Meta Enters Edtech Market with Expansion of Quest Services

Meta, the social media giant, is expanding its enterprise-level Quest services to the education sector. This move follows the success of Meta's Quest VR headsets, which have become the most popular in the market. To support this new focus on education, Meta plans to launch a dedicated product offering for Quest devices later this year, providing educators with access to education-specific apps, features, and device management capabilities. This product will be available through the Quest for Business market in various regions, including Europe, Australia, and the United States.

Meta Enters Education Sector with Quest Devices and Services

Meta, the social media behemoth, announced on April 15 that it is expanding its enterprise-level Quest services to the education sector.

The company's Quest virtual reality (VR) headsets have surged in popularity, becoming the undisputed market leaders in extended reality (XR) technology, according to Statista. By the end of 2024, the VR industry is projected to garner an installed user base exceeding 34 million units.

Should this prediction hold true, the VR sector will have experienced a remarkable compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 27.3% since 2020, when Statista estimated the installed VR user base at about 14.2 million.

To maintain its competitive edge, Meta has recently introduced a suite of products and services tailored for the enterprise metaverse market. As Cointelegraph previously reported, this strategic shift signaled a pivot away from consumer-oriented experiences like gaming and one-time immersive environments. Education appears to be the next frontier in this evolving strategy.

In a blog post, Meta's President of Global Affairs, Nick Clegg, shared:

"Later this year, Meta will introduce a new product offering for Quest devices dedicated to education. … It will empower teachers, trainers, and administrators with access to a range of education-specific apps and features. Additionally, it will enable them to manage multiple Quest devices simultaneously, eliminating the need for individual updates and configurations for each device in a classroom or training environment."

The name and further details of the new product will be unveiled "in the coming months," with a comprehensive launch anticipated before the end of 2024. According to the blog post, it will be available in the Quest for Business market, which encompasses territories in Europe, Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, and the United States.

Meta highlighted several examples of educational institutions that have already integrated Quest headsets into their curricula. These include a life sciences course at the University of Glasgow that provides students with immersive experiences within the human body, a criminal justice course at New Mexico State University that transports users to virtual crime scenes, and a business class at Stanford University that prepares students for job interviews.

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