Chinese firm slams Mark Zuckerberg’s metaverse tech as ‘toy’ and will rival him

CHINESE virtual reality firm StepVR has slammed Mark Zuckerberg’s Occulus headset as a “small toy”.

Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, is stepping up efforts to create a metaverse world, which humans can enter via VR headsets.

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However, StepVR founder and CEO Guo Cheng is not so impressed with Zuckerberg’s offering.

He’s creating something called a VR Gates01, which he says allows people to immerse themselves into the metaverse by stepping into an open-air box.

It’s this box that supposedly provides an experience that wearing a headset at home could not.

People inside a VR Gates01 box must also wear special gloves, a vibrating vest, and walk on a treadmill.

Guo hopes to launch the product in July.

He told the South China Morning Post: “You can unburden yourself and fulfill your dreams in the metaverse.”

The VR gates are said to offer a “total immersion” experience that Meta’s headsets cannot.

However, users will have to go to specific locations to use the product as a consumer version isn’t ready yet.

When it is, the product could cost up to $2,500 (£1,975).

StepVR will reportedly start selling the VR Gates01 in Japan, South Korea, the Middle East, North America, and Europe at some point in 2023.

Guo has compared his metaverse experience to the sci-fi movie Ready Player One, which sees humans battle in a virtual reality world.

The StepVR CEO hopes humans will be able to use all five senses in the metaverse including touch and smell.