‘The metaverse and how we’ll build it’: The political economy of Meta’s Reality Labs

Abstract

Spatial computing – that is, a form of human–computer interaction that retains or manipulates referents of real object and spaces – is an increasingly intense focus for Meta. In 2018, Meta launched ‘Reality Labs’ (RL), a research and development division to oversee the company’s production of spatial computing technologies. Drawing on a media historiographical approach from platform studies, this article charts the development of the company’s spatial computing ambitions through RL from 2018 to 2022. In so doing, we find that Meta attempts to consolidate complementors through acquisitions, capture policymakers and academics, convene third-party businesses and developers, and expand its ecosystem through enhancing platform programmability. We argue that RL’s efforts to grow the platform from within, and through drawing in third-parties, signals an ambition to grow their spatial computing offerings such that they take on a central, infrastructural role in society.