Category: Camera Effects Platform

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F8 2018: Recapping all the AR, AI and Computer Vision Announcements

For VRFocus’ second recap of the first day of F8 it’s time to look at all the other technology from the keynote address. This includes plenty of augmented reality (AR), AI and computer vision for some really interesting use cases, some commercial some sentimental. 

Just like its virtual reality (VR) projects Facebook is heavily investing in AR, combine the technology with its Messenger app. This was showcased via a collaboration with Nike, where users can unlock an AR experience that showcases one of the company’s new sneakers, walk up to it and examine the shoe. When it ends they then have the option to purchase if they wish.

AR is being more tightly woven into Instagram via the Camera Effects Platform. This allows developers/Instagram users to create effects that can then be seen and used by their followers straight away. While non-followers can still use the effects via their friends stories.

Mixing both AR and VR together, Facebook showcase a scenario where some buys an object for a friend, sends them a 3D model sample via messenger then using Facebook Spaces they can then both dive into VR to view said model in a 360-degree photo – in this instance it’s a food mixer and an image of a kitchen.

F8 2018 - AR Camera Effects Platform

Whilst all of those are novel uses of AR which some may or may not use it was Facebook’s showcase of an AI/computer vision project that caught most people’s eye. Taking a users 2D pictures or videos Facebook could recreate an entire area using point cloud reconstruction. Having an almost dream like effect, the inside of a house was recreated in VR using 2D images, with the AI filling in the blank spots so that you could actually wander around an old location that previously only existed in your memories.

Check out the video to learn more about this and all the other projects Facebook has been working on. As F8 continues, VRFocus will keep you updated.

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Facebook and AR: Why it’s Already Gone Wrong

Augmented reality (AR) is still many years from achieving its true potential; several years behind virtual reality (VR) by most accounts. However, that hasn’t stopped innovators working towards a grand ambition with a variety of both hardware and software, from the likes of Google Glass to Pokemon GO. While the latter was a gimmick (arguably a near-identical experience with the AR mode turned-off) Niantic offered consumers a glimpse of the potential in the same way the Nintendo DS did with consumer touchscreen devices. The trouble is now, it seems that populist ambition is working harder than the innovators can support it.

Mark Zuckerberg F8 2017

Despite popular belief, Facebook isn’t an inherently evil company. Yes there may be questionable ethics regarding privacy and the sale of personal data, but these are barriers broken by the desire to deliver a product that consumers wish for with an equal, opposite reaction weighed by return on investment. Finance which is then often used to fund the race for the next goal. At F8, San Jose, today however, Facebook’s biggest announcement was not how they will bring something new to the public – breaking down barriers in the way that Facebook Spaces (launched in beta today) could potentially do – but how they plan to kill a competitive product.

One of the handful of announcements for mobile social content at the event today was the Camera Effects Platform; an AR-inspired image overlay technology for photos and video content. If that sounds like Snapchat, that’s because it is. In fact, for a casual user of image-based social media, there’s very little distinguishable difference between Facebook’s effort and Snapchat bar the user interface (UI). A better arranged menu system and a few big licenses (Mass Effect: Andromeda showcased during the keynote this morning and Guardians of the Galaxy useable on the showfloor demonstration) do not a unique product make.

Mass Effect Andromeda ARSo why is this cause for concern? Namely, because Facebook subtlety stated that, as a company, it won’t be doing anything with the product. Instead, through its ARstudio platform, the company will be ‘inviting’ the development community to create their own overlay images and animations. Facebook has invested heavily in AR technology – researching facemapping, environment scanning, object recognition and other previously elusive conditional requirements for AR – to create something decidedly trite. But worse still, the company is using it to encourage others to produce content that could potentially wipeout a competitor for it.

During Facebook’s keynote it was easy to acknowledge how impressive the technology was, but the end use case doesn’t seem to marry with the initial vision. Where’s the life assisting products? Map overlays, diary reminders, real-time friend/colleague location marking, traffic updates and translation software. Even basic applications such as geo-tagging and interior design overlays seem to have been overlooked in favour of putting funny hats and beards on people.

ARStudio

Of course, this is a very pessimistic view. The fact remains that Facebook has now begun investing in AR research and as such a lot of the barriers to achieving a working platform for the technology will almost certainly fall a lot quicker than without these resources. It simply feels as though such a grand push for new technology could’ve been unveiled with a much more meaningful showcase than a not-too-subtle act of corporate aggression.