Zuckerberg’s vision for the future of VR is ordinary glasses with extraordinary powers

By Julian Chokkattu April 12, 2016

oculus acquires infiniled produce power efficient displays zuckerberg

Virtual reality isn’t enough to satisfy Mark Zuckerberg’s appetite — the Facebook CEO just gave us a peek at its vision for moving into augmented reality.

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.”

Related Videos

“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.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Computing

USB-C charging laptops: Here’s what you need to know

Close up on the USB-C ports on a Macbook Pro.

The arrival of USB-C and USB-C laptop chargers has been a game-changer for many electronics. You can use the connection to charge devices and transfer media, and it's conveniently reversible. The best laptops no longer need a big power brick -- you can just use USB-C. But there are some precautions you should take when charging over USB-C. Here's everything you need to know.
USB charging and laptops

You have probably already used USB connections to charge smaller devices either from your computer or from an outlet. That works well because past USB connections had enough wattage to successfully power up those smaller batteries. Prior versions of USB could only handle a limited amount of power, which is why laptop chargers have typically retained their larger, bulkier cables.

Computing

The most common Zoom problems and how to fix them

zoom privacy feature freeze active users meeting office

Is Zoom giving you problems and you can't seem to fix them? Video conferencing software is more popular than ever, with thousands of companies turning to teleworking to keep their employees in the loop. Zoom and other online meeting tools make that easier than ever, but as with any other software, issues will arise, and they disrupt or even prevent good video calls.

Fortunately, while there are Zoom service outages you can't do much about, you often can fix typical problems yourself. To help get your Zoom calls working properly, we’ve collected the most common Zoom problems users face and have provided easy solutions to be able to fix them.

Computing

Apple’s XR headset could get one of the Mac’s best features

Apple VR Headset Concept by Antonio De Rosa

Apple is known for the strong ecosystem that lets all its devices work pretty seamlessly together. A new patent suggests the company’s upcoming Reality Pro headset will be a full-fledged member of this ecosystem -- and get one of Apple’s best features in the process.

According to the patent, Apple might bring its Continuity system to its upcoming mixed-reality headset. That means you’ll be able to send work from one device to another with just your eyes, all through the power of the headset’s augmented reality tech.