Meta Platforms Inc. Launches New Login Method to VR Headset Via Meta Account

Entering Oculus is now easier. (photo: doc. autoulus)

JAKARTA - Meta Platforms Inc has modified the way users log into their virtual reality headsets. According to Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg, in a Facebook post on Thursday, July 7, they stated they would launch a new "Meta account" starting August.

"You don't need a Facebook account to log into Quest starting next month. We're launching a new Meta account that you can use with our VR headsets. This will give everyone more choices about how you appear in the metaverse," Zuckerberg wrote on his Facebook page.

The social media giant announced plans to remove Facebook's login requirements last year, following backlash from users who previously accessed the headset using separate accounts from Oculus. Oculus is a virtual reality company that Meta, then known as Facebook, acquired in 2014.

With the new login structure, Meta accounts will control device-level access and manage app purchases. While the Meta Horizon profile will represent the user's social presence in virtual reality, with the associated username and avatar.

When virtual and physical worlds collide, anything can happen. Digital creators unlock the possibilities of our tech and end up in all kinds of things virtual and augmented environments. Check it out: https://t.co/t0h9kYwHCt pic.twitter.com/7MKEEFDVwe

— Meta (@Meta) July 5, 2022

People will also have the option to link their profile in the unified Meta Account Center, which will integrate their existing social connections from Facebook, Instagram or Messenger into their virtual reality experience.

"For accounts not added to the Account Center, the company will only aggregate user data across apps to count users and enforce security rules," a Facebook spokesperson told Reuters.

In a memo last week, chief product officer Chris Cox alluded to the change, which he referred to as Project Simile. It also said it would "accept continuity across the metaverse."

Meta has pushed for integrating accounts and other products across the "application family", which gives users cross-application functionality while enabling enterprises to consolidate data about their behavior in different environments.

Meta also announced plans to unify its messaging structure across apps in 2019 and later that year launched a payment service, now called Meta Pay. In this application, users can process transactions on Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp, all at once.