An Apple Vision Pro mixed reality (XR) headset is seen at an Apple Store in New York, United States on February 3, 2024.
Fatih Aktash | Anatolia | Getty Images
Online brokerage firm eToro is exploring ways to bring its retail app to augmented and virtual reality headsets from Apple and Meta, the company’s CEO Yoni Asia exclusively told CNBC.
EToro, which operates a trading platform where users can buy and sell a range of assets ranging from stocks and exchange-traded funds to cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, is looking at ways to launch Apple Vision Pro and Meta Quest.
If eToro can get its hands on the Vision Pro and other VR devices, it would mark a rare step by a financial services firm to open what is effectively a storefront in a virtual reality environment.
Assia said artificial intelligence is a big focus for the firm, and it is looking to integrate features that focus on enabling users to interact with the app through voice.
However, AR and VR are also a priority for the company.
“We plan to look at how we think about eToro with natural language, with voice, but actually in the AR VR realm in 2024,” Asia told CNBC last week.
He did not provide a timeline for when eToro expects to launch an AR experience, and added that it remains an experiment the company is still exploring for now.
However, he suggested it would be a major focus for the firm in 2024.
Financial firms such as JPMorgan and Citi have spoken a big game about the “metaverse”. But this is more in relation to desktop environments like Decentraland. And even then, there is buzz around digital real estate platforms like this one fell off a cliff Over the last few years.
Limits
It is not yet fully separated as a service.
But at a simple level, eToro’s experience will allow users to select stocks to buy and sell by touching digital screens on Apple’s Vision Pro and Meta’s Quest devices.
“You can actually now talk to the eToro app through the speaker [of your VR headset]Asya said.
“I still don’t think many people are used to talking on their cell phones and asking questions.” Asia, however, expects it to become more mainstream.
Financial companies have held back from taking big steps into virtual reality because the technology hasn’t proven its usefulness for something like banking or wealth management.
There are some technical limitations to be aware of.
While modern VR and AR headsets are getting better at tracking users’ eye movements, images can appear blurry if display settings aren’t fine-tuned.
EToro said its augmented reality app is likely to be a service that its more advanced traders will use, not necessarily casual retailers or day traders.
“We’re starting to experiment with it,” Asia told CNBC in an exclusive interview. “Do I think it will be hugely popular in 2024? Probably not likely, it’s still premature.’
“But I think in the world of trading and investing, when we think about the vast amount of information, we try to sift through it constantly to make smarter decisions,” he added.
The augmented reality experience will likely be enhanced with artificial intelligence, Asia noted, with a personal AI assistant helping users through the investment process.
“It’s still in very early discussions,” Asia noted, but added that he thinks the firm may be ready to show a prototype “in a few months.”
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/02/27/etoro-wants-trading-app-on-apple-vision-pro-meta-quest-vr-headsets.html
