Meta is opening a physical store to conquer the metaverse

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What’s the point of having virtual worlds if people don’t have the hardware necessary to log in? That’s the problem that Meta is trying to solve with its first retail store, the Meta Store. Think of it as a physical location to test out the metaverse.

Opening May 9 on Meta’s campus in Burlingame, California, the Meta Store will highlight the best of Meta’s metaverse tech. That includes the Portal line of video calling devices, Ray-Ban Stories smart glasses, and the Meta Quest line of VR headsets.

Meta wants you to touch everything in the retail location. That might not be the best idea during a pandemic, but we get what they’re trying to do.

READ MORE: Meta thinks its next VR headset will replace your laptop

People learn from doing, and that in-person experience might be the hook to get more people into the metaverse.

Take the Quest 2 display, for example. You can try out a range of VR games, which are displayed on the huge video wall next to you. Once you’re done, you get a 30-second mixed reality clip of you playing inside the virtual world.

Alongside the physical location, Meta is also making its hardware easier to buy. A new Shop tab on meta.com has all its hardware in one place.

READ MORE: HTC will unveil a phone designed for the Metaverse on June 28

Meta hopes that the retail experience will show “what’s possible [with our products] today,” while showing what could be in the future.

Again, the Meta Store opens on May 9, and it’s located at 322 Airport Blvd in Burlingame, California. It will be open Mon-Fri between 11 AM and 6 PM.

Have any thoughts on this? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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Joe Rice-Jones

Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience at KnowTechie, SlashGear and XDA Developers. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere, with particular focus in gadgetry and handheld gaming. Shoot him an email at joe@knowtechie.com.