It’s 2021, and it’s relatively safe to say that technology has become a frontier all on its own, continuing to develop over the years and reshape the world we live in. As humans continue to explore and expand the profound realm of technology, the more society proceeds to change, and new habits will eventually form. The future is uncharted territory, but it seems like tech will continue to reshape people’s way of life one way or another.
A fine example of technology modifying people’s way of life is Project Nazare, a project that Meta, previously Facebook, has recently announced through its CEO Mark Zuckerberg during his keynote speech at Connect 2021. Although not many details were shared with Zuckerberg merely grazing into the topic, he was able to debut a short, simulated concept explaining how Project Nazare might work and help the future of communication.
Four words: true augmented reality glasses—the sort that projects holographic objects onto one’s surroundings, fetches data from the cloud, instinctively reacting to its user’s movements, and took quite a long time before it was considered a possibility—this is the path that Project Nazare intends to tread. Of course, one could argue that this was a long time coming, considering how technology has continued to evolve throughout the years. Still, it’s only now in 2021 that companies like Meta and Apple have shown a faint interest in the radical idea of augmented reality glasses.
Project Nazare can be defined as an augmented reality glasses device that would allow its users to perform several things, including communicating with others on a dedicated network, viewing people as 3D avatars, and interacting with them in real-time, aided by 3D digital assets, tools, and props.
“Today, I want to show you an experience that we’ve been working on for Project Nazare, which is the code name for our first full augmented reality glasses,” Zuckerberg explained before going on to resume his topic for the potential use of the Nazare AR glasses.
In the demo provided by Zuckerberg and his team, a user is seen wearing AR glasses while communicating with friends on the application WhatsApp. The group is planning a game night, and through the available catalog that’s directly within the conversation flow, the user can quickly select a game. After the game is selected, the user walks over to a space, and the Nazare glasses project a holographic image of the game along with the 3D avatars of the user’s friends.
Project Nazare allows its users to smoothly shift from virtual conversations to lifelike social experiences without missing a beat. Although there hasn’t been a flood of information about the project, there have been a few features that surfaced from Zuckerberg’s speech, including details on the Nazare AR glasses’ field of view, which is expected to be broad, to the tune of 200 to 220 degrees, as well as the glasses’ form factor, its display and an array of sensors, cameras, speakers, and radios which will then be embedded in its form to provide the user with a remarkable, immersive experience.
It’s coming as no surprise that augmented reality is taking the world by storm. Tech experts have predicted that by the year 2028, augmented reality will be worth around a whopping $340 billion, and it’s well on its way to having a growth rate of about 43%.
