There was an old show back in the 1970s called the Six-Million Dollar Man. If you’ve never heard of it, check it out here, it’s definitely worth a look.
Anyways, the basic premise of the show was that a secret U.S. government agency puts bionic implants into a former astronaut that give him superhuman strength and senses.
Facebook shows off its glasses
Fast forward to the present. Facebook showed off some augmented reality glasses that give the wearer “perceptual superpowers.” Ohhkay. Btw that some of the company video in the link kinda looked like scenes from Westworld Season 3 to us, but you can be the judge.
What do these glasses do?
The prototype device does two things:
- It makes it easier to hear a person’s voice in a noisy environment, say a bar or restaurant.
- There’s a feature called “audio presence” which reportedly makes someone you’re talking to on the phone sound like they are actually in the room with you.
Facebook
So bottom line, the Facebook tech gives you Alexa-like abilities—you can hear a quiet talker while loud music is playing. That’s fine. But Mark’s got billons, and they couldn’t swing a better tablecloth?
Perceptual superpowers
This sounds like an awesome solution for people with hearing problems. The glasses are basically a hearing aid on steroids and will likely be a lifesaver for the millions of people that suffer hearing problems.
They’re not the only ones in on this act
This kind of augmented reality tech is also being developed by the other big tech firms. Google just bought North, a smart glasses company in ambient computing, and Apple just bought Spaces, a virtual reality startup for virtual meetings.
This sounds like a very bright future.