Meta Connect keynote 2023 field trip

Published: September 28, 2023

Meta Connect keynote 2023 field trip

Environment & general impressions

The spawn point instantly gave us options to chose a "flare"/role to add to our name badge (that hovered overhead). I chose creator but that was extended to "Content Creator" so I changed it to "Tech Fan": Main entrance The hall had some items on display which in my excitement to enter the experience, I didn't realise were the rewards. As a noob (barely used Meta Horizon Worlds before) I hadn't realised the bookmark with a star on it was the symbol for rewards. The first time I realised I could collect and wear these things was when I saw someone wearing them. The rewards were well done. Once claimed, they live in the system-wide avatar "wardrobe" for use after the event. Unfortunately, they're not as composable as I would like so the backpack (see below) is part of a whole "top" and can't be used separately. Similarly with the denim jacket and trousers - they can't be worn separately. I'd love to wear connect jeans with my normal hoodie.

The main stage area was really well done. It was nice to see them use the "put the audience half way up the screen" design pattern. This made watching the huge screen really comfortable and enjoyable. The overall feel was a little less busy than I expected, there were probably <20 people in my instance. It made it feel like it wasn't a big deal. More people = more important. Need to figure out how to get that feeling without making it carnage. Oddly, it seemed to be busier after the event finished.

The main event (Mark/Boz stood on stage) was filmed in 3D. Although I could tell it was and it gave me something else to look at in detail, the effect didn't really work for me. Obviously, I'd much rather see a mocapped Mark walking on the in-world stage in front of me but that'll come :smile: .

There was a decent amount of dead space between the audience. A retail store was included to the right of the stage. This was boarded up with a countdown timer at the start. Ideally Mark would have run to time but since he didn't we got to the see the glasses in the store before he announced them on stage. That was a pretty cool feeling and although a cock up, felt like a bit of a reward for using VR. The actual shop was OK, I would have liked a huge pair of glasses so that we could look at the detail or something a little more unusual than just the mesh of the product on a stand. Perhaps I missed that. NPCs would work well in here.

Interactive elements

In the world were a couple of interactive sculptures. This one was cool as it worked better with someone else - another low-risk, non-threatening way to interact with each other. Once a letter had been stood on, a light travelled along the floor to the base and the corresponding letter in in the sky animated.

I really liked this idea. When the user picked up a camera and took a photo of the fox, it came to life in a much higher poly version and walked around the enclosure before returning to the statue. Interactive statues are cool.

Quests

The in-game quests were something that really made a difference to the experience.

Quest progress was accessible via the Horizon Worlds menu (bleow) and in-world achievement boards (above).

The first one was a "networking" station. It required two people to stand on buttons at the same time. Trivial as this sounds it was a perfect way to interact with other people. Over the course of my time in-world, I spoke to about 3 people in a way I would have done in the physical world. Helping them to figure it out or them helping me. Although we didn't exchange details it was a great ice breaker that made speaking to people feel normal and non-threatening. Three of the quests involved other worlds that I wouldn't have visited otherwise. The important thing for me was because there was a massive countdown clock on the main stage before the event started I knew I could nip off into another world and I wouldn't be missing anything.

Rather than simple portals, in the world built for the event, they'd built shop fronts to each of the experiences. This was massive in terms of the experience. Once inside the shop, an animation typically opened a door to the portal, some written instructions and a user count(which was between 4(!) and a few hundred).

I completed all the quests which were;

Visit all the parts of the conference venue. Good for signalling what's available.

Networking - stand on the disks at the same time as someone else (shown above).

Fishing game - open manual. This took about 10secs in-world but I stayed for about 30mins playing with the fishing mechanics. Again standing on a quayside was really conducive to low-risk non-threatening chats. I spoke to about 5 people in there, just like I would have done in the physical world.

The Rumble - complete a round. This was a FPS game which was simple enough to grasp. A round took about 3-5mins and I wasn't completely hopeless although there was someone on level 200 who just kept blitzing us all (not a great experience!).

Citadel - kill a "boss". A game in which we were paired with someone else. I initially thought it was an AI but turned out to be a real human. Took a bit longer than I wanted (~10mins?) and because I was paired with someone it felt awkward to leave. We played much longer than needed to achieve the quest.

Quests complete! Having the personal achievement board on view is really important for the sense of pride. It could have been branded better as taking virtual world selfies is clearly huge deal.

Of course people will knock this sort of thing becuase you know, Meta but it really was a great experience. In a couple of years these kind of conferences will be much more common and we'll have figured out how to make them really polished and enjoyable. I can't wait!

Take aways

In no particular order;


Tags: research, metaverse, field trip

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