Facebook and the Oculus Rift
Every year, Facebook does its due diligence by putting on a conference, called F8 Developer’s Conference, and shares with the world why they’re the top social networking site in the world. 2015 was no different as it was revealed during this year’s F8 how Facebook is taking gaming to the next level by incorporating the Oculus Rift virtual realty headset. They even showed off a demo that involved a player launching a space ship, which was a sight to behold.
During the conference, Facebook CTO Mike Schroepfer made a comment that made it appear like this new Oculus Rift software will be available to use this coming year for Facebook while discussing what this new technology means for the social networking site.
“We are just on the cusp of getting there, the sense of presence … the sense that you are not where you stand,” said Schroepfer while declaring that Facebook’s main goal has always been to connect the world. This is what they hope the Oculus Rift will help them to continue to do. “That’s our hope of what we can do with VR; to connect the world. Bringing people together is the core of our mission.”
The Oculus Rift technology has actually been around since 2012 when it was first developed as a Kickstarter project. Over the past four years, it has yet to fully be incorporated to consumers, even a year after Facebook first mentioned it would be buying the virtual reality company. Despite many questions from the consumer base, Facebook appears to remain committed to the Oculus Rift in hopes to get something out soon.
It was in 2014 when Facebook first announced it had purchased the Oculus Rift at the hefty price of $2 billion. Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg hopes this purchase will allow for them to “create the most social platform ever, and change the way we work, play and communicate.” Creator of the Oculus Rift, Brendan Iribe, was equally excited to make the deal happen, saying
the partnership will allow virtual reality to be ‘defined’ by social interactions and experiences. “It is a transformative and disruptive technology, that enables the world to experience the impossible, and it’s only just the beginning,” said Iribe.
Time will only tell if this new venture for Facebook will be a successful one. They have a reputation of evolving their project in ways no one has dared to do before them. With $2 billion on the line, there is no room for mistakes.
Jeff Ramson, Founder and CEO of ProActive Capital Group (PCG), LLC, has a reputation for innovation.