Is Facebook’s Next Tech Venture Super-Secret Smart Glasses?
CNBC reported earlier this week that Facebook is working on a pair of smart glasses with the intention of the technology replacing smartphones. The system’s description sounds similar to the flop that was Google Glass but with some notable differences. Facebook’s partner on this deal is the parent company of Ray-Ban, Luxottica. The idea is by leveraging stylish frames from a company like that more people would be inclined to wear the glasses.
The glasses, codenamed Orion, offers a graphical user display that users can see out of the corner of their eyes. By utilizing the technology, users have access to their phones to make calls, set up live streaming at their positions and several other features. In an entertainment world where witnessing life through the eyes of others is one of the biggest drivers of entertainment, this may work out well for the social media giant.
Like GoPro, but Not
One of the critical features that Orion brings to the table is an AI assistant that would aid with input. In addition to the AI assistant who would use voice recognition to accept feedback from the user, the company is also working on an innovation that will allow for motion input. The device, codenamed “Agios”, would be a ring that would collect and sent motion information directly to the glasses as an alternative means of input data.
The glasses are intended for use with AR technology and employees at the Redmond facility are hard at work trying to figure out any issues that may arise with the device. Even so, the timeline for development for the device is a long one, with release looking likely anywhere between 2023 and 2025. Despite that, the technology is well on its way to removing the need for a handset to communicate with others. Facebook is not the only company working on futuristic glasses technology, however. Microsoft and Snap already sell rudimentary “smart” glasses, and Apple is also working on their own prototype.
