When social networks and optics go hand in hand

At a time when the French announce spending an average of 1 hour 20 per day on social networks and where the optical industry continues to innovate constantly, it is not surprising that the two sectors come together to sometimes be one.

Apple glasses, Facebook or Snapchat , when social networks and optics go hand in hand, the glasses always push the limits of reality!

The glasses that increase the reality

Apple Glass , Google Glass , Facebook's Oculus headset, major players in the web and social networks are investing massively in augmented reality as well as its cousin, virtual reality .
Forerunner, Google was the first to enter the market in 2012 with its Google Glass . This gem of technology involved a plethoric equipment: camera, microphone, touchpad, mini-screens, internet access, earpiece, everything was there. It allowed access to most of Google's features including its social network, Google + : Calendar , voice recognition, clock, weather , messaging, camera , GPS … And all that can be equipped with corrective lenses ! However perhaps too far ahead of their time, the Google Glass have been set aside and are no longer marketed. To come back in force? It would appear that they would come back soon, to follow …

The apple brand is also preparing augmented reality glasses that could be released in 2018. iGlass ? Perhaps ! Coupled with an iPhone, images and information, notifications of social networks could also appear in front of the eyes of its users without hindering the vision. Thus Apple could register a little more in the daily life of his fanbase by superimposing the real and the virtual.

And Facebook ? The mastodon of the social networks obviously also has an opinion on this connected optics !
After having bought in 2014 the specialist of the virtual reality Oculus , the group announced in October new equipments to come.
Mark Zuckerberg, its founder, has also put forward at a conference the social uses that these glasses and helmets could have. On stage he joined two of his colleagues in a virtual environment and his wife with whom he took a selfie while she was hundreds of miles away. Selfie that he then shared on his social network in real time, without leaving his optical equipment !

The glasses that immortalize you

Glasses to take a selfie or share a " snap "? They thought about it for you!

The photographic self-portrait, if not new, has become a darling of social networks . All techniques are good for self-portrait, so that dedicated accessories have emerged, such as selfie poles.
The Spanish company WeOn started from this observation and created the selfie glasses . Created in 2016, they should soon be marketed. Selfie enthusiasts will be able to capture an image by pressing a button on the branch of their glasses that allows to control the camera of their smartphone, carefully placed upstream for a selfie competition. All that leaves to the photographers is to share their work on Instagram , Facebook and why not also social networking sites, such as Tinder or Meetic !

Snapchat , the social network for sharing ephemeral photos and videos, has also been a big hit recently with its shows . Solar or at the sight of its carrier, they can capture videos of 10 seconds using a wide-angle lens intended to reproduce the human visual field . To start a recording, just press a button on the branch! The videos are then sent to the application via Bluetooth or Wi-fi and can be shared later. At a very affordable price since close to a classic pair of sunglasses, they have been ripped off and are now sold for gold!

The glasses that protect you from social rays

Connected glasses increase reality and plunge you into a world sometimes "improved". They also sometimes a little cold in the back: the Google Glass have also received this pitfall full force. Some have criticized them for allowing filming or photographing in any particular discretion. Social networks, too, are often blamed for reproaching privacy . But if the glasses could also be used to protect themselves from this virtual world inherent in social networks ?

This is the idea that had a Turkish repairer of smartphones by developing a pair of glasses worthy of James Bond. Only the wearer can see what is written on the screen! For others, the smartphone displays a blank page . Goodbye so prying eyes of your neighbors in the bus or office on your conversations Messenger or WhatsApp . The device works with electronic chips that equip the phone and glasses that communicate via Bluetooth. This equipment, still in the prototype stage would be very affordable, around 8 euros. It would not be surprising, however, to see him equip the aforementioned connected glasses .

For their part, researchers at a university in Pittsburgh have developed a very simple device to … 22 cents! This one is able to deceive Big Brother and its facial recognition software . These simple glasses adorned with psychedelic motifs make it possible to mislead biometric devices based on facial recognition. These shapes and patterns could ultimately end up on the glasses that we currently wear. They would guarantee your anonymity, especially during automatic facial recognition of photos shared on social networks .

A few years ago we would have talked about anticipation, but today it becomes a reality, augmented or not. Social networks and optics blend well and intermingle already. They find more and more common applications, for the best or maybe the worst?
Anyway, a trend to keep your eyes peeled!