Meta uses fitness data to tap into Apple’s ecosystem: Bringing the metaverse’s fitness stats into Apple Health via Oculus headsets helps Apple users close their activity rings and gives Meta synergy with a larger user ecosystem.

Membership platforms like Supernatural paired with the Oculus Quest headset to offer hundreds of workout options that are less costly than the average gym membership (for those who already own the $299 headset), per WFAE. Supernatural amassed a 58,000-member Facebook community geared for those who historically have felt uncomfortable in traditional gym environments, per Wired.

Osso VR uses Oculus headsets to train surgeons on certain procedures before entering the operating room. The VR entrant is backed by Kaiser Permanente’s VC arm. Plus, last month, spine surgeons at UConn Health successfully conducted surgery using AR startup Augmedics’ headset. The physicians described it as a “heads-up display on your windshield” that saved them time from looking up to see the CT scan.

It’s already begun testing ads in some of its titles for the Oculus, its VR headset. These appear as billboard ads or posters within digital landscapes, except with the added ability to click through to a brand’s website. Though Meta’s experiment is in its early stages, marketers can get ahead of the trend by tapping into video games.

Why this matters: Meta, whose acquisition of Oculus in 2014 has helped it attain an 80% market share in VR hardware, knows its metaverse future is reliant on hardware and wants to exert its dominance before other players, like Apple, Microsoft, and Google, begin shipping alternatives. Meta showed off various prototypes last week that each target a different hurdle VR faces today.

The company has historically opted to acquire rather than compete, as evidenced by buying WhatsApp, Instagram, and Oculus. New acquisitions may be unlikely in the short term as Meta struggles to break even. This could lead investors to seek less nebulous metaverse platforms players to invest in.

Editor's Note: This article was updated to reflect the rebrand of Meta Quest (formerly Oculus Quest) — January 27, 2022.

The metaverse will finally meet Apple’s walled garden when Oculus Quest 2 headset users receive an update that lets them send their workout data to Apple’s Health app. Why it’s worth watching: The metaverse is a mostly isolated VR ecosystem, but a new update to Meta’s VR headsets will let users share their fitness data with Apple Health, which could result in wider adoption, per AppleInsider.

The move to integrate ads into VR experiences could help Oculus loosen its dependence on Facebook’s more profitable ventures. The company’s recent VR acquisitions could allow it to create VR content with targeted ads seamlessly built in.

Oculus’ app topped the charts after Christmas: The app that supports Meta’s VR headset product became the No. 1 app on both the iOS App Store and Google Play store. This strongly suggests the headsets soared in popularity this year. Before Christmas 2021, the Oculus app only cracked the iOS top 10 in the US. By December 26, it had reached the top five in 14 different markets.

Facebook’s consumer VR advantage: Recent VR headset announcements show device-makers are increasingly pivoting toward enterprise customers as a result of Oculus’ unbeatable price point.

For example, Osso VR uses Oculus headsets to train surgeons on certain procedures before entering the operating room, which should go a long way toward improving performance. The VR startup reported a 230% improvement in surgeons’ performance after training with the tech, per a recent study.

Oculus. Roblox. Samsung. Securing Industry. Seeking Alpha. Sensor Tower. Tapjoy. The NPD Group. The Wall Street Journal.

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Updating the Oculus Quest 2 headsets then enabling wider access to Horizon Worlds could help Meta generate even more interest and buzz, leading to adoption. Opening up Horizon Worlds in the US and Canada will also attract more developers, who can now openly create experiences with a larger base of users. What’s next?

For example, Facebook’s Oculus shipments fell just before the company replaced its original Oculus Quest with the Oculus Quest 2 in October 2020. And shipments of the Sony PS VR (originally designed for the PlayStation 4) also declined as the company shifted focus to introducing its new PlayStation 5 console in late 2020.

A key driver of this growth is more powerful VR headsets, such as the Meta Quest 2 (formerly marketed as the Oculus Quest 2). The number of VR users will grow 9.6% this year to 34.8 million, a year after the pandemic boosted VR usage by more than four times that rate. The pace will slow to single digits for the remainder of our forecast.

Editor's Note: This article was updated to reflect the rebrand of Meta Quest (formerly Oculus Quest) — January 27, 2022.

Meta’s Oculus owns the consumer VR hardware space. Oculus accounted for 53.5% of extended reality headset shipment share worldwide in 2020, per Counterpoint.

In November 2021, Dyson launched a virtual showroom available as an app through Meta’s Oculus store that featured consumer products such as its cult favorite hair styling tools and vacuum cleaners. Samsung launched an immersive experience on the metaverse platform Decentraland that re-created the brand’s high-tech flagship store in New York City’s meatpacking district and offered NFTs for sale.