Facebook aims to make virtual reality more comfortable and portable. The company is working on a new viewer away from the classic device that covers half of the face, approaching the appearance of a normal pair of sunglasses.
It is "a comfortable and light form factor, which can allow longer virtual reality sessions and even new use cases, for example in the field of productivity", explain the Facebook researchers in a post.
Compared to normal viewers, the glasses are much thinner. The lenses are 9mm thick, similar to that of a smartphone. The visual field, however, "is comparable to that of current consumer products for virtual reality," emphasize the researchers.
It is currently not known whether the concept will result in a product that will hit the shelves. "Although our work points towards the future development of a virtual and augmented reality technology that is light, comfortable and high-performance, at the moment our work is purely research," explains the Facebook team of researchers.