According to reports, local time on Tuesday, Disney CEO Bob Chapek (Bob Chapek) appointed a new executive to lead the company’s metaverse strategy.
In a memo to employees, Chapek said Mike White would become Disney’s senior vice president responsible for a new generation of stories.
Previously, White was responsible for Disney’s consumer experience and platforms. Before joining Disney in 2011, White worked at tech companies such as Yahoo, according to his LinkedIn profile.
The metaverse refers to new concepts of entertainment provided by virtual reality devices that promise to usher in a new wave of commerce on the Internet. Facebook has made its biggest bet yet in virtual reality, changing the company’s name to Meta and spending more than $10 billion to develop virtual reality hardware and software in 2021.
Chapek has not provided any specific details on how Disney plans to make money from the Metaverse, but he said in a memo on Tuesday that White’s mission will be to “connect the physical and digital worlds” for Disney Entertainment.
“Today, we have the opportunity to connect these worlds and create an entirely new paradigm for audiences to experience and engage with our stories,” Chapek said in the memo.
Despite the investments and hype around the Metaverse, the technology itself is still far away. Meta executives say it could take up to 15 years to fully realize their vision of entering an immersive world through a set of computer glasses.
Meanwhile, major big tech companies are dabbling in new headsets for augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR). Meta said it plans to release an advanced version of its VR headset later this year, and Microsoft is also selling an AR headset called HoloLens. Apple is expected to launch its own headphones as early as this year.