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SAN FRANCISCO – One of Mark Zuckerberg’s first steps towards construction metadata store can be physical rather than virtual.

People familiar with the project and company documents reviewed by The New York Times said social media company Meta, formerly known as Facebook, is discussing opening retail stores that will eventually expand around the world. The stores will be used to introduce people to devices such as virtual reality headsets and eventually augmented reality glasses made by the company’s Reality Labs division.

These devices are gateways to metadata, a futuristic digital world where people transition from virtual to augmented versions of reality almost seamlessly. Facebook’s founder and CEO, Mr. Zuckerberg, said last week. changed his company to Meta and laid out a vision to follow the metaverse as the next social platform. The stores will help show people that virtual reality and augmented reality can be fun and exciting exactly the way Mr. Zuckerberg sees it.

The stores’ aim is to make the world “more open and connected,” according to company documents viewed by The Times. According to the documents, they aim to evoke feelings of “welcome” as well as “curiosity, intimacy” while experimenting with headphones on a “journey without judgment.”

People said the discussions about physical stores began months before Facebook’s rebranding, and serious work has been done on the initiative, which was launched last year. And they said that the project, which is still in development, may not be continued. But if Meta moves forward with stores, it will be a first for a tech giant that exists largely digitally with more than 3.5 billion people using its apps like Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger.

A Meta spokesperson declined to comment.

Mr. Zuckerberg spoke of the meta-universe as his company grapples with regulatory and societal challenges. Frances Haugen, a former employee became an informant, collected thousands of pages of internal documents and recently shared them with lawmakers and the news media. he said Facebook wasn’t doing enough to protect society from the harm it causes. He has explanations review by lawmakers and regulators, though uncertain how strong is his case.

Skepticism about the metaverse also abounds. Meta’s Reality Labs division Modest success in the past with Oculus Quest 2Virtual reality, a low-priced headset that became popular last year, remains a niche market for hobbyists and enthusiasts alike. Hardware is usually can be costly and difficult to use. Some people have reported that the headphones make them feel nauseous.

“At best, we’re at least five to 10 years away from a fully fleshed out Meta product or service,” said Tim Derdenger, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business. He said what Meta was working on was similar to the early 2000s video game Second Life, calling it “a second chance at a Second Life-like service, but hopefully more immersive.”

Yet Mr. Zuckerberg said he saw the moment to build what he believes will be the next big shift in computing platforms since the smartphone era. In that future, Mr. Zuckerberg’s apps would no longer be bound by rules dictated by Apple and Google, which own the app stores that distribute Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger.

Tech companies opening their own stores are not new. Personal computer manufacturer Gateway had its own stores in the 1990s. Apple has retail stores so people can test devices and have their questions answered. Microsoft, Amazon, and others followed suit with their own stores.

In recent years, Meta has experimented with some physical retail efforts. He opened “pop-up” kiosks at airports and a pop-up store in Turkey. Manhattan’s SoHo district To showcase Oculus hardware products. It also had a pop-up location with Macy’s in 2018 in an effort to bring more small businesses to the platform.

According to company documents, if Meta’s new stores go ahead, they will feature products such as Portal devices (teleconferencing devices that allow people to video chat over Facebook) and Oculus headsets. Stores may also include voice-activated sunglasses developed by Meta. with Ray-Ban, which people can use to take photos and videos.

Early designs for Meta’s stores looked modern on the building’s exterior, with a flat, minimalist aesthetic and subtle placement of the Facebook brand, according to the documents. According to the documents, the company considered naming its stores Facebook Hub, Facebook Commons, Facebook Innovations, Facebook Reality Store, and From Facebook before choosing Facebook Store as the lead candidate.

It was unclear how the Meta rebranding would affect the stores’ names. Andrew Bosworth, a longtime Facebook executive and chief technology officer of Meta, said: said last week The Oculus brand will be discontinued and replaced with the Meta name. Oculus Quest will be Meta Quest, while Facebook Portal will be renamed Meta Portal, he said.

The flagship Facebook Store was planned for Burlingame, California, where Meta has an office for Reality Labs employees. It was unclear whether these plans would continue.