Facebook is building a smartwatch as part of its ongoing hardware efforts, according to a new report from The information. The device is considered an Android-based smartwatch, although the report does not say whether Facebook wants the device to run Google’s Wear OS. He also claims that Facebook is working on building its own operating system for hardware devices and that future wearable iterations can run that software.
The smartwatch would have messaging, health and fitness capabilities, the report says, and would join Facebook’s Oculus virtual reality headsets and Portal video chat devices as part of the social network’s growing hardware ecosystem. Facebook is also working on Ray-Ban smart glasses that will be launched later this year as part of its Project Aria initiative, an augmented reality project that the company has been working on for some time. Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The hardware ambitions of the social media giant are no secret. The company has more than 6,000 employees working on various augmented and virtual reality projects and as part of existing hardware divisions, such as Oculus and Portal, as well as experimental initiatives under its Facebook Reality Labs division, Bloomberg reported last month. And while Facebook hasn’t expressed a keen interest in health and fitness devices in the past, the company has a history of wearables with its Oculus earphones and future smart glasses.
Facebook also acquired the CTRL-Labs neural interface startup in 2019. CTRL-Labs specializes in building wireless input mechanisms, including devices that can transmit electrical signals from the brain to computing devices without the need for a traditional touchscreen or physical button inputs. The startup’s intellectual property and ongoing research can influence any wearables Facebook will create in the future – including smartwatch, smart glasses or future Oculus headsets.