What Do Facebook and Your Mind Have in Common?
When will convenience be too convenient? Probably never.
We live in a fast-paced environment and every day, we strive to check things off our to-do lists. So, if we can get a task done in a quicker and more convenient way, we’re all for it.
Imagine if we could compose what we were thinking into a text or an email. Not having to type would save us a lot of precious time.
And maybe that seems too minuscule. But just think about it the next time you type out a text and see how many times your fingers fumble and tap on the wrong letters, making you have to backspace, erase your mistake, and try again.
On April 18th, Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) kicked off its developer conference, F8, and announced that it’s been working on building a brain-computer interface.
Sure, the idea of a brain-computer interface sounds a little creepy and invasive. The last thing you want is for Facebook to have access to your brain and your thoughts.
But it might not be that creepy. The team of 60 engineers working on building this brain-computer interface plan to use optical imaging to scan a person’s brain a hundred times per second to detect what a person is thinking and then transfer it into a text.
During the first day’s keynote at F8, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Facebook would share information on “direct brain interfaces that are going to eventually one day let you communicate using only your mind.”
Brain-computer interfaces could really open up the floodgates to something even greater. They have the ability to enhance augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR). This will allow people to control their AR and VR experiences with their minds instead of screens or controllers.
However, there’s still a lot in the works when it comes to brain-computer interfaces and as Facebook continues to develop and perfect the interface it wants to create to accelerate the advancement of AR in our daily lives.
Augmented Reality Is the Reality
Right now, the features that Facebook emphasizes for augmented reality might seem a little silly or insignificant such as adding digital images onto a picture — similar to what you see with the features on the popular app Snapchat and with last summer’s hit game Pokémon Go.
But that’s just it — Facebook wants to get people on board and keep them entertained with basic features that’ll create a larger audience for their augmented reality platform in the long run. Facebook will do this by starting users off with the ability to enhance their photos (using the in-app camera feature) and getting them familiarized with the idea of augmented reality and Facebook’s platform, while also continuing to develop and improve the technology and software involved with AR.
Because sometimes technology needs to start with the basics to intrigue innovation from great minds. And that’s exactly what Facebook is doing. It’s trying to spark interest in developers so they’re involved and can start investing their time and resources into AR software.
Ultimately, Facebook is creating a new way for people to socialize in their daily lives through augmented reality. Basically, in the same way it developed its social networking platform to be a part of billions of peoples’ lives across the globe.
Until next time,
Jennifer Clark
Pro Trader Today