The Facebook Horizon is the proposal of Facebook for a virtual social world, accessible by the platform Oculus. By getting ideas from Minecraft and Second Life, you can create your avatar and explore a whole new reality, or create your own environments and adventures.
What is Facebook Horizon?
Facebook Horizon is Facebook’s exclusive Virtual Reality (VR) social immersion environment, supported only by the Oculus Rift platform, the company’s family of head-mounted displays (HMD). It’s a kind of social network apart, where the user can create an avatar and interact with other people and do whatever they want.
The proposal is similar to Minecraft’s in that it has a creative tool that allows users to shape their own environments. The difference is the use of VR for deeper immersion, something like the Holodeck from Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Horizon also resembles the idea of Second Life a little, but at least for now, Facebook does not mention whether it will allow companies to set up on the platform and sell their products and services.
You can create an avatar with your appearance and “walk” through the virtual environment (the dolls do not have legs, so the quotes), performing the most diverse actions in a free way. For example, you can chat, play games, read news, participate in recreational activities such as painting and listening to group music, or even organize work groups.
The authoring tool will allow the user to set up “rooms” with themes of his choice, and it will also be possible to visit other users’ works and worlds. Those who have difficulty using the feature can count on the help of “Locals,” Facebook Horizon employees who will act as guides to the virtual world.
How can I access?
Facebook Horizon will be officially launched in 2020, with a closed beta coming in before that, but both have no confirmed dates. To access it, you must have one of the Oculus family HMDs (Oculus Rift, Rift S or Quest) and sign up for the project’s official website ( oculus.com/facebookhorizon ) with your Facebook account.
Once you have registered, just wait to be selected for the closed beta, or for the release of the final version.