Facebook is a company that wants to change the way folks socialize on the Internet, so it should come as no surprise to see the social network creating virtual reality apps, especially since it is the owner of the Oculus Rift.
Back in 2014, Facebook made a huge bet when it acquired Oculus VR for a whopping $2 billion, a move no one saw coming. $400 million in cash and 23.1 million in Facebook stock eventually completed the deal.
Mark Zuckerberg at the time made it clear where he wants Facebook to be in the next 10 years, and these VR capable apps are the beginning of his dream and the main reason for dropping $2 billion on Oculus VR.
In a recent interview, Chris Cox, chief product officer at Facebook, confirmed the company is working on virtual reality apps. With these apps, users will be able to create their own virtual content, though it is not yet certain what these contents will be able to do.
“Virtual reality is pretty cool,” Cox said, according to Re/code. “We’re working on apps for VR….You realize, when you’re in [virtual reality], that you’re looking at the future, and it’s going to be awesome. When you’re in Facebook, you’re just sending around these bits of experience — a photo, a video, a thought,”
The social network is targeting publishers and is currently in discussion with several companies to allow Facebook to hosts their content directly on the website. Cox made it evident that these new partnerships will take time to materialize since what the social network is doing is the beginning of a grander plan.
He went on to state that the mobile reading experience is not pleasant, and Facebook is out to make significant changes in that department. So, he could be suggesting that this new venture will have an enormous role to play in the mobile space, but for that to happen, the Oculus Rift device would have to shrink in size.
For the moment, virtual reality is a new medium, and it will no doubt take time to get accepted by the masses.
Source: [Re/Code]
