Facebook (now known as Meta) is attempting to revolutionize the way we type in virtual and augmented reality by turning any flat surface into a virtual keyboard. Mark Zuckerberg continues to cling to his version of the metaverse despite the concept’s failure to take off with users.
UploadVR reports that Facebook is attempting to redefine how we interact with virtual and augmented reality (VR and AR) environments. The company’s latest research aims to make text input in these digital realms as efficient and user-friendly as typing on a traditional keyboard. Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook CTO Andrew Bosworth, recently showcased this technology. Using a Quest 2 headset, Zuckerberg claimed he was able to achieve a typing speed of “100 words per minute,” while Bosworth boasted a speed of “119 words per minute.”
Text input in current VR and AR systems leaves much to be desired. Users often find themselves awkwardly holding their hands up to interact with floating virtual keyboards, which provide no haptic feedback and are significantly slower than typing on PCs and smartphones. While Quest headsets do offer the option to pair with a physical Bluetooth keyboard, this requires carrying around an additional device, which is often larger than the headset itself.
Facebook’s research is still in its early stages, and the company has not yet disclosed the specifics of how the technology works. However, the demonstration video featured fiducial markers on the desk, suggesting a robust dynamic calibration system. The upcoming Quest 3 headset is expected to include a depth sensor, which could potentially make this kind of virtual keyboard a reality. The depth sensor would generate a 3D mesh of the environment, allowing for more precise interactions.
The keyboard concept is certainly the result of Zuckerberg’s Metaverse obsession, which has come under fire from his own employees.
As Breitbart News previously reported:
Employees spoke about the company’s numerous failed products, including its disastrous pivot to a focus on VR technology that the public has been slow to adopt.
As the Post notes, even when they do use VR, they don’t necessarily opt for Facebook products. The tech giant staked much on Horizon Worlds, the virtual world Zuckerberg hoped would be the premier destination in the “metaverse” — but users prefer alternatives, like the popular massively-multiplayer VR game Rec Room.
One advantage that the latter has over the former is that it is not limited to Facebook platforms. Rec Room can be played on PC, Xbox, Playstation, iOS and Android systems, as well as Facebook’s own Oculus devices. Horizon Worlds, by comparison, can only be played on the Oculus Rift and Meta Quest.
Of the company’s failure to drive adoption of its VR hardware devices, one former employee said “It was built like a software company that was trying to experiment instead of a mature hardware company that was trying to build hardware.”
Breitbart News will continue to report on Zuckerberg’s pivot to the metaverse.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan