If you’ve ever wondered if (or when) Zwift will finally jump into the metaverse to create a truly immersive 360°cycling experience, well, you’re not alone.

But Meta (the artist formerly known as Facebook) might just beat them (or drag them into it) to it if this video is any indication of what they’re working on:

While this is very much an ad suggesting what’s possible, and Meta’s realization of a metaverse that people actually want to use is likely a long ways off, this is exciting nonetheless.

Compared to what’s on offer in Sandbox or Decentraland, both of which are built on true WEB3 technology and ideology, this ad definitely shows a more compelling offering. Because, well, it’s also showing some in-game footage from Zwift:

The difference between existing metaverse projects and this will, of course, be in the execution. And Meta’s ability to shrink the Oculus headset to something we’d actually want to wear while cycling indoors…and that hardware could be coming soon.

The other issue is whether mass adoption of “the metaverse” comes alive as part of a closed loop, corporate-owned platform like Meta’s or Zwift’s that wants to control both your experience and data, or if there’ll be a new contender that leverages the open, collaborative nature of WEB3 to bring it to fruition.

Tyler Benedict is the Founder of Bikerumor.com. He has been writing about the latest bikes, components, and cycling technology for 14 years. Prior to that, Tyler launched and built multiple sports nutrition brands and consumer goods companies, mostly as an excuse to travel to killer riding locations throughout North America.

Based in North Carolina, Tyler loves finding new travel adventures to share with his family and is always on the lookout for the next shiny new part to make his bikes faster and lighter. And, he’s totally gone down the NFT rabbit hole.