After Facebook and Oculus VR announced the social media giant would be acquiring the Virtual Reality Kickstarter Start up for a massive $2 Billion, the internet nearly exploded. Many people in the games industry were shocked and puzzled by this odd purchase by Facebook as Oculus VR seemed like one of the most unlikely companies to take under the Facebook umbrella as opposed the other massive get with the recent purchase of the mobile messanger application WhatsApp.
On the surface Facebook has no need for a Virtual Reality headset but it and Oculus VR looked past the surface and think that Oculus Rift will become the next big thing in computing after the personal computer, the internet and of course the cell phone.
“Mobile is the platform of today, and now we’re also getting ready for the platforms of tomorrow,” said Facebook founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg. “Oculus has the chance to create the most social platform ever, and change the way we work, play and communicate.”
Zuckerberg things Oculus will become the next massive technology hit that will allow the general public to connect, experience and discover. Some examples named on the investor call of the future applications were having a conversation face to face without being in the same room, watching a basketball game court side and experiencing a remote island from your living room. Virtual Reality can become the a sci-fi reality.
And what about Oculus? Well, since the company will be able to work independently from Facebook, the games development will continue and become stronger than ever. Facebook will open doors for the company that it never knew existed – this is the big win gamers look at as a big betrayal or departure from the indie darling the Oculus Rift was just a couple of years ago.
“We are excited to work with Mark and the Facebook team to deliver the very best virtual reality platform in the world,” said Brendan Iribe, co-founder and CEO of Oculus VR. “We believe virtual reality will be heavily defined by social experiences that connect people in magical, new ways. It is a transformative and disruptive technology, that enables the world to experience the impossible, and it’s only just the beginning.”
In short, Facebook is giving Oculus Rift the opportunity to become more than a niche gaming device and truly revolutionize, or at least the possibility, how we play games and interact with each other. I am not sure if we will now have boardroom meetings wearing VR headsets but I sure as hell think that we will play games, experience sports or watch movies in a way we never thought possible.
I mean, we all saw Back to the Future right?
