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Meta’s September conference in Menlo Park, California gave us a sneak peak into its new upcoming offering — Quest for Business. The platform is focused on enterprises, designed to address the unique demands of businesses while delivering a customized VR experience optimized for enterprise use cases. Naturally, optimized for best performance with the new Meta Quest 3.
As any other tech giant, Meta is adapting to the evolving needs of the XR market. This year in particular has seen shifts in wider adoption, but not in the consumer domain as most would expect. Although there has been a consistent uptick in consumer adoption, it is the enterprise applications that currently stand as the real financial goldmine.
And naturally, Meta has identified the sector as ripe with profitable prospects spanning across various fields such as training, simulation, collaboration, among others. The introduction of Quest for Business is a tactical move aimed at tapping into this burgeoning market and equipping enterprise clients with the tools they need to compete within the digital market.
In this fall’s conference, Meta seized the opportunity to provide a preview illuminating the myriad ways in which VR can revolutionize enterprise operations. The spotlight was placed on the distinctive features that set the platform apart from Meta’s consumer-focused services, which cover:
Plus, what is of special interest — Meta underscored the integral role of collaborative efforts with third-party developers in creating industry-specific applications that are designed to enhance the platform’s utility for businesses.
In the past, Meta has faced critical examination concerning its data handling practices. The company now has to proactively rectify its reputation and take corrective measures. And if they hadn’t, it would significantly impact their business. After the self-imposed ban of Quest 2 in Germany that lasted for two years, Meta rolled out new accounts. Both Quest 2 and Quest 3 no longer require connecting personal user accounts and linking of social profiles to the work profiles, which is crucial for the business framework.
Data security is pivotal, that’s why Quest for Business is likely to double (or tripple) on privacy measures. We can expect robust privacy controls and data management functionalities to ensure that business and enterprise users retain absolute control over their data. Concrete actions may include implementing end-to-end encryption across all business communications, advanced access control for sensitive data, and deploying AI-driven threat detection systems to monitor and respond to security breaches in real time. The company is also likely to offer transparency features, such as comprehensive user-access logs and data tracking, giving enterprise clients full visibility and audit capabilities over their data.
Yet, despite all perks of this platform, the years-long battle for privacy that Meta (and the previous Facebook) faced should leave the users on alert, especially if their company handles or produces sensitive data.
Compared to Oculus for Business, Quest for Business seems to be making a strategic shift towards creating a more versatile, multipurpose and user-friendly VR platform for work. Incorporating enterprise-security level is almost guaranteed — in order to solidify the commitment and building trust among enterprise clients, and to drive wider adoption of VR within the business domain. The platform is currently available in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Japan. We can expect further distribution in other countries after the company’s early performance and sales reviews in launched regions, presumably by the end of 2023.
Petra Palusova is writer for the VRX blog with an affinity for all-things-XR. Architect, systems scientist specialized in XR and synthetic environments, Petra is currently active as a product design lead, advisor and researcher delivering best practices, communications and business strategies to technology companies building XR products and platforms. A true jack of all trades!
