Facebook in 3D

What’s going on?

            Mark Zuckerberg has done it again. He paid for something that may rake some serious cash down the road. Facebook acquired something called Oculus Virtual Reality ^TM for two billion dollars. Now some of you are asking what makes Oculus such a big deal. Oculus is a previously indie company focused on creating the future of playing video games, namely virtual reality (VR). They have made a product called the Oculus Rift, which is a headset that simulates life-like vision while playing a game (basically a monitor on your face). This product is still in development and not available to the public. Now, Mark has stated that he sees VR as the future of social media and thus purchased the company. This has caused an uproar on internet (which I will elaborate on later). This article also mentions the future of VR predicted in books years ago, so you may want to read them.

I have an opinion?

            Yes! But first, let’s talk about the situation. Oculus VR is an indie company that has its roots in Kickstarter, a website that allows individuals and groups to start a project through crowd-funding. Kickstarter has an array of many projects ranging from books to video games. Oculus VR started here and raised a whopping 2.4 million dollars through this crowd-funding. Now, the owner of the Oculus VR, Palmer Luckey, stated that he would never sell out to any big companies. However, with two billion dollars waving in his face(book), how could he resist? Palmer said he would put the money solely to work on the project. Still, selling out did not make the internet very happy. Many people are unhappy that they put money toward something they believed in, but ended up getting taken away from them. I can kind of understand them, but still, when people go asking for money back and some money from Facebook, that’s where I stop. Firstly, Kickstarter is not an investment, it is more of a donation. You are donating to someone so that they will deliver on a product; however, that someone is not required to give you anything. While sometimes people give rewards to backers, there are cases where someone takes the money and runs. Funny thing is that this is completely legal. So I don’t understand why people want their money back because they are not entitled to anything.

The general internet populous is not the only responder. Notch, the ever benevolent creator of Minecraft and deity-like being in the gaming world, was stated that he will no longer be adding support for the Oculus Rift to Minecraft because as he states, “Facebook creeps me out.” While this is understandable, he could have gone about rejecting the notion of the acquisition in a better way.

Augmented Reality would be convenient 

*huff… puff* So what do I think? Well personally I believe that VR is the future gaming. However, I do not see VR as a social media giant. I do see augmented reality as much more viable means of social interaction through technology (see AR pictures to right to understand a bit more). While VR might not be the best solution for social media, the main draw of the acquisition is the money involved. Two billion dollars is not a laughing matter. In fact, this might be the best outcome for Oculus VR. The overwhelming amount of money would allow for a faster production and research speed in the VR field. The only foreseeable problems are Facebook using Oculus Rift as an advertising tool and product placement.

Best part of all of this, it makes no sense, but the most sense for Facebook. Facebook has a horrible track record with hardware. I am totally sure we all remember the Facebook cell phone right?... probably not. In fact, the phone did so poorly that within a short amount of time the phone started selling for a couple of dollars. Facebook also just recently acquired Whatsapp for somewhere within 17 billion dollars (correct me if I am wrong). So it makes no sense that Mark would try for hardware again right after spending a lot of money. But Mark has a point. Work in VR is work in AR (essentially) and will be the future of social interactions. The acquisition of Oculus VR only allows Facebook to be the first in this field. In the long run, Facebook might be the leader in technological advancements, or they might be ahead of their time.

Looks comfortable right?

           So what do you think? Was Mark in the right? Or was Palmer in the wrong? Should the internet stop crying? Should Notch assert his power in a better way? Is VR the future? I would love to hear what you guys think.



Link to the article HERE!
Other article you might want to read - 
Computer & Videogames dot com
Eurogamer
IGN
Kotaku (1)
Kotaku (2)
Joystiq

*Note - some swearing, but still a great way to understand the situation