Disney has a new executive in charge of the metaverse
Disney CEO Bob Chapek on Tuesday appointed an executive to lead the company's metaverse strategy.
Mike White will be Disney's senior vice president in charge of “next generation storytelling,” Chapek said in a memo to employees that was viewed by CNBC. White was previously in charge of Disney's consumer experiences and platforms.
The metaverse is the concept in which the virtual worlds you experience through virtual reality headsets will usher in a new wave of business on the internet. Facebook has made the biggest bet on the metaverse so far, changing its corporate name to Meta and spending more than $10 billion on developing virtual reality hardware and software last year.
Chapek has not definitely outlined how Disney plans to make money from the metaverse, but said in his Tuesday memo White's task will be “connecting the physical and digital worlds” for Disney entertainment.
“Today, we have an opportunity to connect those universes and create an entirely new paradigm for how audiences experience and engage with our stories,” Chapek said in the memo.
Despite all the investment and hype surrounding the metaverse, the technology is still far off. Meta executives have said it could take up to 15 years to fully realize their vision of immersive worlds you can access with a set of lightweight and stylish computerized glasses.
In the meantime, all the major technology companies are dabbling in new kinds of augmented and virtual reality headsets. Meta said it plans to release an advanced version of its VR headset later this year. Apple is expected to reveal its headset to the world as soon as this year. And Microsoft sells an augmented reality headset called HoloLens.
迪士尼首席执行官鲍勃·查佩克周二任命了一名高管来领导公司的元界战略。 迈克怀特将成为迪士尼负责“下一代故事讲述”的高级副总裁，查佩克在 CNBC 看到的给员工的备忘录中说。怀特此前负责迪士尼的消费者体验和平台。
元宇宙是您通过虚拟现实耳机体验的虚拟世界将在互联网上掀起新一轮商业浪潮的概念。迄今为止，Facebook 对元宇宙下了最大的赌注，去年将公司名称更改为 Meta，并在开发虚拟现实硬件和软件上花费了超过 100 亿美元。
Chapek 并未明确概述迪士尼计划如何从虚拟世界中赚钱，但在周二的备忘录中表示，怀特的任务将是为迪士尼娱乐“连接物理世界和数字世界”。
“今天，我们有机会将这些宇宙联系起来，并为观众如何体验和参与我们的故事创造一个全新的范式，”查佩克在备忘录中说。
尽管围绕元宇宙进行了所有投资和炒作，但这项技术仍然很遥远。 Meta 高管表示，可能需要长达 15 年的时间才能完全实现他们对身临其境的世界的愿景，您可以通过一套轻巧时尚的电脑眼镜进入。
与此同时，所有主要的科技公司都在涉足新型增强和虚拟现实耳机。 Meta 表示，它计划在今年晚些时候发布其 VR 耳机的高级版本。预计苹果最快会在今年向全世界展示其耳机。微软还销售一款名为 HoloLens 的增强现实耳机。
