Facebook announced some big changes…
Facebook’s annual F8 Developer Conference started off on Tuesday in what can only be described as dramatic circumstances when CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the launch of new augmented reality (AR) platform.
The new platform will allow users to overlay images on photos and videos on Facebook in an ambitious new plan.
Zuckerberg declared it that the AR platform would be the next major platform for computing.
“We see something different … in order to create better tools,” Zuckerberg said. “We need an open platform where any developer in the world can build for augmented reality without having to first build a camera and get a lot of people to use it.”
This will open the ability for thousands of developers around the world to create their own overlay filters. But this will go far beyond the current overlays that can be seen on Snapchat and the like.
As reported by The Verge, in one demonstration on stage, “giant puffy words reading ‘It’s feeding time’ rose out of a breakfast table, where a series of sharks swam around a cereal bowl.”
Another example of the augmented reality will be the ability, for instance, to tap a coffee cup in your picture and add virtual steam from the cup.
Starting today, basic features will be added to Facebook’s smartphone apps using our existing cameras.
But Zuckerberg has said that people will not notice any significant changes overnight, and that the process will take time.
“It’s going to take a while to develop. Your experience won’t change dramatically overnight,” he said during his speech. “Over time, I think this is going to be a really important technology that really changes how we use our phones and eventually all technology.”
We look forward to seeing how this plays out and whether it encourages uploads on Facebook during a time when interaction on the platform has been decreasing.
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