
Other companies take a similar approach, such as Facebook, from which Reality Labs produced the prototypes of the Facebook Glass, which later became the Rayban Stories, produced together with EssilorLuxottica.
Although there are no precise indications about the activities that the Labs team will engage in in the first period, the company, in an announcement to staff, described the purpose of the reorganization which will have to "focus on the launch and growth of new forward-looking investment areas. for the entire company. At the heart of the new course is Labs, which will analyze emerging technology trends on a range of high-potential and long-term projects. "
Google Labs will be led by Clay Bavor, a veteran of the company, who oversaw the holographic video conferencing project known as Project Starline in the recent past.
Bavor will be responsible for all of Google's AR and VR initiatives, as well as Starline and Area 120, the incubator that develops products and services from internal and external startup ideas.
At the moment, Area 120 is working on ThreadIt, a smart working platform, with the particularity of its presence in video, and Stack, an app that extracts key information from files and documents.