Let’s Go Digital broke the news: Meta (formerly Facebook) is developing an advanced smartwatch with a rotatable/detachable display, featuring three cameras for AR/VR applications. On June 24, 2021, the company submitted a 49-page application document to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and officially announced it to the outside world on January 13, 2022.
The document depicts two device form factors, the first with a square screen. Similar to a report shared by Bloomberg in October 2021, we saw a smartwatch with a front-facing camera. The second has a round dial, but both function essentially the same. By calling different lenses (such as macro, telephoto, light change, wide-angle) and using multiple lenses, the user can easily adjust the camera’s field of view.
As for the screen itself, it supports detachment and exchange from the wristband and is expected to come in special use in augmented (AR), virtual (VR) and mixed (MR) reality applications. The screen body is fixed by magnetic attraction, and the circular version supports clockwise/counterclockwise rotation. With a solid rotating bezel similar to the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 Classic, different camera lenses can be easily selected.
In terms of functions, this concept watch is equipped with a series of necessary sensors, including heart rate, body temperature, infrared, motion, and activity recognition sensors. In addition, considering the heavy social nature of Meta, the photos and videos it takes will be able to be easily shared on SNS and even provide a solution for audio and video calls.
What interests us the most, though, is how the Meta smartwatch can be used with other VR/AR systems — such as a head-mounted display (HMD) devices or smart glasses. While Facebook has yet to launch an AR headset, we saw a high-end prototype codenamed Project Cambria last year.
At the time, Meta hinted that future smartwatches could be used as input devices for headsets. If all goes well, both are expected to go public in the same period. Finally, AR glasses are also depicted in the patent filings — Meta is known to be working on similar hardware codenamed Project Nazaré.