Meta opens first physical store with VR and AR demos in US

Facebook’s parent company Meta will open its first physical store next month. The store will be located in California and will revolve around the VR and AR products that the company sells. In the store, consumers can buy those products and try them out with demonstrations.

In the Meta Store comes demonstrations of the Quest 2, the Portal devices and the Ray-Ban Stories smart glasses. The Quest 2 demo allows people to try out Beat Saber, GOLF+, Real VR Fishing or Supernatural games with the VR headset. Others can see what the player sees in that demo, through an LED screen on the wall. Players will also receive a half-minute ‘mixed-reality’ video clip with clips from their demo.

In the Ray-Ban Stories demo, Meta wants to show how users can take pictures and record videos with the glasses, and share these recordings. Customers should also be able to try out different frames, colors and lenses. The Portal demo allows people to try out the video calling devices by, among other things, video calling and using other functions with a Meta sales representative.

The Meta Store is approximately 144 square meters and opens on May 9. The store will be located close to Meta’s Reality Labs headquarters, where it works on VR and AR applications. The metaverse is also featured in the Store. “We don’t sell the metaverse in-store, but hopefully people will know a little more about how our products will help them connect with it,” said Martin Gilliard, head of the Meta Store.

In the store, consumers can purchase Quest 2 headsets and accessories, as well as Portal devices. Ray-Ban Stories glasses are not for sale in stores. It is not known whether Meta wants to open more Stores. Meta has been working on the Store plans since 2020, internal documents previously revealed. In addition to the physical store, Meta is adding a Shop tab to his website so that Meta’s products can be bought there.