Meta wants to work with facial expressions and muscle current

From September, a virtual reality (VR) headset from Meta will transmit feelings such as disgust or joy into virtual worlds. Meta is also working on the development of glasses that incorporate muscle current. Four new devices are planned.

In September 2022, Meta plans to release a new VR headset, known so far by the project name Cambria. Employees would already call it the Laptop for the Face or Chromebook for the Face, reports The Information.

The built-in display with newly developed pancake lenses is intended to according to "The Verge be so high-resolution that you can read texts with it without any problems. This should make it possible to write e-mails, among other things, but also to programme. It is also planned to use Meta's own Android version as the operating system. According to the report, the price will be around 800 dollars. It can therefore be assumed that Cambria will be aimed more at a professional audience.

According to the current roadmap, many more devices are to be launched on the market by 2026, as The Information writes.

Face tracking

Cambria is the only one of these headsets that has already been officially presented. Among other things, it will have sensors that can record the wearer's facial expression and transfer it to an avatar in the virtual world. This is currently only available in a limited form, for example with the Facial Tracker from Vive, which can primarily track and record mouth movements.

In addition to the classic VR headsets, Meta is also said to be working on two augmented reality glasses for everyday use, both of which are scheduled for release in 2024: A rather expensive model called Nazare AR, which can run on its own, and a cheaper alternative that only works when coupled with a smartphone, with the project name Hypernova.

Control via muscle current

In both, a new type of operation is to be possible via a differential electromyography wristband. This technology evaluates the current flow of the nerve fibres in the muscle.

When a muscle is relaxed, little or no current flows through the corresponding nerve fibres. When it is tensed, the current flow increases. The sensor measures these changes - and Meta wants to use this to operate the glasses.

Source: golem / derstandard