So if you’ve read any social media or news sites today, you are no doubt aware that Facebook just bought Oculus VR, the company that makes the Oculus Rift, for two billion dollars, and the internet is up in arms about it.
So when my mum called this morning and asked me “What’s this octopus thing that Facebook bought and made all the geeks angry?” I realised that many who are outside the world of gaming and geeky gadgetry might not know exactly what the Oculus Rift is, and why it’s such a big deal.
So we thought we’d do a little public service and share a couple of videos that will explain in detail just what the oculus rift is, and what it does.
Here’s a REALLY LONG video explaining the Oculus Rift and demonstrating its capabilities playing Team Fortess 2:
Oculus VR started out in 2012 with a kickstarter campaign that went totally viral and exceeded all expectations. The idea was to create a real, proper, and actually GOOD virtual reality interface, just like we were promised in the 90s (but failed spectacularly), and have an indie company with gamer’s interests at heart develop it.
So why are “the geeks angry” as my mum so eloquently put it? Well the indie nature of the device was a big appeal, and it seemed to everyone involved, whether they were financial backers or just fans, that the company was doing all the right things to make this the ultimate gaming device. With the acquisition by Facebook, now fears have emerged that Facebook will impose their will upon the development of the device, and change the mission goals from gaming and VR to some sort of social media integration, and basically ruin the original mission of the device.
Here’s a video from Rev3 that cuts explains things around the acquisition and cuts through the doom and gloom a little:
Whichever side of the fence you’re on over these developments with the Oculus Rift, there’s no doubt there’s going to be interesting things ahead with this and the development of VR in general in the near future.