The recent Facebook Connect 2021 virtual conference started with a slick 77-minute keynote video that is worth watching. In it, Mark Zuckerberg sets out his vision for the metaverse. His speech culminates in the announcement that the holding company of Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger will now be known as Meta Platforms.

The virtual reality (VR) hardware subsidiary, Oculus, will be absorbed into an enlarged Reality Labs division, elevating the importance the company is assigning to the metaverse, or immersive internet. The two foundational pillars of the metaverse are, broadly speaking, immersive 3D graphics and hardware that allow you to effortlessly engage with this virtual world...