What does the secret division of Facebook Building 8 do?

The largest technological veterans, such as Facebook, gradually begin to expand the field of their activities, including in the development of technological equipment. According to Business Insider, Facebook’s secret unit called Building 8 is developing at least four hardware projects, one of which includes cameras and augmented reality devices. Available information also indicates that the unit is working on the creation of drones.

The structure of the Building 8 division was developed along the lines of the Google Advanced Technology and Project Group and the Google X, where automatic driven cars are created. In the new division of Facebook, responsibility for each technical direction is borne by its own "CEO".
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There is no specific information about the devices developed by the company, but Facebook is already thinking about the upcoming disclosure of information in order to fuel interest and sell products when the time comes for that. People familiar with the situation, reported that the group of developers Building 8 will play a key role at the April Facebook conference, where Mark Zuckerberg will share a 10-year development plan for the company.

The transition to the creation of hardware is quite an ambitious and risky move for the company. With virtually no experience in this area, Facebook is going to compete with giants like Google and Apple, as well as with an unexpectedly shot Snap, in a fierce business determined by the rate of profit and the complexity of logistics.

In addition to creating augmented reality devices and drones, Facebook’s secret unit seems to be developing brain scanning technology. This direction was headed by former neurophysiologist John Hopkins (John Hopkins), who had previously participated in the development of a prosthetic hand operated by the brain.

There is a second project that can find medical use. At the head of this as yet unknown direction is the cardiologist from Stanford University, who has experience in developing medical equipment in the early stages. In total, Building 8 has four areas of work, but the group also plans to launch the fifth direction and is now looking for a suitable person who could lead them.

According to the plan, all ideas and projects should be developed over the next two years, and then can be subsequently sold or redirected to other companies owned by Facebook. For example, Oculus VR, WhatsApp and Instagram.

The first project should see the light in the summer of 2018. Its leader is Frank Dellaert, an expert in robotics and computer vision. Before joining the Facebook team in the summer of 2016, Dellaert was the main scientist at Skydio, a small startup that worked on the creation of a drone capable of tracking a person when moving in the air. In addition, Dellaert is now a professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he has a particular interest in quadrocopters.

He commented on his participation in Facebook projects as follows: “Now I cannot discuss the details of what I will be doing in Building 8, so stay tuned. Suffice it to say that I agreed to take this post because of potential opportunities. I am ready to offer a style of development, as in DARPA - to create hardware products on Facebook, combining a bold scientific approach and development in one place. ”

In addition to Dellahert, Skydio's Facebook has left Stephen McClure, the head of the software department. Over the past few months, several former GoPro employees have also joined the Building 8 team. In addition, some Facebook employees from other divisions migrated to Building 8. Thus, engineer Alex Granieri had previously worked on Aquila, Facebook's high-altitude drone, designed to transfer Internet connections to developed countries.

A message about the vacancy of the retail sales manager, Building 8, says that the employee will be responsible for creating “an incomparable buying experience for Facebook consumer devices”. In the description of the next vacancy , the following responsibilities can be found : “to build an attractive and successful partnership strategy for three years”. In addition, the employee responsible for the partnership will have to look for “inspiring and unique collaborations that will stimulate innovation, influence social benefits and inspire loyalty and consumer confidence”.

Delivery and sale of consumer devices to millions of people is a challenge for Facebook, which now has experience in selling only expensive Oculus VRs in small volumes. Building 8 so intensively shows that the company wants to become a serious player in the augmented reality market, which is considered to be the next frontier of technology development.

“Facebook understands that in order to be part of this new wave, they must return to reality and hurry,” said analyst Gene Munster. Munster, whose company, Loup Ventures, is closely following augmented and virtual reality technologies, suggests that Facebook wants to release at least 20 million units per year to become a successful company in these markets. But even then the competition with large and small players will be high.