Meta will launch its first physical retail store in Burlingame, California, on May 9th, next to Meta’s Reality Labs division’s headquarters.
Physical retail stores are important to Meta because they allow the firm not only to sell more hardware but also to connect more people to its Virtual and Augmented reality technology.
The store will feature interactive demos of the company’s VR headsets, Ray-Ban glasses, and Portal gadgets, as well as virtual reality headsets.
Virtual reality demonstrations will be shown in-store on a giant “wall-to-wall” LED display, which will transmit content from participants’ headgear.
Zuckerberg wrote in a blog post on Monday that the new store will allow customers “get a taste of what’s coming as we build towards the metaverse.”
Meta’s virtual reality headsets, video chat gadgets, and smart eyewear aren’t merely for sale on the internet. It wants consumers to go into a store and try out the products.
The Quest 2 VR headset and peripherals, as well as the Portal video chat devices, will be available for purchase at the store. They’ll be able to try on the Ray-Ban Stories specs as well, but they’ll have to get them on Ray-Ban.com.
The launch demonstrates how serious the tech giant is about developing consumer products, taking on businesses like Google and Apple, both of which have physical locations.
Meta hopes that as more people try its technologies, they’ll see why CEO Mark Zuckerberg believes the metaverse is the mobile internet’s future.
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