Facebook Connect, the social network’s annual augmented reality and virtual reality conference, previously known as Oculus Connect, will be held virtually Sept. 16, with attendance open to all, free-of-charge.
This marks the seventh year of the event.
Facebook also revealed the new name for its AR and VR team, Facebook Reality Labs, which was previously used as the name of the research division for its AR and VR teams.
Those research teams will continue their work under the name FRL Research, led by chief scientist Michael Abrash.
Facebook Reality Labs head Andrew Bosworth said in a blog post, “Facebook’s work in augmented and virtual reality spans a number of breakthrough technologies and touches industries ranging from entertainment and gaming to education and beyond. Oculus lets people defy distance with cutting-edge VR hardware, while Portal helps friends and families stay connected and share the moments that matter in meaningful ways. Spark AR powers AR experiences for Facebook’s apps and devices. Our research teams invent and iterate on novel technologies that break exciting new ground. And through it all, we’ve drawn inspiration from the legacies of Bell Labs and Xerox Parc as groundbreaking models of centers for innovation.”
He concluded, “Much like Facebook’s recent corporate rebranding, our emphasis is on clarity—visually identifying us as a part of Facebook while looking toward the future of the next computing platform that puts people at the center.”
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