Launching in closed beta, the new platform is "act two" in Facebook's AR ambitions, Zuckerberg said. Act one involved bringing smartphone camera support across all of Facebook's applications, including Messenger, Events, and Instagram.
During his keynote kickoff for F8 yesterday, Zuckerberg (pictured above) once again emphasized his belief that Facebook in all its incarnations will help "bring people closer together" and overcome the current polarization in society.
He also briefly acknowledged the "tragedy in Cleveland," in which Steve Stephens shot to death a randomly chosen victim, Robert Godwin, on Sunday and then posted video of the crime on Facebook. After being pursued by law enforcement for two days, Stephens shot himself to death in Pennsylvania yesterday.
During his F8 kickoff speech, Zuckerberg noted that he had once believed the transition to augmented reality technologies would begin with eyeglasses. However, with the pervasiveness of smartphones and their ability to support photo- and video-sharing, it's become clear the phone will lead that technological change, he said. "Today we're going to start building this platform together," he said. "We're making the camera the first AR platform."
Augmented reality applications will enable people to use their smartphones to display and share location-based information, such as tips about favorite menus items at a local restaurant, with friends and family, Zuckerberg said.
They will also enable users to add digital objects or enhancements to their cameras' views of the real world, allowing artists to create augmented reality street...