Facebook’s patent application has given further information on its virtual-reality smart glasses, claimed by CEO Mark Zuckerberg to be the “next major computing platform capable of replacing smartphones and PCs”.
Chief Scientist of the project, Michael Abrash, predicts AR glasses won’t start displacing smartphones until 2022, however, once integrated individuals would be “using them all day”.
“20 or 30 years from now [2017], I predict that instead of carrying stylish smartphones everywhere, we’ll wear stylish glasses. Those glasses will offer VR, AR and everything in between, and we’ll use them all day”.
The application reveals a “waveguide display with two-dimensional scanner”, which “may augment views of a physical, real-world environment with computer-generated elements” and “may be included in an eye-wear comprising a frame and a display assembly that presents media to a user’s eyes”.
The glasses will be capable of displaying images, video and integrating with speakers/headphones to play audio when worn.
By utilising waveguide technology, Facebook has followed the steps of Microsoft in their HoloLens AR headset, and as Google through glasses reported being built by associated start up Magic Leap.
The document has been filed by Oculus, the advanced research sector of Facebook’s virtual reality subsidiary. Oculus was purchased for $US2 billion, with reports that billions will be further spent to develop the technology.
