Facebook and virtual reality, at first glance, might seem like pieces of a puzzle that don't exactly fit in the social network's future. Facebook wrapped up its annual F8 conference on Thursday, the company's chief technical officer, Mike Schroepfer, explained to developers why the company snapped up the virtual reality startup Oculus last year for $2 billion.
reality, at first glance, might seem like pieces of a puzzle that don't
exactly fit in the social network's future.
Facebook's chief technology officer Mike Schroepfer hinted at this at the F8 Developer Conference in San Francisco, tech site Mashable reported. "Why is Virtual Reality going to work now, when it didn't work in the '80s and '90s? Each one of these core tracks of technology had to hit a minimum core viability...to get to that sense of presence to sense that you're truly there," Mashable quoted Schroepfer as saying. According to Mashable, Schroepfer also said the prospect of Virtual Reality gaming could come "this year," and that people may soon play games in Virtual Reality on "something" shipped by Oculus.
But Mashable also quoted a Facebook spokesperson as saying this was not intended as an announcement of availability for Oculus Rift's consumer version. "You're going to be able to do it in something shipped by Oculus. This is going to be incredible," he said. Schroepfer also showed a demo for the game EVE: Valkyrie, where users are in the cockpit of a spaceship. Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Oculus Virtual Reality told mashable, when asked if Oculus Rift would be for sale this year: "Nah. When we are ready to announce consumer, we will shout it from the mountaintops." Oculus chief scientist Michael Abrash said during the keynote that Virtual Reality done right "truly is reality, as far as the observer is concerned." But he added Virtual Reality today "is good enough to create experiences, but just barely." He also said consumer-ready Virtual Reality headsets could take "a year or two" before they are ready for realistic Virtual Reality experiences.
Facebook's chief technology officer Mike Schroepfer hinted at this at the F8 Developer Conference in San Francisco, tech site Mashable reported. "Why is Virtual Reality going to work now, when it didn't work in the '80s and '90s? Each one of these core tracks of technology had to hit a minimum core viability...to get to that sense of presence to sense that you're truly there," Mashable quoted Schroepfer as saying. According to Mashable, Schroepfer also said the prospect of Virtual Reality gaming could come "this year," and that people may soon play games in Virtual Reality on "something" shipped by Oculus.
But Mashable also quoted a Facebook spokesperson as saying this was not intended as an announcement of availability for Oculus Rift's consumer version. "You're going to be able to do it in something shipped by Oculus. This is going to be incredible," he said. Schroepfer also showed a demo for the game EVE: Valkyrie, where users are in the cockpit of a spaceship. Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Oculus Virtual Reality told mashable, when asked if Oculus Rift would be for sale this year: "Nah. When we are ready to announce consumer, we will shout it from the mountaintops." Oculus chief scientist Michael Abrash said during the keynote that Virtual Reality done right "truly is reality, as far as the observer is concerned." But he added Virtual Reality today "is good enough to create experiences, but just barely." He also said consumer-ready Virtual Reality headsets could take "a year or two" before they are ready for realistic Virtual Reality experiences.
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