Over the past few years, Facebook has dived deep into integrating technology into its products. More so, its interest in artificial intelligence-based technologies has become quite apparent. It is furthermore evident from Facebook’s New AI: SEER (for SElf-supERvised).After Lenovo unveils smart glass, Mark Zuckerberg’s revolutionary Facebook Inc has not launched its first-ever smart glass. The device got unveiled in September as an attempt towards offering a true augmented-reality spectacle.
The glasses were created with America-based Ray-Ban maker Essilorluxottica (ESLX.PA) and included several features. The primary characteristics of these augmented-reality (AR) smart glasses allow the wearer to hear music and take calls. Apart from this, the AR smart glasses are also capable of capturing photos. Furthermore, the captured images are allowed to be shared across various Facebook services with the help of a companion app. As per the reports, customers can expect the glasses to go on sale for $299 and more. Also, the glasses line has been named “Ray-Ban Stories.”
How is Facebook Investing in Augmented Reality?
With its heavy investments in virtual and augmented reality, people have often wondered if Facebook is making a wise move where it gets looked upon as a pioneer in the AR fields. Likewise, there remains speculation around the possible failure that may cost Facebook a lot of money. Either way, the social media giant covers most of its virtual and augmented reality investments from advertisements on its platform. Furthermore, in 2020 alone, Facebook’s revenue was at around $86 billion. Also, as per the reports, Facebook’s chief scientist has hinted that the company is just five to ten years away from bringing its first-ever “true” AR glasses. The scientist also stated that the AR smart glasses would be capable of superimposing virtual objects onto the natural world through the wearer’s view.
More About the AR Smart Glasses
The multiple-feature enabled Facebook’s augmented-reality-based glass expects to include an optional virtual assistant. The virtual assistant can help the wearer automatically capture photos and videos through its hands-free voice commands capability. Also, the glasses will have LED lights installed to signal the camera is ON.
Why is Facebook Keen to Develop AR/AI-Based Products?
There is speculation that major tech firms such as Amazon.com Inc, Microsoft Corp, Snap Inc have joined in an unofficial race to develop smart glasses-based products. Google even had built the Google Glass. However, Google Glass failed to leave a mark amongst the consumer owing to its higher price tag and design issues. Snap had also launched its smart glasses back in 2016. But unlike Google Glass, Snap has forbidden the sale of its glasses to the general public. Instead, Snap only offers its glasses to the AR creators. Facebook has joined the fray in an attempt to leave a mark just like other tech giants such as Amazon.com Inc and Microsoft Corp.
More About Facebook’s AR/AI-Based Products
Apart from the AR smart glasses, Facebook is already developing hardware such as Oculus VR headsets to support augmented reality glasses. Moreover, Facebook is using wristband technologies to build VR headsets. Besides this, the company’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, has already started to build the Metaverse. He further has even announced a dedicated team for it. Metaverse refers to a virtual environment that gets rumored as the successor to the mobile internet. Zuckerberg had also posted a video on his Facebook page recently where he said, “We’ve believed for a long time that glasses are going to be an important part of building the next computing platform.”
Conclusion
While the company’s aspirations are understandably high, the company has far remained free from criticisms along its way. The most considerable criticism the company constantly has dealt with is its handling of user data. Even with the glasses, there was speculation that Facebook might use users' data (photos and media) without their consent. However, the company has specified that it will not use the content of the images and videos captured by the AR smart glass. Furthermore, smart glasses will also provide an “ads-free experience.”
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