Facebook Rebrands to Meta, Rolls Out VR Fitness Apps

Facebook is looking to become a different type of company, starting with its name: The social networking giant is rebranding its parent company to Meta.

Meta will oversee Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Oculus, the latter of which is of growing importance to Facebook’s ambitions in the metaverse — hence the name.

The rebrand was revealed by Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg during the company’s Connect event on Thursday.

Zuckerberg presented new fitness offerings and other functions in the company’s Oculus Quest VR headset.

• Oculus is adding VR fitness apps and features including a boxing workout to its “Supernatural” workout app, new studios in its “FitXR” program, and new features for hand-tracking fitness game “Player 22 by Rezzil.”
• Facebook is looking to make its VR hardware more amenable to intense workouts. Next year it will release its Active Pack for Quest 2, which will include controller grips and a facial interface that will help prevent the headset from getting too sweaty.
• Zuckerberg touted the new possibilities enabled by its technology, including playing virtual three-on-three basketball with a group of friends, fencing someone on the other side of the world, and working out in unique landscapes against AI.

Facebook bought Oculus VR in 2014 for $2 billion.

The company is also rolling out new apps and functions in its Horizon Home interface, allowing people to work and socialize within the metaverse.