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To Control Its Destiny, Facebook Bets Big on Hardware

theinformation.com

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Re: To Control Its Destiny, Facebook Bets Big on Hardware

#31

Post by arcturus17 »

ravenstine wrote: post #21
choward wrote: post #18

So you all have a subscription to theinformation.com? Wow. I can't just buy a subscription for every random "news" site that appears on hacker news.

I don't get why news sites don't have a "coin slot" where I can insert a few quarters if I like an article and get a pass to read that day's edition.

I've encountered exactly that feature multiple times and I've never used it because god knows I'm not creating an account to give a site 0.99 and read an article. Friction.

Maybe if someone did it as a layer on top of news sites (like Google/FB login)... Maybe ...

Re: To Control Its Destiny, Facebook Bets Big on Hardware

#32

Post by _Microft »

caseymarquis wrote: post #13

VR is neat, but I'm absolutely inspired by the idea of improved human-computer interfaces like those described and their more mundane uses. We have eye tracking, the ability to read electrical signals and positioning from hands or head, the ability to feedback to the body through vibration (or sound), and existing high quality peripherals like keyboards for high precision entry and correction. There has to be a way t…

Summary: BCIs are still bad, use foot pedals as suggested in the sibling comment.

I don't want to rain on the parade but BCI (brain computer interfaces here EEG that is interpreted as input for something) is far from being usable for everday things. The technology sort of works but it is slow and unreliable. Most reliable method was P300 [0] which requires several repetitions of a signal someone decided to select. Entering letters for example can be done by flashing rows and columns of a matrix of these letters and concentrating on the one to choose. It's reactive in the sense as it will only trigger when an expected stimulus is detected. A lot less reliable was a system trained to recognize imagined motions (raising the left or right leg or arm as different categories) and worst method I saw was a simple feedback loop between EEG for moving something on the screen in one of two directions. This rarely worked even though it was a simple binary choice. Any switch will be better than this for now.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P300_(neuroscience)

Re: To Control Its Destiny, Facebook Bets Big on Hardware

#33

Post by inertiatic »

caseymarquis wrote: post #13

VR is neat, but I'm absolutely inspired by the idea of improved human-computer interfaces like those described and their more mundane uses. We have eye tracking, the ability to read electrical signals and positioning from hands or head, the ability to feedback to the body through vibration (or sound), and existing high quality peripherals like keyboards for high precision entry and correction. There has to be a way t…

I can't imagine this not being the future of how we interface with our computing devices, way before proper neural control interfaces.

I'm curious what research is being done on this front.

Re: To Control Its Destiny, Facebook Bets Big on Hardware

#34

Post by deltron3030 »

FB is kinda badly positioned when it comes to man-machine interfaces, not because of their technical capability, but the lack of trust that is needed for societal acceptance in that space. People who initially supported Oculus wouldn't have done so if it came out being from FB, they wouldn't have gotten over the initial hump.

I think that this is one of the reasons why Apple bets so heavily on privacy, they had a much better long term vision when it comes to wearables and man-machine interfaces in general. If Cook distances Apple from China they have such a big advantage there, if not FB will use Apples connection with China to their advantage.

Re: To Control Its Destiny, Facebook Bets Big on Hardware

#35

Post by caseymarquis »

_Microft wrote: post #32
caseymarquis wrote: post #13

VR is neat, but I'm absolutely inspired by the idea of improved human-computer interfaces like those described and their more mundane uses. We have eye tracking, the ability to read electrical signals and positioning from hands or head, the ability to feedback to the body through vibration (or sound), and existing high quality peripherals like keyboards for high precision entry and correction. There has to be a way t…

Summary: BCIs are still bad, use foot pedals as suggested in the sibling comment. I don't want to rain on the parade but BCI (brain computer interfaces here EEG that is interpreted as input for something) is far from being usable for everday things. The technology sort of works but it is slow and unreliable. Most reliable method was P300 [0] which requires several repetitions of a signal someone decided to select. En…

Totally fair. There's a few things I'd like to point out:

  * I get to push the EEG button with just my brain, which is neat and fun.
  * I get to build multiple high resolution EEGs into something that doesn't look terrible like a pair of headphones or a hat, which is fun (yet flammable).
  * I play a few instruments (most recently bought a violin, which I'm still terrible with). It took years to become good at each instrument. I assume that it would take years to become good at using a BCI and properly adjust it to my brain.
  * I'm working on this with the initial assumption that I'm most likely going to fail, but I'm going to have a good time.
Edit: * It also gives me an excuse to work on this: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21661567

Re: To Control Its Destiny, Facebook Bets Big on Hardware

#36

Post by petecox »

arcturus17 wrote: post #31
ravenstine wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't get why news sites don't have a "coin slot" where I can insert a few quarters if I like an article and get a pass to read that day's edition.

I've encountered exactly that feature multiple times and I've never used it because god knows I'm not creating an account to give a site 0.99 and read an article. Friction. Maybe if someone did it as a layer on top of news sites (like Google/FB login)... Maybe ...

Sounds like a business opportunity for the Brave browser.

This article requires x BAT to access. Unlock? Y/N

Re: To Control Its Destiny, Facebook Bets Big on Hardware

#37

Post by ravenstine »

arcturus17 wrote: post #31
ravenstine wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't get why news sites don't have a "coin slot" where I can insert a few quarters if I like an article and get a pass to read that day's edition.

I've encountered exactly that feature multiple times and I've never used it because god knows I'm not creating an account to give a site 0.99 and read an article. Friction. Maybe if someone did it as a layer on top of news sites (like Google/FB login)... Maybe ...

> god knows I'm not creating an account to give a site 0.99

Who says you have to create a new account on every site? A cookie set after the payment processor has completed is all you need.

Re: To Control Its Destiny, Facebook Bets Big on Hardware

#38

Post by EpicEng »

mattlondon wrote: post #27
choward wrote: post #18

So you all have a subscription to theinformation.com? Wow. I can't just buy a subscription for every random "news" site that appears on hacker news.

No subscription there, but the full article is available without a paywall. Guessing there is some geo-thing or A/B test going on.

The entire site is paywalled, but they unlock some articles specifically for HN

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21839936

Re: To Control Its Destiny, Facebook Bets Big on Hardware

#39

Post by majewsky »

ravenstine wrote: post #37
arcturus17 wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've encountered exactly that feature multiple times and I've never used it because god knows I'm not creating an account to give a site 0.99 and read an article. Friction. Maybe if someone did it as a layer on top of news sites (like Google/FB login)... Maybe ...

> god knows I'm not creating an account to give a site 0.99 Who says you have to create a new account on every site? A cookie set after the payment processor has completed is all you need.

That will create a ton of angry customers who had their cookies auto-deleted e.g. because of Incognito. Support costs will outweigh the few pennies earned.

Especially with a tech-ninded crowd, relying on the persistence of cookies is completely unworkable because of the large percentage of users with extensions that block or wipe cookies eagerly.

Re: To Control Its Destiny, Facebook Bets Big on Hardware

#40

Post by mark_l_watson »

I don’t want to sound mean spirited, but I don’t really like or trust FB. I would check my feed briefly once or twice a month and post something whenever I finished a book and wanted to announce that.

My attitude changed when I bought an Oculus Go and a week later when I bought an Oculus Quest. These devices use the FB platform, and all the videos that I now upload to FB can now be watched in the VR theater on the Oculus devices.

So basically, the Oculus products are so good that I decided to give FB another chance and I use FB a bit more often now.

EDIT: and the Star Wars Vader Immortal trilogy on the Oculus Quest is my favorite entertainment experience ever, including the industrial strength VR experiences I used to work on. My respect to the teams that did the Vader Immortal material.

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