For years, the social network has been trying to establish itself in various fields such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality and new technologies in general. This year, therefore, Mark Zuckerberg presented his company’s projects in these different areas. We have selected the most interesting announcements from F8 for you!
What new features were announced?
During the annual F8 2018 conference, the field covered most extensively was virtual reality. Facebook presented two new products:
- The Oculus Go: Facebook’s new virtual reality headset is now available. This headset has the distinctive feature of requiring no supporting device in order to work (no computer, no smartphone). Unlike other headsets such as the HTC Vive, no cable will be required to make it work. But what really makes this product’s strength is its price: 200 dollars, or roughly 220 euros. At launch it will come with a catalogue of more than 1,000 applications, including Oculus Rooms (a social network offering an alternative to VRChat) and Netflix VR (which lets you watch Netflix in VR).
- VR cameras: a promising partnership between Facebook and RED Digital Cinema. A new tool aimed at professionals. These cameras, which will cost between 10,000 and 15,000 euros at release, are intended to bring VR to cinema using high-definition cameras (RED being the camera brand most widely used during American film shoots).
Facebook announced new improvements for its Messenger application. Last year, the American multinational improved the chat application’s bots: they were now able to order a ride-hailing car or request a meal delivery.
This year, a new artificial intelligence will be added to Messenger in order to be able to translate every message automatically.
To counter the controversy over the collection of personal data on Facebook, the company launched a new feature on its social network allowing you to delete your data history on Facebook. However, this announcement has been heavily criticised: thanks to its Facebook pixels, Facebook is able to collect data on people who are not even signed up to Facebook — so is this really the end of the spying on your personal data?
Did you follow Facebook’s F8? Do you think these innovations are interesting? Tell us in the comments, and don’t hesitate to browse our other articles.
