Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg today laid out a range of topics on which he and his company will focus over the next decade. By 2030, he says, AR and VR telepresence could allow employees to work remotely from anywhere in the world, alleviating the affordable housing crisis of increasingly populated cities.

In a post on Facebook today, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he was taking a long-term outlook on the future, emphasizing what he believes will be important areas of focus over the next 10 years.

He reiterated his long held belief that AR and VR are the next major computing platform, and that their key capability is being able to make users feel physically present with people and places even across vast distances. That’s the crux of why his company acquired Oculus back in 2014 for some $2.4 billion.

“[…] at some point in the 2020s, we will get breakthrough augmented reality glasses that will redefine our relationship with technology,” and when that happens, Zuckerberg said, the tech will be ripe for alleviating geographically-imposed inequality.

Augmented and virtual reality are about delivering a sense of presence — the feeling that you’re right there with another person or in another place. Instead of having devices that take us away from the people around us, the next platform will help us be more present with each other and will help the technology get out of the way. Even though some of the early devices seem clunky, I think these will be the most human and social technology platforms anyone has built yet.

The ability to be “present” anywhere will also help us address some of the biggest social issues of our day — like ballooning housing costs and inequality of opportunity by geography. Today, many people feel like they have to move to cities because that’s where the jobs are. But there isn’t enough housing in many cities, so housing costs are skyrocketing while quality of living is decreasing. Imagine if you could live anywhere you chose and access any job anywhere else. If we deliver on what we’re building, this should be much closer to reality by 2030.

Of course, there’s plenty of jobs which will simply never be able to be replaced by AR and VR telepresence, but a wide swath of today’s service-based economy could be a perfect fit.

SEE ALSO
Facebook Publishes New Research on Hyper-realistic Virtual Avatars

Zuckerberg isn’t alone in his belief that AR and VR will radically alter the way that humans interact at a distance. Even today—well before the devices, platforms, apps are perfected—we’re already starting to see glimpses of the technology being used to transform work and entertainment.

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Ben is the world's most senior professional analyst solely dedicated to the XR industry, having founded Road to VR in 2011—a year before the Oculus Kickstarter sparked a resurgence that led to the modern XR landscape. He has authored more than 3,000 articles chronicling the evolution of the XR industry over more than a decade. With that unique perspective, Ben has been consistently recognized as one of the most influential voices in XR, giving keynotes and joining panel and podcast discussions at key industry events. He is a self-described "journalist and analyst, not evangelist."
  • Ted Joseph

    With Stadia, Google is in a perfect position to develop AR glasses that replicate daily glasses. They just require a 5G/fast wifi light weight tech with some light weight cameras, etc. Using the cloud to reduce the weight of the tech, etc. is the future. Hopefully Zuckerberg is taking notes, and building a similar cloud infrastructure.

    • Lulu Vi Britannia

      Stadia has absolutely nothing to do with AR. And it’s a failure in so many ways that it just shows Google has nothing to say about technology.

      • Jose Antunes

        Before solving the housing problem, maybe Facebook could find a solution to the USB 3.0 problem that has created CHAOS among Rift S users since December, with many (thousands?) of users not able to use their headsets, for reasons that Oculus Support can not explain and even tries to minimize as an isolated problem. Having tested the Rift S with three different computers, and not being able to use it on any of them, I believe it is more than “a few complaints”

        • Lulu Vi Britannia

          If only the human brain was able to multitask, which would allow it to work on several fronts at the same time. Crazy idea, right? ;)
          Seriously, it’s like you told someone “You sneezed? Take your day off then!!!!”. You can’t stop the entire process for a simple issue.

  • Keng Yuan Chang

    Yea, I want my IMAX 3D in my toilet.

    • JesuSaveSouls

      Jesus loves you !

  • mirak

    It will mostly improve outsourcing jobs to lower income countries, you can bet on that for sure.

    • johngrimoldy

      Without a doubt. Still, this doesn’t do anything to help service-sector workers. You can’t VR a dry cleaner or restaurant staff.

  • 3872Orcs

    I agree with him on that vision.

    If anyone has read the book “Rainbows End” by Vernor Vinge I think that described future is increasingly coming true.

    • Jim P

      There are a few books that end up real.

  • Simon

    Ready Player One

  • Rudl Za Vedno

    I can’t wait. I’ll eat delicious virtual dinner with virtual Emily Ratajkowski, take a dumb in a golden virtual toilet (read = behind a park tree) and sleep like a baby in my royal VR bedroom (=armaflex + cardboard cover in front of a homeless centre). Thank you Evil Zuck, thanks to your brilliant mind my dreams will soon come through. The future looks bright.

  • impurekind

    Yeah, I actually think this is one of VR’s and AR’s strengths, and certainly will be in the future.

  • Andres Velasco

    What Mark is saying is, welcome to enter the matrix that I will control ;)

  • care package

    it’s like 30 years out, if we can avoid killing each other by then.

  • al k

    Let’s imagine the results if most business meetings were done in vr. hundreds of thousands of flights not taken, resulting in millions of gallons of fossil fuels not burned…

    • Andrew Jakobs

      I still think that would be a great solution, as most external meetings i have to take are a long way from out office itself and mostly last an hour or 2, it takes more time to actually get there and back then the meeting itself. I always wondered why we couldn’t do those with other means.. VR is a better way then skype as VR would give you a feeling of actually being there..

      • Jerald Doerr

        See the thing is it already exists…. Is there a reason you guys don’t use video conferencing already? Even that why not VR…

        I use to travel a lot but not for business
        it was for selling and showing off products at conventions which yes VR would be a much cheaper and cooler way for the average consumer to see

        convention like E3 or Comic-Con without shelling out ($100-$250+) for a ticket plus travel and would be really awesome if you could try out games from home in a Google Stadia type streaming format to protect game data and not have to be in crowded places waiting in likes to play/us or see shows…

        That is the future.

        • daveinpublic

          I think there will always be a reason to fly and drive to meet up in person. But I also think there are many office jobs that can switched to VR. Video conferencing technically works, but it’s a different beast. You’re looking at a small rectangle instead of somebody in your space, which VR fixes. I think if Zuck decides to put his money where his mouth is, and start moving his own team to VR, or another company, if it works well, we’ll start seeing more software coming down the pike that enables this, and then we’ll have a whole subculture of jobs in VR.

          • Jerald Doerr

            Your point about Zuck’s team using VR is also a really good question… I do give Facebook points for using VR for online users at one of the older keynotes… All in all, I can’t hate on anything that forwards VR… I’ve waited since the days of Lawn Mower Man.

    • Maize Wallin

      Yeah we also gotta figure out a more sustainable way of making graphics cards and RAM, though.

      • al k

        True, every human act in our modern world pollutes, and yes, greener tech should be a priority! Still I think vr would be better than all those flights.

        • David Mulder

          It’s an interesting thing to think about though. A VR capable rig will easily consume more than 500W. Assuming that suddenly a large part of the population will spend 8 hours per day in VR that does add up a lot. Of course electricity can be generated in a renewable way and just the lack of travel to and from work by itself is going to save more than that, but it’s definitely not a trivial issue.

      • aasdfa

        nah just high speed wifi devices with 5g, then cloud compute eveerything and send it to your house/

    • Jerald Doerr

      Better off just switching everything to electric…

      We have the phone… Video conferencing… The telegraph… People are people we love to travel and use any excuse too or else we all would be living inside are homes already and not waiting for VR/AR to save the earth or affordable housing…

      • al k

        you sre right about electricity! I sure hope most everything will be electric soon… But electric planes? Not for tomorrow… And since one five hour flight is the equivalent of taking your car for a whole year to go to work, Vr is the answer for business meetings at least, and hey, even maybe an affordable way to visit foreign lands when the tech gets better! More than half of the people on the planet cannot afford to take a plane for leisure.

        • Jerald Doerr

          There are already electric planes… but nothing like a Jetliner…. something I’m sure we can overcome in another 50 years…

          Not enough people give a $hit about what the exhaust from fossil fuels does to life but people are smart enough to understand you shouldn’t leave your car running while you’re standing in the garage… So why is it ok to do that with our giant garage called Earth?

          • Nelia

            After five years I chosen to just leave my old job and it transformed my way of living… I began working at a job from the internet, for organization I noticed over the internet, for some hrs daily, and I bring home definitely more than I has been doing on my old job… Very last pay-check I got was $9000… Superb thing regarding this is that I get more time for my family members. Test it, what it is about… cut.sx/auP/

  • Mike Porter

    I just wanted to play video games…

  • Warscent

    Just give yourself to the globalist technocratic machine.
    It’s better for the earth .
    Promise.
    We only need live in concrete cubicles, sustain ourselves intravenously , and eventually merge with the cloud.
    Your body will be discarded in an efficient earth friendly manner while we award your children with citizen credits.
    After uploading , feel free to broadcast yourself to them holographically anywhere via Facebook.
    Save planet earth.

    -China and the NWO/ initiative 2030

  • Lulu Vi Britannia

    Say whatever you want about Zuckerberg (I don’t like him either, and I hate Facebook), at least he understands the technology. He knows what he’s talking about. He’s not a Spielberg who makes a movie about VR without knowing anything about it, or an Elon Musk who talks about a shitton of scientific matters in a purely political way.

    • Jerald Doerr

      Ok, I will… Zuckernut is a creepy Terminator series T080 sent back in time to infiltrate humanity with Facebook, calf Skynet….

      Look, I did not watch the video but I do trust RTVR and if Zuckernut is marketing VR/AR to save the earth the little weasel and his team of marketing rabbits are right on track…. Simply to make money… Not that it’s wrong for companies to make money but to try and convince people that VR/AR will fix things like affordable housing is as ridiculous as suggesting that VR is fine… But VR porn will make you go blind! ???

      • Lulu Vi Britannia

        I’ll just quote al k’s comment (one of the first on this page): “Let’s imagine the results if most business meetings were done in vr. hundreds of thousands of flights not taken, resulting in millions of gallons of fossil fuels not burned…”

        Instead of pretending anyone who disagrees with you is blinded by VR Porn, maybe you shouldn’t let yourself get blinded by your hatred towards Zuck (which, again, I share ^^) and actually THINK about the matter. Being able to meet people when they are far away IS helpful, in many ways.

        Also, VR IS fine. Just because it’s not mainstream doesn’t mean it’s a failure. The industry is heavily interested in the tech, much more than 3D TV, smartwatchs and so many other new techs.

        • Jerald Doerr

          Ok I think you misunderstood everything I said…. But whatever dude…

    • asdf

      what has elon been wrong about? so far hes on track to do everything he said he would…oh your probably one of those people who had an issue with him smoking pot with joe rogen….

      • Lulu Vi Britannia

        Err, no, I don’t care about his smoking, although doing it in a public communication is totally unprofessional.
        “What was he wrong about?” You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me.

        – There was the Cybertruck resistance demonstration fail. A public failure, but fanboys will just deny it even though it happened right in front of their eyes…

        – Haven’t you heard of the submarine incident?
        He pretended he would create a submarine to save children blocked in a cave, the rescue team refused (not only does it take TIME to build one, the one Musk drew was simply not appropriate to the situation), so he went and straight INSULTED one of them of a pedophile.
        But the worst is the fact that he used that incident in a purely POLITICAL way: he wanted to look like a hero, the warrior who would come and save those kids. The fact is he was not. He was just a demagogue, USING a terrible incident to gain popularity.

        – When a Tesla factory broke, he went on an on about the fact that it was “because we trust robots more than humans”, and it turned out the issue was due to… a sabotage (hence: a human).
        Again, this was a purely demagogic move, pretending we should trust humans more when the obvious truth is humans are far less reliable than robots.

        – In an interview, he was asked how he would use solar panels to power Hong Kong, given that it wasn’t possible to build a solar farm in the city. He just said “then I would build it outside the city”. Not only was it an obvious answer, it’s also an incredibly stupid NON-ANSWER because he just eluded all the technical issues that comes with such an idea. The reason is obvious: he simply isn’t aware of these technical issues.

        Musk is a fraud. He’s not a scientific, he’s a politician who created a cult of personality. His only success was Space X, and no, he does NOT work there as an engineer. He’s nothing more than a businessman.

        • daveinpublic

          I think you answered the question well, but I don’t think your answer means that Musk is a fraud. And I never thought he was a ‘scientific’. He’s made tons of errors, but he’s also done so much positive that it outweighs the mess-ups and then some. I was searching for motivational videos the other day and came across Musk talking about the origin of SpaceX, and if you don’t know what it takes for a regular human being to start a business like that, and many other big ideas, it’s really crazy. Hearing him talk about it brought humanity to this corporate brand, and made me think about how difficult it would be for myself to try something like that. None of this is easy, even if the only motivation was to make money, and I think he has enough of that already.

        • aasdfa

          man youre an idiot…. hes a fraud cause the glass broke after hitting the frame with sledge hammer….. = total fraud

          he called a guy a bad name == TOOOTAL fraud

          his factory was sabotaged yet somehow its his fault… must be a fraud….

          he gave an obvious answer to an obvious question….. total fraud

          there are literally videos online of him walking through spacex discussing every part of ther ship and its process because hes there 100 hours a week but you know hes just a businessman i guess.

          oh and also cause paypal was such a huge fuckin failure as well…

          i chose the fanboy side because youre choosing the close minded asshole side. otherwise i wouldnt be presenting all of this stuff.

    • NooYawker

      This is sad but true, imagine if he wasn’t an evil robot, what a difference he could make.
      But I think Musk also knows what he’s talking about and puts it into action as well. But his mouth does get him in trouble from time to time. But he doesn’t calculate every word he says or every step he takes like Zuck.

      • daveinpublic

        I heard one interviewer recall walking with Musk through a large rocket SpaceX built, asking him questions about different individual parts, and Musk knowing about all of them. Musk continually says he puts in 100 hr work weeks. I agree, he seems to know more than your average CEO.

    • Uncle Right

      Lots of VR gadgets these days.

  • Uncle Right

    Is this website dying? Nothing happening for days, barely any news, most of them worthless.

  • Uncle Right

    VRHeadStrap.com is a great head strap for Windows Mixed Reality headsets and Vive Cosmos. VRCover.com is a great face cover for WMR and other headsets. I bought both and can recommend totally.

  • Mara Glubka

    I wish Zuck would concentrate on preventing of his social media monopoly from being used to advance fascism first.

  • MW

    Ahh, wet dream of every corpo-lord:) And every politician by the way. Society closed up in reality created by corporation.
    No more billions spended on marketing, not disturbed mass consumption, security and full control of people’s feelings… What a dream!

    What’s sad thought is that this is possible. We already have – created by technology – society of narcissistic self-righteous hedonistic clones crying over dogs and cats photos on dying planet. Well, if we live, we’ll see.

  • It’s already completely possible to work remotely with video calling, no need for VR to enable remote work. In other news, Zuckerberg recently watched Ready Player One and wants his employees to live in stacks.

    • daveinpublic

      Forget video calling, you can just use a rotary phone. Or kick it old school and send a telegram.

  • Sam Sam

    nice thought shared by Mark Zuckerberg #Virtual Visual Field