#Mark Zuckerberg says augmented reality can replace art, media

Mark Zuckerberg said digital holograms will eventually be able to replace TVs, books and even paintings or sculptures in a future where everyone wears augmented reality glasses. 

“Think about how many things that are in your life don’t actually need to be physical and could be easily replaced by a digital hologram in a world where you had glasses,” the Facebook CEO said Thursday.

“You know basically any media, any art, any screen for any TV in the future won’t actually need to exist physically — it can just be an app that your glasses project onto the wall.” 

“I’ll just be able to snap my fingers, and here’s a hologram,” said the 37-year-old mogul, who is the world’s fifth-wealthiest person. “It’s going to be incredibly powerful.”

He also talked about giving creators the ability to sell “digital clothing” through Facebook’s platforms.

“I think another big part of this that’s part of this Metaverse vision is that we’re also going to have a lot of digital goods, you know, whether it’s clothing for you, for yourself that will be digital,” he said.

Asked for comment on how clothing could be digital, a Facebook spokesperson clarified that Zuckerberg was referring to clothing for digital avatars — not people.

The ability to make many goods digitally will free up people to focus on creative endeavors rather than physical manufacturing, Zuckerberg predicted in a video interview at the VivaTech conference in Paris. 

These virtual goods will one day be sold on a Facebook app store and accessed using Facebook-made augmented reality glasses, according to the CEO. He added that the company would sell the glasses at cost or even subsidize them in order to encourage widespread adoption. 

Zuckerberg’s comments come as Facebook plans to launch a pair of “connected” glasses in collaboration with RayBan later this year, although the glasses will not come equipped with augmented reality capabilities. Facebook has not revealed what features the glasses will have. 

Elsewhere in Thursday’s interview, Zuckerberg said that exercise classes held using virtual reality headsets could compete with home fitness company Peloton. 

“Think about it like Peloton but you have a subscription and you’re doing a boxing class or a dance class,” he said.