At this point, almost everyone knows that Facebook is placing significant bets on augmented reality technology. It's the kind of technology that overlays digital images on the real world.
At the upcoming F8 conference, Zuckerberg is planning to reveal more details of his 10-year master plan. According to this timeline, Facebook and Zuckerberg expect to turn augmented reality, Internet connectivity, and artificial intelligence into a single business entity.
This isn't just a "fantasy wish" of Zuckerberg. In fact, he just unveiled one of the newest technologies that's in line with his master plan. We are talking about the Camera Effects platform. The new technology would allow third-party developers to access Facebook's Camera app. This means that third-party developers can then create apps on top of Facebook's camera platform.
Coming from a man like Zuckerberg, his master plan isn't so far fetched. With such a devise strategy, it puts Facebook within a ring dominated by Apple and Google. Google and Apple are also heavily invested in technologies that revolve around augmented reality.
But that's not all. Since Zuckerberg's plan is so massive, he is waging war on almost everyone within the tech industry. And yet, it's not a far off bet after all. Many experts claim that augmented reality is the future. Also, since augmented reality relies on goggles or "glasses," it would also spell the death of smartphones.
In fact, Zuckerberg recently demonstrated that with a piece of standard-looking glasses and an app, it's possible to project the largest TV screen you have ever seen.
Zuckerberg also added that his ultimate goal is to release glasses that can project things, like a chessboard, TV and more. If this turns out to be the case, an entirely new world of possibilities comes into play.
For example, anything that relies on a screen can be replaced with just augmented reality glasses and an app. Examples of such are fitness trackers, smartwatches, tablets, and smartphones. Zuckerberg even demonstrated one of the applications of such technology: he showed off a blank wall. It looks empty, but with the glasses, it will reveal a mural.
When it comes to augmented reality, even Microsoft is getting into the fight with their HoloLens, a kind of holographic goggles. According to Alex Kipman, the CEO of HoloLens, augmented reality is simply the next step. Kipman also added that such technology is the "natural conclusion" of smartphones and related technologies.
While this might be true, it's probably not something that the world wants to adopt soon. This is because a huge chunk of today's economy is heavily invested in the production of the phones, tablets, TVs and other tech items that holographic goggles are meant to replace.
Even Zuckerberg acknowledges this as a problem. Having said that, if Camera Effects succeeds in attracting customers, the ground that the technology world is standing upon will begin to shift. Furthermore, it's not difficult for consumers to adopt as replacing all of that technology with a single pair of high-tech glasses is clearly a savvy move.
