Facebook’s interest in virtual reality is no longer a secret, especially after the company made a surprising announcement last year when they acquired Oculus VR. That being said, it looks like Facebook’s virtual reality efforts are starting to ramp up. According to a report from Re/code, the social network has recently hired Microsoft engineers to help them with it.
This team appears to be working on virtual reality-related tools, such as tools that allow Facebook users to share 3D videos and virtual reality videos onto their profile. According to the team’s description, “We will be creating new tools and technologies that have in the past often been restricted to a specialist or required many hours of curation and bring that to the entire Facebook community.”
Basically it’s about creating virtual reality content that is easily accessible by the masses, which makes sense because no one wants to adopt virtual reality technology if the content for it is hard to find, right? The Oculus Rift is expected to be launched next year in its consumer form, along with other models from competing companies.
While Facebook seems to be pretty optimistic about virtual reality, companies like HTC have tempered their expectations somewhat. The company had recently stated that they believe VR will probably take off in the next 3-5 years, despite the fact that they too will be rolling out the HTC Vive en masse next year.
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