Meta’s new home in Dubai will change the Middle East – The National

Meta’s new home in Dubai will change the Middle East – The National

Meta, the company formerly known as Facebook, has astonishingly grand plans. Mark Zuckerberg, the firm's chief executive and one of the richest people in the world, has said it will build nothing less than the "future of social connections".

By using particularly sophisticated augmented reality – where people interact with 3D holograms, or "metamates", using headsets – it has already given the world memorable firsts. Last month, The National reported on an Indian couple who hosted Asia's first digital wedding. More than 2,000 people were invited to the Hogwarts-themed event, which allowed the hosts to overcome Covid-19 restrictions at the time.

There is a long way to go before such novelties become mainstream, if indeed they ever do. But even a smaller social shift involving the technology would be a historic change.

Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai, inaugurates the regional headquarters of technology and social media company Meta at Dubai Internet City. All photos: Dubai Media Office Twitter

On Tuesday, in something of an irony, Meta opened a new office in the physical realm — its regional headquarters in Dubai. The site in Dubai Internet City will have more than 100 employees. At the opening, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown