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April 20, 2017

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Facebook aims to take on AR

Source: Agencies | 00:01 UTC+8 April 20, 2017 | Print Edition

FACEBOOK Inc is trying to seize on the augmented reality technology, a mix of the real and digital worlds best known from the hit smartphone game Pokemon Go.

Speaking at F8 on Tuesday, the company’s annual conference for software developers, Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said Facebook was an obvious hub for businesses to reach people and experiment with AR, although he did not suggest the company was planning to make similar games itself.

Pokemon Go, jointly developed by Nintendo Co and Niantic Inc, has generated masses of followers around the world as players use their phones to capture animated characters that appear in real locations.

Other uses of AR have included the ability to hang out with a hologram of “Mad Men” star Jon Hamm or assemble a virtual human brain, all on mobile devices.

A recent push by Facebook to add camera features to its suite of smartphone apps will help the company popularize similar features, Zuckerberg said.

“Even if we were a little slow to add cameras to all our apps, I’m confident that now we’re going to push this augmented reality platform forward,” he said.

For a company that began as a way for college students to see pictures of each other, Facebook’s move toward AR represents another step in its long evolution. It also raises the stakes for its competition with rival Snap Inc, the maker of Snapchat that describes itself as a camera company.

Zuckerberg said people could use the technology to leave a virtual note for a friend at a bar, or to find virtual street art on a wall that in real life is blank.

“This isn’t just about finding a Pokemon in a one-block radius,” he said.

Eventually, he said, people would use AR on eyewear, although he did not give any details about possible Facebook hardware.

In 2014, Facebook acquired its Oculus virtual reality goggles unit for US$2 billion, although that division is a long way from making a mass-market product or contributing significantly to the company’s earnings.

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