Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg Weighs In On The Future Of Wearables

Posted By David Nield on Jan 15, 2015

We already know Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is interested in wearable technology thanks to his company’s $2 billion acquisition of Oculus VR last March. Now Zuckerberg has been talking about where he sees the wearables market going in the next few years.

“In another 10 to 15 years we can imagine there will be another platform that’s more natural and more built into our lives than mobile phones are right now,” said Zuckerberg at a public Q&A session in Columbia. “I think it’s pretty easy to imagine that, in the future, we will have something we can wear.”

He did admit that today’s wearables – including Google Glass and Facebook’s own Oculus Rift – still have a way to go to win consumers round. “[Future wearables] will look just like normal glasses,” Zuckerberg said, “[they] won’t look weird like some of the stuff that exists today.” He went on to compare the early wave of wearables with the very first mobile phones – chunky, awkward, and not much fun to use.

Ultimately, the Facebook CEO sees wearables as devices that can free us from our attachments to our smartphones. “You’ll just be able to get context about what’s going on around you in the world,” he added. “And communicate with people, and not have to disrupt your conversations by looking down.”

Few would disagree with Zuckerberg’s comments: Much of today’s wearable tech is still clunky and experimental, but progress is quickly being made. Like smartphones, many wearable devices will soon get to a stage where they’re stylish, long-lasting, powerful and almost invisible.

Facebook also picked up the fitness and health app Moves last year, so Zuckerberg and his company are definitely committed to a wearable future, whatever it looks like. Once we’ve all grown tired of scrolling through news feeds and tapping away at smartphones, Facebook will be ready.