Highlights from Facebook Connect
Tags: news, facebook, augmentedreality, discuss
Published: 2021-01-26 18:11:08


> First published on Sep 16, 2020 [here] (https://www.echoar.xyz/post/highlights-from-facebook-connect)

The echoAR team is extremely excited about the new announcements coming out of Facebook Connect 2020, formerly Oculus Connect, and their implications on the AR/VR/3D community:

* The **Oculus Quest 2 is officially released!** Shipping October 13th at $299 - $100 less than the previous Quest headset and includes the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 chipset.

![2.jpeg](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1611683284058/sdPFxY8dm.jpeg)
Image by  [@anshelsag](http://twitter.com/anshelsag) 

* Facebook shared that over 35 titles have **generated millions of USD in revenue.**

![3.jpeg](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1611683325329/kdVsuA88d.jpeg)
Image by  [@ProductHunt](https://twitter.com/ProductHunt) 

* Over **$150M spent on content** for the Oculus Quest.


![4.png](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1611683373797/36jngnlt2.png)
Image by  [@tomemrich](http://twitter.com/tomemrich) 

* SparkAR, the creator studio that allows cretors to build face filters and AR expireneces for Facebook and Instagram, is coming to Facebook Portal. **1.2M filters** were created with SparkAR and the community has over **400K creators** in **190 countries**.

![5.png](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1611683419270/0NQl_5IXk.png)

* **Project Aria** is official! Facebook showcased their AR glasses and announced design partnerships with eyewear manufacturers Rayban and Luxottica. Project Aria will integrate with Facebook LiveMaps, a virtual spatial map of the world which was announced last year.

![6.png](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1611683496307/zVDvPI61G.png)
Image by  [@fjeronimo](http://twitter.com/fjeronimo) 

> "We believe AR glasses will radically transform the way we interact with our surroundings and the way we connect at distance. The technologies we need to make this a reality are not here yet, but we are taking a step closer to this vision with Project Aria." -Andrew Bosworth, VP Facebook Reality Labs at Facebook

![7.png](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1611683541495/UakyawOY5.png)

* **Facebook Horizons**, the social VR world by Facebook, is going strong as more and more users are joining the beta!

![8.jpeg](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1611683636172/VZ_vExTSL.jpeg)

* **Facebook Messenger** will be integrated into Oculus!

![9.jpeg](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1611683675075/tyVJoRUAF.jpeg)
Image by  [@GRYITH](http://twitter.com/GRYITH) 

* The **new Avatar SDK** allow you to create avatars across all Facebook products.

![10.png](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1611683715198/OuoLPEBqA.png)

* Facebook Shops, a new social media shopping experience for businesses and retailer of any size, will now have AR support for **product try-ons and remote visualization!** You can create an online store on Facebook and Instagram for free.

* Facebook is working with the Smithsonian and Palace of Versai to **bring art and history museums to the palm of your hand with AR**.

* Facebook is working with the New York Times on **AR journalism!** Facebook and NYT announced a multi-year partnership to co-develop AR filters to help users access and contextualize stories.

![11.jpeg](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1611683786118/3IcCJt7gm.jpeg)

Image by  [AxiosNew](https://www.axios.com/new-york-times-facebook-augmented-reality-0973fa9e-ffcc-4a68-91ec-ffb77d757745.html)  

 * **Assassin's Creed** and **Splinter Cell** games by Ubisoft are coming to Oculus. New VR games from huge brands like **Star Wars, Jurassic World, Medal of Honor, Pistol Whip 2089,** and more are releasing on Quest later this year. Read about all of the Quest's gaming announcements  [here](https://www.oculus.com/blog/games-at-facebook-connect-cinematic-stories-music-and-multiplayer-fan-favorites-and-more/).

![12.jpeg](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1611683862187/jSlanE7pa.jpeg)

Image by  [@This_Justintech](http://twitter.com/This_Justintech) 

* **BeatSaber is going multiplayer!** and a new **BTS music pack** is coming soon.

![13.jpeg](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1611683930463/oWsy3rS_i.jpeg)
Image by  [@BABA__TV](https://twitter.com/BABA__TV)

![14.jpeg](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1611683953337/cCJYtsGk6.jpeg)

* Facebook announces **Infinite Office**, a virtual reality office space, which allows you to bring your work to VR. A real-life Logitech keyboard will be able to be seen in VR!

![15.jpeg](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1611683984816/89vhdnEIe.jpeg)
Image by  [@yukaohishi](http://twitter.com/yukaohishi) 

* Facebook is **doubling down on human-computer interaction (HCI)** research with neural devices and interactions through Electromyography (EMG). Facebook showcased how they integrated the **CTRL-Labs wristband** which Facebook acquired in 2019.

![16.png](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1611684023447/r-0JgFfCK.png)

> "AR/VR is the second great wave of human-oriented computing" - Michael Abrash

![17.png](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1611684053787/PdIH71cwa.png)

Image by  [@tomemrich](http://twitter.com/tomemrich) 

* Facebook is working on giving you **3D audio superpowers** integrated into your AR glasses! This will allow you to isolate voices in a crowd, create a virtual conference calls, and add 3D spatial audio to every real-world interaction.

![18.png](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1611684106742/swWaPQaFD.png)

* Facebook expanded on **Facebook LiveMaps** and showed how they plan to map the world which will allow to overlay it with AR content.

![19.png](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1611684144509/3Ln1TeMxx.png)

## Some final thoughts

Facebook Connect 2020 is a monumental moment in the history of AR/VR.
* A new, improved, and consumer-ready VR headset was announced with an plethora of content.
* New and first-of-its-kind AR glasses were revealed.
* New tools for developers and creators were released.
* New HCI research concepts were introduced.

Can't wait to see what Facebook Connect 2021 will have in store for the AR/VR community!

Rewatch the event live stream  [here](https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=357103208754306&ref=watch_permalink) .

> echoAR (http://www.echoAR.xyz; Techstars '19) is a cloud platform for augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) that provides tools and server-side infrastructure to help developers & companies quickly build and deploy AR/VR apps and experiences.

![20.png](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1611684210606/6oBZgJn9n.png)