Mark Zuckerberg says Facebook to develop own augmented reality tech

Virtual reality might be a big thing right now and Facebook is one of those leading the charge, especially after CEO Mark Zuckerberg purchased Oculus VR for $2 billion in early 2014.

Although Oculus VR belongs to Facebook, it doesn’t look like the social network intends to stop exploring different types of digital reality. FB is apparently mulling the development of its very own augmented reality (AR) technology, according to Tech Times.

As opposed to VR, AR only augments the world around the user, hence, its name. This augmented reality world is created by superimposing different layers of digital images users can easily interact with.

As a result, augmented reality users get to view the outside world differently. VR, on the other hand, completely immerses the user in a new, unique world by fully shutting out physical reality.

Basically, virtual reality works by disconnecting users from the real world and bringing them into a whole new world. Augmented reality merely improves how users experience the real world.

It was Zuckerberg himself who revealed this information at Vanity Fair's New Establishment Summit. Unfortunately, he refused to give away any key details about what type of AR device the public can expect since they’re still in talks about it and its actual fruition is still "a bit far out”.

"If you think about phones, it is still a little awkward to take it out of your pocket," Zuckerberg said, according to Tech Crunch. "In the future, if you want to look around, you should be able to look around. If you want to select something, you should be able to look at it”!

Facebook's upcoming AR device is most likely not going to turn out to be a heavy headset much like Microsoft's HoloLens. That said, it looks like Facebook’s challenge is developing a wearable AR device that won’t cause any user discomfort despite the unit being worn all day.

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