SAN FRANCISCO, CA — In a turn of events that mimics George Orwell’s ‘1984’, social media giant Facebook is developing a gadget that will allow it to place cameras and microphones in the homes of Facebook users.
According to a report published by Cheddar (https://cheddar.com/videos/exclusive-facebook-dives-into-home-device-market-with-video-chat-product-named-portal), the social media network is preparing to release the hardware, called Portal, which was developed by a Facebook department called Building 8. The same department, says the report, is also working on developing “mind-reading technology”.
“Rather than position the device as a smart assistant akin to Amazon’s Echo speakers, Facebook intends to pitch Portal as a way for families and friends to stay connected through video chatting and other social features,’ the report states. “Facebook plans a formal product introduction in early May at its annual developer conference and hopes to ship the device in the second half of 2018.”
Although Facebook has not officially commented on the forthcoming project, Andrew Bosworth, the company’s vice president of augmented and virtual reality, wrote on Twitter: ‘Can’t comment on speculation but can confirm it’s going to be an exciting year for AR/VR’.
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