“We are going to walk through our road map for the next 10 years,” Zuckerberg kicked off the Facebook F8 2016 conference with a keynote detailing Facebook’s 10-year plan and the ways technology will bring people together on the platform.
Bots for messenger
As part of the new Messenger Platform in beta, businesses can create chatbots which can provide anything from automated subscription content like weather and traffic updates, to customized communications like receipts, shipping notifications, and live automated messages — all by interacting directly with the people who want to get them. This means Facebook users will be able to interact with an AI-powered “representative” from a business inside Messenger.
“To order from 1-800-Flowers, you never have to call 1-800-Flowers again,” he quipped, joking about the brand’s phone-based name. “I’ve never met anyone who likes calling a business.”
Sponsored chats
Facebook announced that brands will be able to send sponsored messages to users via Facebook Messenger. Brands will only be able to contact people who are existing customers or have already messaged the business. Facebook vice president David Marcus said the platform will be careful not to fill the Messenger app with unsolicited brand spam. Individuals on Messenger will be able to block future messages from a business at any time.
Facebook Surround 360
Facebook has designed and built a 3D-360 camera system called Facebook Surround 360 that produces sharp, truly spherical footage in 3D. The system includes stitching technology that seamlessly marries the video from 17 cameras, vastly reducing post-production effort and time.
B&T will update this article as more features are announced at F8 conference.
