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Facebook on Thursday announced that it has changed its company name to Meta. The name change was announced at the Facebook Connect augmented and virtual reality conference. The new name reflects the company’s growing ambitions beyond social media. Facebook, now known as Meta, has adopted the new moniker, based on the sci-fi term metaverse, to describe its vision for working and playing in a virtual world. The company also said in announcing the new name that it will change its stock ticker from FB to MVRS, effective Dec. 1. Meta’s stock price closed up on Thursday. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/business/facebook-changes-name-meta-it-refocuses-virtual-reality-2276266 From what I understand, the rebranding will only take place for its parent company. And for most of us, we probably don't care but why Meta? What's Meta. Here's what Meta means. https://about.facebook.com/meta

Came across news that The Weather Channel debuted its new, mixed reality capabilities by showing what a tornado could do if it hit the studio. The demonstration has used mixed reality (MR), which is similar to augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) in that it creates virtual objects and then overlays them into the real world, but goes a step further and allows users to interact with them. Through MR the channel creates an incredibly realistic simulation of a tornado hitting the studio, with yellow ‘pop-ups’ appearing with facts and safety advice. For example, after a powerline crashes into the frame, Cantore tells viewers to stay at least 40 feet away from any live wires, saying that where he was standing would be too close to the pole if it was real. The ‘Tornado Hits The Weather Channel’ video ends with the anchor walking through the destruction after the studio is totally ripped apart. With sirens wailing, flickering video connection and sparks appearing to emerge from live wires, the entire experience - apart from Cantore himself - was meticulously created by the channel in partnership with The Future Group and powered by Frontier and Unreal Engine. The Weather Channel reckons the broadcast will “ignite a revolution of weather presentation” as part of a new era of real-time immersive storytelling. I personally find the safety advice extremely useful, as it give the viewer a clearer view of the potential hazards and associating risks in the real life situation, which shall have a more lasting effects in the viewers mind. Upon visiting this channel on youtube, found that they actually have several useful video, using similar VR technology, to remind drivers of the hazards of driving through different weather conditions. (and that is why this thread appears under the "General Car Discussion" section. And it is amazing that they actually started using VR technology some 3 years back... Can't wait for our MediaCorp to do the same for our otherwise boring news reporting and weather forecast. Imagine how it will look like to report ponding, hail storm, earthquake, etc. Our TP may also do the same to some of their educational video, to demonstrate, for example, the effect of road hogging and tailgating...