Facebook joins the smart glass race with help from Ray-Ban, AR to remain the main focus
The futuristic eyewear will augment real-world views with data or graphics from the internet.
By AFP |
Reuters
Only about 100 people will be involved in testing Aria prototypes at the outset, primarily in the San Francisco and Seattle areas, according to Facebook.
SAN FRANCISCO: Facebook on Wednesday announced it would launch its own smart glasses next year which connect to smartphones as part of an alliance with eyewear titan EssilorLuxottica.
The Ray-Ban branded eyewear, a move by Facebook into wearable tech, is an early step in a project to create futuristic eyewear that augments real-world views with data or graphics from the internet, according to chief executive Mark Zuckerberg.
"They are going to be the next step on the road to augmented reality glasses, and they look pretty good too," Zuckerberg said in a streamed presentation opening a developers conference devoted to its virtual reality platform Oculus.
Technical specifications of the smart glasses to be produced by the Franco-Italian firm were not disclosed.
Zuckerberg explained that engineers in a Project Aria team are experimenting with the eyewear.
The partnership will blend Facebook apps and technologies with Luxottica brands and Essilor lens technology in smart glasses that tap into the internet to help people stay connected with friends and family.
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"Combining a brand that is loved and worn by millions of consumers around the globe with technology that has brought the world closer together, we can reset expectations around wearables" said Luxottica chief wearables officer Rocco Basilico in a release.
"We are paving the way for a new generation of products destined to change the way we look at the world."
Zuckerberg cautioned that there is still much work to be done to perfect stylish glasses infused with sophisticated augmented reality capabilities.
Challenges include developing sensors, camera capabilities and software for "mapping" what wearers see around them in real time so scenes can be augmented with virtual imagery.
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"Imagine a pair of glasses that add a 3D layer of useful, contextually relevant and meaningful information on top of the physical world," Facebook said in a post about the project.
"Such a device could help us perform everyday tasks better - like finding your keys, navigating a new city, or capturing a moment; but it could also open up an entirely new way of moving through the world."
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Facebook's Oculus Quest 2 will begin shipping on October 13. Privacy designs Facebook stressed privacy and data protection are priorities in the project, particularly when it comes to cameras built into eyewear.
The technology firm was evidently trying to avoid the kind of backlash that vexed a Google Glass smart eyewear project after it launched seven years ago.
Cameras built into Glass gear sold to developers sparked enough outrage to have them banned in some businesses. Google backed off plans for a consumer version of Glass and focused on business uses.
Only about 100 people will be involved in testing Aria prototypes at the outset, primarily in the San Francisco and Seattle areas, according to Facebook.
Project Aria research participants will record in Facebook offices, their homes, and public spaces, but won't record anything in venues such as stores or restaurants without written consent from the establishments.
Recording will only be allowed in the homes of wearers with consent from all members of the household, the company said.
Separately, Zuckerberg announced second-generation Oculus Quest head gear made lighter, more powerful available for order at $299, a price lower than its predecessor.
Oculus Quest 2 will begin shipping on October 13.
Zuckerberg has described virtual reality as the next major computing platform, and it has the potential to reduce the sense of separation common when working, learning, or socialising remotely due to the pandemic.
Facebook, Twitter Instagram: Tips & Tricks To Keep Social Media Private
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It seems counter intuitive – after all, social media helps you share your opinions and speak to a larger audience. But thanks to rampant identity theft and online stalking, there is a solid argument to be made to target your social posts instead of keeping them public. Karan Bajaj shows you how.
It seems counter intuitive – after all, social media helps you share your opinions and speak to a larger audience. But thanks to rampant identity theft and online stalking, there is a solid argument ..
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Facebook has a dedicated section for privacy settings and tools (accessible in the Settings menu). In this section, you can choose who can see your future activity. For privacy, select Friends instead of Public. Also on the same page, you get the option to limit accessibility of your existing posts on the social network to only friends instead of everyone. You can also choose individual settings for items such as friend requests, email addresses access, phone number access and who can see your friends list. To step up your privacy, switch all these settings to ‘Friends Only’. We also recommend switching off access to search engines outside of Facebook.
Facebook has a dedicated section for privacy settings and tools (accessible in the Settings menu). In this section, you can choose who can see your future activity. For privacy, select Friends instea..
Read More
By default, all the information in your profile is in the public domain. To change this, click on your profile picture on the top bar to view your profile. On this page, you can view all the information available to anyone who opens your profile page. Click the edit button (the small pencil icon) that appears inside the intro box and you can then customize your info. We recommend switching off all the items you want to keep private from prying eyes.
By default, all the information in your profile is in the public domain. To change this, click on your profile picture on the top bar to view your profile. On this page, you can view all the informat..
Read More
Many regular Facebook users tend to upload a lot of photos to share with friends and family. However, you don’t want everyone who visits your profile to have access to all these memories either. One way to hide them is to delete them from Facebook after a few months. The other way is to edit the privacy settings for each photo album. Click on Photos > Albums. For any album that you want to limit access to, click the options button (the three dots on the right corner) on an individual album and choose edit. This will open the privacy settings for the album for which you can select only friends, family or only you.
Many regular Facebook users tend to upload a lot of photos to share with friends and family. However, you don’t want everyone who visits your profile to have access to all these memories either. One ..
Read More
Quite like Instagram, Twitter lets you hide your tweets from the world — this means they’ll only be visible to your existing followers and won’t show up in searches. You will also have to individually approve new followers from that point forward. To do this, go to the ‘Settings and Privacy’ section and look for ‘Privacy and Safety’. Here, you can switch-on the feature marked ‘Protect your Tweets’.
Quite like Instagram, Twitter lets you hide your tweets from the world — this means they’ll only be visible to your existing followers and won’t show up in searches. You will also have to individuall..
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One of the nicest privacy features on Twitter is that it lets you control how people can look you up on Twitter. In Settings, look for a section on Discoverability — here you can choose if other users can find you on Twitter using your email address or phone number. You can also view and manage any contacts you have uploaded to Twitter from your smartphone or choose to remove uploaded data from your account altogether.
One of the nicest privacy features on Twitter is that it lets you control how people can look you up on Twitter. In Settings, look for a section on Discoverability — here you can choose if other user..
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This is the easiest method to prevent access to your Instagram posts and stories. In the Instagram app on your phone, open settings > Privacy and Security. You will see the option for Account Privacy here which gives you the option to switch to a private account. Once enabled, only people that are following you will be able to see your posts. Any new followers will have to be approved by you individually. You should do this if you’re not interested in growing your followers and want to share with a group of people only.
This is the easiest method to prevent access to your Instagram posts and stories. In the Instagram app on your phone, open settings > Privacy and Security. You will see the option for Account Privacy..
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Chances are that you have linked your Facebook profile to your Instagram account — either by choice or by using a Facebook account to login to Instagram. What happens in this scenario is that when anyone visits your Facebook profile, it shows them that you are also available on Instagram. To avoid this, head to Settings in your Instagram app, tap on Account > Linked Accounts > Facebook and select ‘Unlink Account’.
Chances are that you have linked your Facebook profile to your Instagram account — either by choice or by using a Facebook account to login to Instagram. What happens in this scenario is that when an..
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Even with your account set to private, a friend can share your story to their timeline and it would then become public through their feed. To stop this from happening, you can control how your Instagram stories can be seen and shared. In Settings, go to Privacy and Security > Story Controls. Here, you can switch off the option that lets people share your story. You can create a blacklist to hide your story from certain people, choose who can reply to your story (everyone, people you follow or no one) and there are also options to prevent saving story posts to the Instagram archive.
Even with your account set to private, a friend can share your story to their timeline and it would then become public through their feed. To stop this from happening, you can control how your Instag..
