Meta Acquires Audio Analytic In Its Push For the Metaverse
In its quest to expand the Metaverse, Facebook and Instagram’s parent company Meta has acquired Audio Analytic, a U.K. based audio recognition software solution.
The Meta Audio Analytic acquisition was announced in the first week of November. As a part of the move, Audio Analytic and its proprietary technology will now operate under Meta’s organizational structure.
What Does the Meta Audio Analytic Acquisition Mean?
The metaverse is a multi-dimensional virtual reality on the internet that is a mix of augmented reality, 3D imaging, and supporting technologies. The concept has been getting a big push by Meta CEO and Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, who has been focused on developing it for wider usage.
By acquiring Audio Analytic, Meta aims to expand its reach into the metaverse. Since Audio Analytic uses artificial intelligence (AI) to recognize speech and audio, it makes the company’s solution an ideal segment of the metaverse, which focuses on emulating a real world experience in a virtual reality environment.
According to details, Meta will use Audio Analytic under its Reality Labs Research arm that is spearheading the firm’s expansion into the metaverse. Through this approach, the company will fully utilize Audio Analytic’s tech to further embolden the metaverse concept.
Before the Meta Audio Analytic acquisition took place, Audio Analytic had been working on enhancing how machines recognize, identify, and process different sounds. Launched in 2010, the firm had continuously used an extensive set of data to process human speech and regular sounds.
By using Audio Analytic’s database as well as its approach to AI sound recognition, Meta will have a formidable tool at its disposal to emulate the human experience in the metaverse. But this seemingly comes at the expense of a promising and standalone AI company, which is already causing some to decry Meta’s absorption of Audio Analytic.
At the same time, the startup quite likely saw different opportunities in pursuing this particular path and moving forward with the Meta route.
The Metaverse – A Meta Dream or the Next Step?
The Metaverse is an interesting topic for a wide variety of reasons. Many investors continue to push back on the company because of the enormous spend. Meta leadership has heard investors and have started scaling back on overall headcount. More layoffs are expected occur within the firm as part of a new cost conscious approach in this current uncertain environment.
The company has several aspects to account for as it looks into the next decade. In my view, it boil down to two core questions.
How can it stay ahead of competitors like TikTok and Snapchat?
How can it also roll out another platform that it can lead that enables it to port current users and continue overall relevance?