The 'chat bots' are a simplified form of artificial intelligence, a key growth area for Facebook. The bots appear on Messenger to deliver messages from companies, ranging from automated subscription content like weather and traffic updates, to customized communications like receipts, shipping notifications, and live service messages.
Ebay was among the first companies to say they will use chat bots, sending alerts to users in the final stages of bidding for a product. Messenger users will need to opt in to a receive messages over a chat bot, and advertising will initially be restricted over the system. The related API will support not only sending and receiving text, but also images and interactive rich bubbles containing 'calls to action'.
Another new API is for Facebook Live. Saying the initial launch of live video streams on the site has been "incredibly successful", Facebook is now opening up the code to developers to insert their own live streams on the network.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg also discussed the company's progress in virtual reality, following the launch of the Oculus Rift earlier this year. Oculus is working on new apps to allow two users to play together in a VR game as well as touch controllers to handle objects within VR applications.
As another way to immerse users, he showed a camera system called Facebook Surround 360 that produces footage in 3D. The system includes stitching technology that brings together video from 17 cameras. The design specifications and stitching code will be available on GitHub this summer. Over 20,000 360-degree videos have already been uploaded to Facebook since Facebook 360 was launched last September.
New features unveiled for the social network include Quote Sharing, for users to share quotes they find around the web or in apps with their Facebook friends, and the Save Button, to click and save interesting articles, products or videos the Saved folder on Facebook. The Account Kit will allow developers to add a log-in to their apps based just on a user's phone number or email address.
Facebook also introduced new developer tools for its Free Basics service, which offers zero-rated data for certain websites to mobile user sin developing markets. Developers can use the Free Basics Simulator to see how their service will appear in the product, and Demographic Insights to help understand the types of people using their services.
