Listening through Skin, Reading Brains, and Augmented Reality Glasses
Facebook F8 2017
In April, Komfo got the opportunity to catch a glimpse of the future through Facebook’s eyes at F8. And it was super exciting, to say the least. Here’s a brief on some of the amazing stuff that I’ve found most interesting.
Facebook’s 10-year Roadmap
There have been some significant advancements in the 10-year Facebook roadmap that Mark shared for the first time at F8 2016. Here is a quick visual review of how it has developed since last year.
Following are some of the many advancements announced at this year’s F8, I’ll discuss some of them in more detail in the next sections.
- Instagram has become a part of the main ecosystem
- Workplace has been added to the main products mix
- Facebook’s first VR product is out: Facebook Spaces
- First platform using AI & AR tech: Camera Platform
- Two products harnessing AI capabilities: M Assistant & Messenger Bots
The Camera Platform
The biggest takeaway this year was Facebook’s intense focus on VR/AR, here’s what Mark had to say about it:
We are going to make the camera the first augmented reality platform — Mark Zuckerberg
Facebook has launched the Camera Effects Platform where anyone can create static photo frames with Frame Studio and use them for their photos taken through the Facebook camera. It’s a fairly easy platform to use and a fast process for approval. Here’s a frame that I created in 5 mins and approved in four days!
For advanced camera masks or animations that respond to motion, facial expressions, and surroundings, Facebook has launched the AR Studio. Enterprises can use these products to showcase their brands in static or animated frames, all within Facebook. Here’s Nike’s example on using AR filters with real user data as part of their branding.
If you don’t want to buy expensive dual camera phones for that great “Portrait Mode” photo, then F8 has great news for you: Facebook’s alternative use of AI for the camera platform will equip any phone to produce the same type of image by harnessing the power of AI & image processing that today’s expensive double camera phones deliver !!!
Facebook Spaces
Facebook showcased their first VR product: Facebook Spaces. They had set up live demos where everyone could try out this great virtual meeting place with a lot of experiences. To name a few, you can travel to any part of the world with friends sitting in different locations, creating stuff together, taking selfies etc. I challenged my fear of heights by paragliding in Brazil, the experience was so real that I almost fell twice…
Messenger Platform 2.0
Since last year’s announcements on bots, there are now 100,000 active chatbots on Facebook. Here are some of the updates announced regarding the Messenger platform.
- Discover features bots that help users find the most relevant bots in terms of their interests, location or needs etc. You can submit your bot to a specific category directly to Facebook here.
- Chat Extensions let people collaborate on different activities via bots i.e. creating shopping lists, splitting payments & listening to music (Spotify chatbot) etc.
- Messenger Codes is the feature that links offline activities to bots. A single bot can get multiple codes, which can be used for different features of a bot in different situations i.e. Booking a table at restaurant, signing in on a specific device etc.
Analytics 3.0
One of the most exciting updates for me, personally, was the release of the Analytics 3.0 platform. Since we released Measure last year, it was nice to see that Facebook’s official platform has come to also focus on an omni-channel widget-based platform that covers apps, Facebook Pages, and bots on Messenger. One of the highlights was the Machine Learning-based Automated Insights feature, which is also coming soon in Komfo Measure…
Building 8
This session truly felt like a leap into the next century, from the Facebook R&D Labs Building 8.
Listening through Skin
your skin is 2m square packed with sensors and a complex system of nerves — Regina Dugan, Head of Building 8
Facebook is creating a technology that enables listening through skin. A team of Facebook engineers was shown conducting an experiment where a test subject was able to develop a vocabulary of nine words they could hear through their skin.
Reading Brains
Create a system capable of typing 100 wmp that’s 5x faster than what you can type on your cellphone — Regina Dugan, Head of Building 8
Facebook wants to harness the ultra-fast execution power of the brain to process information for us, instead of the usual interface i.e typing directly from the brain, browsing through a couple of hundreds of images/documents. They claim that this tech is “closer than you think!”
F8 Giveaway
Like last year, the attendees got another giveaway that translates directly into the push of VR/360 multimedia — a mobile 360-degree camera by Giraptic IO.
We also got a chance to chat with Mark Zuckerberg about this year’s conference, here’s how it went :)
Why F8
In Komfo, we value all the great news from this year’s F8. Chatbots, AR, and VR are key to our product strategy and we have a solid plan about where we are heading in the next 12 months to meet the future of social. On the 7th of Sept, we are going to tap into these topics by enabling meaningful moments at our fourth edition of the leading social media event Komfo Summit. Join us for a one day conference at Docken in Copenhagen to stay ahead of the curve with chatbots, the new era of customer service, the impact of AI and machine learning, Snapchat influencers anno 2017, and much more!
