Patent shows new details about Facebook’s AR glasses

If you’re wondering what Facebook is doing in the augmented reality space, a newly published patent shows us the possibilities. The device is described as something that can “augment views of a physical, real-world environment with computer-generated elements" and "be included in an eye-wear comprising a frame and a display assembly that presents media to a user's eyes." It has what’s called a waveguide display with a two-dimensional scanner being developed by Facebook's virtual reality arm Oculus VR. The display could be used not just for AR but for virtual reality, mixed reality, or a combination of those three.

The display will make use of lasers, scanning mirrors, and other elements to display content. According to the patent filing, the lasers will emit light onto the lens displays and transform these into the images and videos you’ll be able to see. There might also be audio courtesy of connected speakers or headphones. While the patent might be here, this doesn’t necessarily mean we’re getting the device soon. As Mashable points out, Oculus’ chief scientist Michael Abrash spoke at F8 saying that always-on AR glasses are at least five years away. For now, we can just think about the possibilities.

Google tipped to be building its own take to Snapchat’s Discover feature

Everyone seems to have some sort of Snapchat Stories-like feature in its services. And it looks like Google is looking to build the same thing but with a slight twist. The focus will be on having news publishers create Snapchat-like stories to appear on its search engine. It’ll look similar to Snapchat’s Discover section that shows a mix of photos, videos, and text. According to The Wall Street Journal, it’ll be supposedly called “Stamp” with the “St” meaning stories. Not much is known about these rumoured plans but The Verge speculates it might be seen beneath the search bar, where Android users are already being shown things like recommended websites and news stories.

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Facebook tries bringing Stories feature to desktop users

While Instagram Stories has helped significantly boost daily users on its platform (it’s now at 250 million daily users compared to the 166 million users of Snapchat), the same can’t be said for Facebook’s own take/blatant rip-off of the Snapchat feature. And perhaps that’s what pushing them to bring the feature to the desktop. Facebook is rolling out its Stories feature to desktop users. The feature, which was popularized by Snapchat, lets you take photos and videos that stay on the service for 24 hours. It’s already available for mobile app users because you do use your smartphone to take these clips. But now Facebook wants desktop users to be able to see what mobile users are sharing. The feature shows up at the top right corner of the browser, on top of your pages and the other tabs on the right side of the browser. When you pull up a story, it’ll black out the screen and show the clip or photo at the center. Much like what happens when you watch a video. It’s currently being tested on users so it may or not show up on your browser yet but Facebook plans to have a wider rollout for it in the future.

Source: TechCrunch

Facebook starts rolling out GIF shooting capabilities on its camera

If you use the built-in camera in Facebook, you might notice that there’s a new feature there. Facebook has started to roll out a new GIF function to its users. From the top part of the window, you’ll see “Normal” and “GIF” options. Just swipe right if you’re in the Normal setting. The GIF mode has different frames and filters for you to play around with. The caveat is that these can only be shared on Facebook, whether through your stories or as a post on the service. Other than that you can save them as videos, which means it’s not meant to be used outside of the service. The feature hasn’t been released for everyone yet so you may or may not see it. If you have, how is it? Do you see yourself using it more?

Source: Engadget + The Verge