Snap’s Evan Spiegel says metaverse ‘hypothetical’ idea, better to focus on AR

Metaverse might be a cool buzzword but Snap CEO Evan Spiegel is not impressed. In fact, he has said that the ‘metaverse’ word is never uttered in Snap’s offices and instead the company’s focus is around augmented reality (AR) given it has better potential. Unlike Meta and Zuckerberg who are all focused on the virtual world, Spiegel is focused on making the real world better. In fact, the word ‘metaverse’ is never uttered in Snap’s office, reports Guardian.
“The reason why we don’t use that word is because it’s pretty ambiguous and hypothetical. Just ask a room of people how to define it, and everyone’s definition is totally different,” Spiegel was quoted as saying the Guardian.
According to The Verge, Spiegel told them that metaverse pitches all appear to be about a concept that does not ex yet. He also stressed that unlike metaverse, AR has proof of concept and people are engaging with it. Snapchat revealed that 250 million people engage with AR Lenses on the platform on a daily basis.
In fact, Snapchat has showcased new AR shopping tools and experiences aimed at both businesses and users. Snap revealed plans to make it easier for businesses to build 3D assets for AR lenses. It plans to test TryOn AR Lenses with Puma where a user could soon try out a sneaker in AR mode inside the app.

He also told The Verge that the company is putting a major bet on AR and the real world given and that “people really enjoy spending time together in reality,” which is why they are focusing on real products and use cases instead of hypotheticals.
It should be noted that Snap is also building a pair of powerful AR glasses, which it showcased at last year’s Snap Partner Summit. The AR glasses are still in testing and yet to roll out to the general public. The glasses would overlay AR experiences over the real world, though getting AR glasses to work as smoothly is easier said than done.
Rival Meta is also working on more advanced AR/VR glasses, and Zuckerberg has said he hopes that Project Cambria will eventually replace a user’s laptop. Apple is also working on its own AR/VR headset, with a focus on AR. The headset is expected to cost $2000 and could release this year.