Facebook is conducting a long-term research project on artificial intelligence, thanks to which we may no longer have to worry about where we lost things like keys.
The Ego4D project aims to improve how artificial intelligence perceives the world from an "egocentric" perspective, that is, a human perspective.
They are also working on introducing more diverse ways of using devices such as glasses for augmented reality (glasses with computer properties that project additional information in the form of 3D photos, animations or recordings, and the user sees them together with the real world).
Artificial intelligence could help users remember where they left their keys.
Facebook also announced that it plans to hire 10.000 people in the European Union to develop the so-called metaverse.
A metaverse is an online world where people can play, work and interact in a virtual environment, often using a VR headset.
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Facebook claims that "the next generation of artificial intelligence will have to learn from recordings that show the world from the center of the action, that is, from the first person".
They add that artificial intelligence that understands the world from an "egocentric perspective" could help devices like augmented reality glasses and virtual reality sets become as useful as smartphones.
Facebook has long been interested in the development of artificial intelligence, as shown by its ownership of virtual reality headset maker Oculus.
It is expected to release fully functional glasses for augmented reality, but the company recently told the BBC that they are still in development.
Ego4D is a collaborative project that seeks to collect a "massive database of first-person footage."
The database will help develop the way computers understand digital photos and recordings, as well as artificial intelligence systems that will help users communicate with the world from a first-person perspective.
The project brings together a consortium of 13 universities and laboratories from nine countries.
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The researchers say that the collected data consists of, among other things, "more than 3.000 hours of video recordings of daily life activities covering hundreds of scenarios (household, public space, workplace, free time), recorded by 855 people wearing a camera".
Currently, algorithms for the way computers understand digital photos and recordings are trained with the help of large databases of photos and recordings recorded from the perspective of a third person, that is, an observer.
"The next generation of artificial intelligence systems will have to be trained with the help of a completely different kind of data - footage that shows the world from the perspective of the center of the action, i.e. the first person, not from the side," wrote lead scientist and Facebook researcher Kristen Grauman.
The databases, which Facebook claims are "20 times larger than any other in terms of recorded hours of video", will be available from November to researchers who sign a data usage agreement.
Facebook has also devised five benchmarks with the help of which it develops more useful devices from the domain of artificial intelligence that will serve as personal assistants.
Facebook says that those five criteria are:
- What happened when? (For example: "Where did I leave my keys?")
- What am I going to do next? (For example: "Wait, you already added salt to the recipe")
- What am I doing? (For example: "Teach me how to play the drums")
- Who said what and when? (For example: "What was the main topic during the lecture?")
- Who is talking to whom? (For example: "Help me hear better the person talking to me in this noisy restaurant")
However, Facebook has sometimes had a complicated relationship with researchers.
Some are worried about the idea that a company that has been heavily criticized and fined for collecting users' private data would want to develop technology that has such an intimate look into people's lives.
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Their new camera glasses Ray-Ban Stories (Ray-Ban Stories) have raised privacy concerns, despite being a much more limited technology than augmented reality glasses.
On the site that processes news from the world of technology, The Verge, it is stated that it is worrying that "the criteria in the Ego4D project do not include privacy protection measures".
Facebook stated that protection measures will be included in parallel with the development of applications.
What else is Facebook planning?
The owner of Facebook announces the development of a metaverse, a kind of virtual world for everyone.
He said that it is planned to create 10.000 jobs in the European Union for the development of this project.
"The metaverse has the potential to help access new creative, social and economic opportunities.
"And the Europeans will shape it from the very beginning," the Facebook post said.
New jobs to be created in the next five years will include "highly specialized engineers".
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