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AR Input

Meta Shows Off Wrist-worn XR Controller Prototype to Ray-Ban Parent EssilorLuxottica

May 6, 2022 From roadtovr

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg showed off a prototype of the company’s wrist-worn XR controller this week to EssilorLuxottica, the Italian parent company behind the Ray-Ban Stories camera glasses and a host of other conventional luxury eyewear brands. Although outwardly it appears to be similar to what the company revealed last year, it’s a definitely vote of confidence by Meta in the tech’s potential as the basis of a future XR input device.

Posting on Instagram, Zuckerberg showcased the prototype to EssilorLuxottica President and CEO Leonardo Del Vecchio, who can be seen pinching two fingers together in what is likely a clicking-style selection gesture.

Image courtesy Meta, Mark Zuckerberg

Here’s what Zuckerberg had to say about the trip:

“Great to be back in Milan to discuss plans for new smart glasses with Leonardo Del Vecchio and the EssilorLuxottica team. Here Leonardo is using a prototype of our neural interface EMG wristband that will eventually let you control your glasses and other devices.”

Zuckerberg hasn’t said as much, however the device looks awfully familiar, albeit a little rougher than what the company revealed in March 2021.

The wrist controller, which exists thanks to the acquisition of CTRL-Labs in 2019, is based around an array of electromyography (EMG) sensors that detect electrical signals which control the muscles in your hands. When first unveiled a year ago, Meta researchers said they were also looking into a number of haptic technologies that would help the user feel input too.

A smaller, more refined version of the neural input tech could prove valuable since the prospective AR glasses user wouldn’t need to use cumbersome controllers on the daily, or rely entirely on optical hand tracking either, which critically doesn’t provide haptic feedback.

Late last year the Italian eyewear company co-released Ray-Ban Stories, the first in a line of smarter glasses that Meta hopes will pave the way towards the future of smart and stylish AR devices. Ray-Ban Stories, which is something of a cross between Bose Frames and the first three generations of Snap’s Spectacles (re: not AR or smartglasses), is one of the few products featured in the newly opened Meta retails stores, which include demo areas for Meta Quest 2 and Portal.

As Zuckerberg said, the companies are still engaged in planning for new smartglasses, so a close hardware partner with the cachet of EssilorLuxottica is certainly worth impressing with visions of the future.

Meanwhile, Meta says it will be releasing four new VR headsets by 2024, which ought to give us plenty of XR devices to look forward to in the years to come.

Filed Under: AR Input, Meta, meta controller, meta xr, meta xr controller, News

Snap Acquires Brain-Computer Interface Startup NextMind

March 23, 2022 From roadtovr

Snap announced it’s acquired neurotech startup NextMind, a Paris-based company known for creating a $400 pint-sized brain-computer interface (BCI).

In a blog post, Snap says NextMind will help drive “long-term augmented reality research efforts within Snap Lab,” the company’s hardware team that’s currently building AR devices.

“Snap Lab’s programs explore possibilities for the future of the Snap Camera, including Spectacles. Spectacles are an evolving, iterative research and development project, and the latest generation is designed to support developers as they explore the technical bounds of augmented reality.”

Snap hasn’t detailed the terms or price of the NextMind acquisition, saying only that the team will continue to operate out of Paris, France. According to The Verge, NextMind will also be discontinuing production of its BCI.

Photo captured by Road to VR

Despite increasingly accurate and reliable hand and eye-tracking hardware, input methods for AR headsets still isn’t really a solved problem. It’s not certain whether NextMind’s tech, which is based on electroencephalogram (EEG), was the complete solution either.

NextMind’s BCI is non-invasive and slim enough to integrate into the strap of an XR headset, something that creators like Valve have been interested in for years. It’s also

Granted, there’s a scalp, connective tissue, and a skull to read through, which limits the kit’s imaging resolution, which allowed NextMind to do some basic inputs like simple UI interaction—very far off from the sort of ‘read/write’ capabilities that Elon Musk’s Neuralink is aiming for with its invasive brain implant.

Snap has been collecting more companies to help build out its next pair of AR glasses. In addition to NextMind, Snap acquired AR waveguide startup WaveOptics for over $500 million last May, and LCOS maker Compound Photonics in January.

Snap is getting close too. Its most recent Spectacles (fourth gen) include displays for real-time AR in addition to integrated voice recognition, optical hand tracking, and a side-mounted touchpad for UI selection.

Filed Under: ar industry, AR Input, bci, brain computer interface, News, next mind, nextmind, snap, snap ar, snap chat, snap spectacles, spectacles

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