Starting off with a global online community, Facebook is now hard at work developing innovative technologies to support its mission. The company plans to morph the social infrastructure by providing the necessary innovative tools. Thus, it has been carrying out work on the same behind closed doors at its hardware-focused Building 8 division.
The exclusive hardware division was set up close to a year ago, however, we had no information on the projects it has been working on. But, courtesy of Business Insider, we finally have an insider scoop on what all innovations this research division has been spending its precious time on. We might get our first look at these secretive projects in the coming month, which are expected to play a pivotal role at Facebook’s F8 developer conference, say sources.
According to this report, Facebook’s Building 8 hardware division is said to be simultaneously working on four advanced projects. The same will focus on everything ranging from augmented reality (AR) to drones and brain-scanning technology that sounds like straight out of a sci-fi movie. There is currently no information on the exact specifics of any of the projects, but Facebook has been aggressively hiring employees to build out this division.
On one hand, a former John Hopkins neuroscientist who previously developed a mind-controlled prosthetics arm is said to be leading the development of the brain-scanning project. On the other hand, a Stanford cardiologist with expertise in early-stage medical device development is exploring the use of technology to ease treatment or testing for patients. There are no more specifics on other projects, but Facebook could be looking to pull off a HoloLens by bringing people together in one room with its AR technology – similar to their Oculus Rooms projects but in real life. There is also a new fifth unspecified project, which Facebook is looking to upstart in the coming weeks.
Presently, Facebook has released just one consumer-facing hardware product to date – the Oculus VR headset. And it has also received a tepid response from the market, with Samsung’s mobile Gear VR flooding the market by offering its headsets for free with its mobile devices. The social networking giant is, however, again looking to dip its toes in the fledgling hardware market with its own consumer products. It had brought on board former DARPA director Regina Dugan from Google’s Advanced Technology and Products (ATAP) group to lead their hardware efforts.
Since this information all comes from unknown sources, we’d suggest you to take this with a pinch of salt. Nothing is set in stone as of yet but Facebook is definitely looking to join (or maybe copy it?) Snapchat by releasing its own lineup of hardware products. But, we’re hoping for something more related to the company’s 10-year roadmap rather than a Facebook-branded smartphone. Yeah, we haven’t forgotten about this gimmicky attempt till date.
