Facebook wishes to put wise glasses on your face next year

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated Wednesday the social media network strategies to launch its very first set of wise glasses next year. 

The business has actually partnered with EssilorLuxottica, which owns eyeglasses brand names consisting of Ray-Ban, to support various styles and designs for the upcoming glasses. The glasses will bear the Ray-Ban brand name.

“I can’t go into full product details yet, but they’re gonna be the next step on the road to augmented reality glasses, and they look pretty good too,” Zuckerberg stated at Facebook Connect, the business’s virtual truth and enhanced truth conference. The occasion utilized to be referred to as Oculus Connect.

Facebook likewise revealed a brand-new variation of its Oculus Quest VR headset with an updated processor and higher-resolution display screen. The brand-new headset, called the Oculus Quest 2, has a cost of $299, which is $100 more affordable than its predecessor. 

The wise glasses and brand-new headset emphasize Facebook’s efforts to branch off beyond social networking and push even more into hardware advancement. Facebook likewise makes a line of video chat gadgets, called Portal, that has actually ended up being more popular throughout the coronavirus pandemic.

The Facebook-EssilorLuxottica collaboration “will combine Facebook apps and technologies, Luxottica’s category leadership and iconic brands, and Essilor’s advanced lens technology to help people stay better connected to their friends and family,” the business stated in a news release. The cost and name of the glasses, too other information, will be launched later on.

Meanwhile, the social media network is releasing a job created to evaluate innovation for totally practical enhanced truth glasses, though glasses utilizing the outcomes of that research study most likely will not be launched for several years.

“The next a couple of years, I believe I’d be quite amazed to see [full AR glasses] in the market. So we’re certainly handling years — ideally not years,” Andrew “Boz” Bosworth, who heads Facebook’s VR and AR efforts, stated in an interview with CNET.  

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Zuck talks up smart glasses, AR efforts

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There are still questions the social network is trying answer such as what sensors to put on the glasses, how they would perform in different light and weather conditions and what data needs to be collected. Some users might also be wary about buying the glasses because of Facebook’s user privacy scandals.

“The goal here is to develop some normal-size, nice-looking glasses that you can wear all day [and] engage with holograms, digital items and details while still existing with individuals in world around you,” Zuckerberg stated about AR glasses.

One day in the future, individuals who use these glasses will have the ability to rest on the sofa with a hologram of their good friend and play video games, Zuckerberg stated. People will likewise have the ability to discover instructions and do other jobs without needing to get their phones, he stated.

Virtual truth  

While enhanced truth includes superimposing virtual items onto a user’s view of the real life, virtual truth immerses users in a digital environment. Facebook is still wagering that virtual truth will be the next huge computing platform, though that vision hasn’t pertain to fulfillment yet. VR deals with a variety of obstacles, consisting of the cost of the headsets, the material offered and the style of the gadgets. 

Zuckerberg stated many individuals have actually been investing more time in VR given that the break out of the unique coronavirus. Facebook’s Oculus Quest, which does not require to be linked to a PC, has actually consistently offered out this year. Consumer need for the headset increased throughout the coronavirus pandemic and materials were restricted since the break out impacted production.

People miss out on the “sense of presence” produced by remaining in the exact same space as friends and family, Zuckerberg stated, including that VR and AR can assist make that possible. 

“As the ecosystem keeps growing and the hardware keeps getting better and better, we’re starting to see how whole new categories of experiences could take place in VR in the future,” Zuckerberg stated.

More than 90% of individuals who utilized the Quest this year had not utilized an Oculus headset prior to, according to Facebook. The business hasn’t stated the number of headsets it’s offered.

Facebook acquired Oculus in 2014 for $2 billion. Zuckerberg later on exposed that the social media network paid another $1 billion for staff member retention benefits and other rewards as part of the offer. 

Since then, all of Oculus’ co-founders have actually left the business, and virtual truth hasn’t taken off as rapidly as anticipated. Oculus is No. 2 in VR headset sales, shipping 28% of in 2015’s approximated overall, tracking Sony, according to information from Statista.