Mark Zuckerberg speaks during the F8 Developers Conference in San Jose in 2017.
Photographer: David Paul Morris / Bloomberg
Photographer: David Paul Morris / Bloomberg
The smart glasses planned for Facebook Inc. will arrive “sooner rather than later” in 2021, but will not include the type of digital overlay technology associated with augmented reality, according to hardware chief Andrew Bosworth.
The glasses, which are built in collaboration with Ray-Ban and his parents Luxottica Group SpA will connect to a device, although users will not be able to superimpose digital objects on their real-world vision, a key element of RA.
“Without a doubt, they are connected glasses, they offer a lot of functionality, [but] we’re very upset about what functionality we provide precisely, ”Bosworth said.“ We’re excited, but we don’t want to do too much. We don’t even call it augmented reality, we call it ‘smart glasses’, ”he added.
Facebook first announced plans for RA glasses in 2017 and has since built a handful of camera features that allow it to project digital images into the physical world, such as photo filters that distort the face. The company has invested substantial resources in hardware development in recent years, acquiring the Oculus virtual reality startup and launching an internal video device. Portal. Facebook’s VR, AR, and hardware teams represent more than 6,000 employees, according to someone familiar with their workforce. This is a larger group than Facebook works on Instagram and WhatsApp apps for a billion users.
Read more: Facebook, Ray-Ban joins Push to refresh smart glasses
Smartphones are part of a long-term effort within the company to capture the next big computer platform after the smartphone. CEO Mark Zuckerberg is a strong supporter of both AR and virtual reality, although this first iteration of Facebook glasses will not offer the eventual promise of augmented reality, which is the ability to mix the digital and physical world through a lens. Bosworth would not reveal the feature set for the upcoming glasses, but said they fit Facebook’s broader philosophy around AR, which is to make peripheral technology into human interactions to enhance the “presence “.
One of the common situations Bosworth cited is parents trying to record memories with their young children: “When the phone comes out, you’ve probably not only lost it, but if you don’t miss it, you’re probably seeing the real thing. event but through your phone, “he said.” If you have the right technology, you can get out of the way. “
Facebook is the latest tech company trying to create a pair of smart glasses. Google Alphabet Inc. began to rank with Google Glass, which never became a consumer device, but which has found a home as an assistant worker in warehouses and industrial environments. Snap Inc. It has also released several iterations of its smart glasses, called Shows, that allow people to record hands-free video and transfer it to their phone. Apple Inc. he is also building a pair of smart glasses.