Snap CEO believes metaverse is “ambiguous and hypothetical”

Evan Spiegel believes the Metaverse is hypothetical and a VR space that doesn't exist, in comparison to AR

Snapchat Founder, Evan Spiegel, thinks the Metaverse’s ambitions are “ambiguous and hypothetical”. While explaining Snapchat's Pixy drone, which takes off from your hand, Spiegel outlined his ambitions focusing on his experiences in the real world instead of the metaverse.

In an interview with The Guardian, the Snap CEO expressed his opinion: "The reason why we don’t use that word is that it’s pretty ambiguous and hypothetical. Just ask a room of people how to define it, and everyone’s definition is totally different.”

While conversing with The Verge, he pointed out that companies entertaining metaverse ideas were "really talking about something that doesn’t exist yet" while in comparison, augmented reality (VR) was more commonly used by more than 250 million people every day through Snapchat.

Zuckerberg has invested billions of dollars to build the virtual metaverse which he calls the “embodied internet”.

Spiegel, in contrast, said, "Our fundamental thesis and our big bet is on the real world, and that people really enjoy spending time together in reality. And that computing can really enhance that, [and] make that more fun and contribute to shared experiences."

"But, ultimately, people are going to spend the vast majority of their time in the world because it’s really a wonderful place...And that’s why we talk with a lot of specificity about the products we have today, about the solutions that exist today, and about the way that people are using our products, rather than talking in hypotheticals.”

Spiegel and Mark Zuckerberg, however, do unanimously agree that AR glasses are the next advancing technology. Zuckerberg referred to them as the "holy grail" while Spiegel believes AR glasses will be overlaying the computer world in the future. Meta will release its first AR glasses in 2024 while Snap Inc. is already testing AR spectacles by developers.