Zukerberg offered an image of a normal-looking pair of glasses at F8, which will likely pair augmented and virtual reality together. But don’t expect such a revolutionary wearable yet, as Zuckerberg announced AR as a part of Facebook’s 10-year roadmap, and he even says “it’s going to take a long time to make this work.”
“Augmented reality gives you the ability to see the world, but also to be able to overlay digital objects on top of that,” Zuckerberg said in the F8 keynote. “So that means that today, if I want to show my friends a photo, I pull out my phone and I have a small version of the photo. In the future, you’ll be able to snap your fingers and pull out a photo and make it as big as you want, and with your AR glasses you’ll be able to show it to people, and they’ll be able to see it.”
Zuckerberg showed a demo on stage of a virtual reality game that lets people engage with an environment together, wherever they are — and that’s exactly what the CEO is envisioning for the future of how we interact with one another. Zuckerberg’s vision isn’t just about games. Soon, we’ll be able to do anything and share everything with each other through virtual and augmented reality.
Phones, TVs, and physical objects won’t be as important for communication — rather, a Google Glass-like headset will allow us to share things like a baby’s first steps.
“When we get to this world, a lot of the things we think about today as physical objects, like a TV, will be $1 apps in an AR app store,” Zuckerberg said.
Facebook already has a good start on virtual reality, thanks to good reception for its Samsung Gear VR headset and the arrival of the Oculus Rift on customer’s doorsteps. But AR and VR will still take a long time to fully implement into everyday life, and we’re a long way off from creating a viable pair of attractive smart glasses that can handle AR and VR apps without looking absurd or bulky.
Nonetheless, it’s an exciting time for VR.
