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Augmented Reality

New Facebook Patent: Augmented Reality Glasses

We are just dipping our toes into augmented reality right now with things like Pokémon Go, Snapchat filters, and  Holo. But, companies like Facebook, are working on taking things a step further. Get excited for Facebook’s AR glasses, that are expected to be for sale eventually.

Facebook released a patent for their glasses last Thursday that said, “may augment views of a physical, real-world environment with computer-generated elements” and may “be included in an eye-wear compromising a frame and a display assembly that presents media to a user’s eyes.”

Oculus Rift is Facebook’s virtual reality arm, which gives Facebook an advance is all things AR and VR. Oculus is actually responsible for Facebook’s AR glasses made up of a wave guide display with a two-dimensional scanner. These glasses are interesting because they are one of the first steps into an augmented world; however, Oculus’s chief scientist said that always-on AR glasses are still another five years away. A cool tidbit, one of the three inventors on Facebook’s AR glasses patent is Pasi Saarikko, a former Microsoft engineer. The image below shows an example of what could be possible with AR in the future.

The glasses wave guide display will be equipped with lasers, scanning mirrors, and other elements to present images and videos. A light will emit onto the lens displays with the lasers, which will then transform into visuals that will be projected into the user’s eyes.It is expected that in the future AR will coordinate with audio via connected speakers or headphones. What are your thoughts on augmented reality? Excited or Terrified? Let us know!

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