People saying it could of been someone else. Please list the company and why, As I have struggled to think of one. Apple and Samsung have no intrest in VR. Sony have made there own, Ms are making there own, Nintendo do not have 2bil spare to invest in it. Valve are making there own. Running outta Hardware manufactures here with money to burn. Intel maybe not really sure why they would but who knows. You all might think there is some other suger daddy out there but the reality is far different than one might think. Personally think it we will now see a consumer release for a product that has always been a bit vaporware as far as I was concerned, I never personally expected a consumer launch of OR. There has been very little movement since the orginal Kickstarter fund. People have said in other threads it would launch but theres been little to no real reason behind there words. Facebook at least have the cash to get the product to a launch of some discription.
I'm highly sceptical as I think Mark Zuckerberg is a highly unlikeable individual, but I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt... for now.
Son of a b*... I can't believe Facesh*t bought OR. I hope they won't play tons of adverts through this (like in cinema, before you play Star Citizen, you will have to watch half an hour of Farmville adverts Only good thing I could see is if they really gonna push development and get it out faster for lower price. Or we gonna end up playing sugar crush on OR
Apple and Samsung both have an interest in VR if it can make them cash. Sony and M$ would both have liked to buy OR for their R&D. You say Nintendo don't have 2Bn to spare? Nintendo have enough money stored up to sit in a $250m deficit every year til 2052 - do the research. You've also said that there is very little movement? This is literally the opposite of what is true? Since the original kickstarter, industry geniuses like John Carmack have joined the company and on the back of that we've had Crystal Cove, and DK2 which is shipping this month, plus whatever they have behind closed doors that they aren't showing yet. Latency is under 25ms, and the optics are massively upgraded. We are likely 6 months to a year off CV1. Your comment was painful reading.
Buying a company is often cheaper and less hassle especially with talent OR was naturally pulling or that dirty word, patents. LG already owns its own OS yet it didn't stop them buying Palm to stick on their TV's. Another example is blackberry/RIM buying QNX despite having their own offerings. If OR was practically ready then I don't think any of the 3 console makers would hesitate jumping on the tech to get that leg up. Currently as mentioned, it still had vapourware potential and if anything facebook has went early and possibly stopped them waiting till the product was in a more finished state. Valve could easily design their own or they could look to lock OR into an open source environment. If anything valve is building something exciting, not just a "console" but an entire eco system atm. OR would bring them publicity in my eyes, it would be a neat little package. Apple have long been rumored to want in the console market and seem to be making strides in home automation. Why not add VR to their arsenal and use it as another way to push content from their market? Again they're not beyond patient whoring which I'm sure OR have a few. If OR worked then this could of been Nintendo's savior. The device to finally lift them from the "kiddie" market. Nuff said on why they should have done it and lets not forget Google. While they're still arguably a software company they probably would of been the most creative with OR never mind their unlimited war chest and general clout. As for Samsung, it mightn't fit into their strategy but I could still see them trying to sell it bundled with their TV's or tablets. Again in my mind all those companies had more reason to deal with OR than facebook and would bring more to the company in more ways than a glorified sugar daddy. I don't see what's in it for facebook and that makes me nervous. I don't get the point about facebook being able to bring publicity. The tech alone was news, facebook didn't need to buy the tech for people to spread the word on it or via any other social media. What marketing are they going to bring beyond what was already there? A bigger budget for it? The news of a buy out would of been enough make local headlines without even then need to sell. In my eyes publicity is not something theyre short of nor something facebook really brings. Pliqu3011 I do think facebook was the biggest offer, if more than one was one the table and money talks. I really can't see any reason to sell to them apart for that reason. I do ask, what new audience? Anyone on facebook is reachable regardless if facebook bough OR or not. For something that is still a prototype its doing fairly well reaching people even if they wouldn't buy it normally. Heck my parents had heard about this due to that crowdfunding. Ultimately they need to convince gamers, tech journalists etc that it works and works well. The success of VR will easily sell itself from there to the audience outside the norm for such a product due to its success in its target audience. All facebook has done has made people aware that something with promise is looking shaky now cause facebook is a social network that does advertising, not a powerhouse in developing and promoting new technologies. Bad publicity is still publicity? who knows? What it looks like tho is a big company has torpedoed another small one which had promise with all the developers jumping ship and the history of mergers. Most don't turn out bad but everyone always thinks of the ones where the brand was never heard of again.
Lol. That was exactly what I thought. Reading on my phone... Will read later. Rollo: I don't need to provide another company. Other companies exist mate. And at this point in Oculus's road to nowhere, the financial support of a big company with an interest not in R&D but actually releasing a product is where it needs to be. All one company had to do was have a little vision to generate some cash off this That is the end of the story. I'm pro Facebook backing oculus but I am a bit of a troglodyte with social media, so I'll always pine for a backer outside of this sphere. Let's be fair here. In the last two days, everyone I know now knows about oculus rift. Hell BBC radio 4's thought for the day this very morning was focused on it. That is what is good for this now attainable and visually perceivable (meant not in the figurative sense) technology.
Just cause 1 big shot dev and a few nice stories does not make a product Launch. OR I was always sceptical they would of been able to get the product to launch in multiple different countries. Facebooks backing should guarentee the product will launch as they have everything OR lacked in that department. ( actual distribution already in place world wide, money to get the screens it actually needs instead of waiting on scraps. That will also help reduce the price I'd imagine to be more mass market friendly) Don't personally like Facebook but think this is good for all parties concerned. Kickstarters going emo is funny though they did not buy the company when they brought it from there. Last I checked OR had fulfilled all its kickstarter dev kits.
No. It doesn't make a product launch. But, last week, did your average human know about Oculus Rift? I have friends who are seriously into gaming who had never heard of it because of consoles for instance. They play every major release, no matter what, to completion. Now, even if they think Sony were first, they know Oculus Rift. In the world of press releases, getting your product in to the public domain at the top of all the media outlets is very important; half the battle is done now. Could any company have made the splash this has? Only the other big ones we don't want to see involved... I.e. the console manufacturers and possibly EA, Ubisoft or other large media companies. But this still eclipsed what they would have achieved for VR - I don't think you'd see this on the front page of the BBC if acquired by a games publisher. And the best thing about Facebook taking on Oculus Rift? They are platform agnostic as far as we are aware: I don't think it'll be on all platforms but at least it has a fighting chance now. I think deep down people knew something like this had to happen. Either someone at the top of Oculus had to man/woman up and take a genuine risk with their own cash, assets and livelihood or what has happened now. It could only have been a slow burner while other companies weren't making their own. Anyway I appreciate we aren't really arguing about this. I think we're on the same page?
Think we both just wanted to see the product actually launch and not be vaporware it has looked like these passed few years.
Truth be told, I think it's far more positive than the media are letting on, when it comes to the Facebook acquisition. The nerd inside me of course cries out "But why couldn't it have been Valve / Microsoft / EA / someone else in the gaming arena?!" of course - but when you think about it objectively, it makes a great deal of sense: Facebook have three things behind them that serve to benefit the Oculus rift. First - capital. Although they're not the largest company on the planet, they're still right up there: the ability for Oculus to breathe a little easier when it comes to cash flow will help them concentrate on perfecting and refining the product. Second, there's brand ubiquity. As much as I'd love to say otherwise, it's a simple fact that if you compare "Facebook have bought a new company that sells VR" to "EA / Valve have bought a new company that sells VR", the former is sure to turn more heads - purely because it opens up to a wider base of users. But most importantly - Facebook have deep connections through a huge number of industries and organisations. Not just Gaming - but Fast Moving Consumer Goods, Advertising, Mobile, and far more. With an investor / new owner with these connections, we've got far more of a chance of seeing the exciting prospect of Oculus VR being used for more than just gaming, or even PC use - imagine the possibility of using these devices as a medical professional to explore 3D renders straight from an FMRI unit? Or being able to use them in libraries and museums to virtually explore the International space station... or even being able to pop on a headset in a car dealership and know what it will feel like to sit in the car you're buying, with all the options you selected in place... switching out / choosing your configuration on the fly... All in all, I really don't believe the acquisition will be too negative to Oculus - if anything, it just opens up more doors for some of the unexpected applications of VR that we might not have seen so swifly / if at all.
Lets hope they don't push it to get it out before it is really ready, when the money men get involved they are more invlined to look at short term returns before anything else. Look how many games are released bugged to hell and needing patches almost immediately. And I am certainly with you on the ads.
Doesn't allow for your own headphones and I'm not sure how that whole mirror thing will work on people with astigmatism (like me) or with glasses in general.
That looks incredibly interesting. Unfortunately I am a glasses wearer, but short sighted so this shouldn't be a problem. I do wonder how the image compares to a typical display though; the mirroring idea is intriguing.
I made a meeting between these guys and Vc team happen but it did not work out due to the screen size. Its "ok" and vivid, but the retina display is not pronounced enough for you to go oh wow this is a retina display and forget about high quality LCD panels and big FOV/ After trying this, I am completely one million per-cent behind oculus. Also for ref, direct to mind HD visual image presentation in still format is possible, I don't know about animations. Sound is also able to be presented directly to the brain "by passing" the ear drum system completely via the nervous system to the cochlea via the NSA patent arrested "digital" Nurophone technology. This is somewhat impressive technology as any deaf person alive today does have options but its not officially on any road map due to intellectual property issues. I ordered the Oculus Rift DK2 today and also had enough time since the FB purchase to consider a number of points. I think the first point to mention is that the FB purchase believe it or not is a GOOD THING, its a hugely good thing beyond even our current understanding and students of social studies and Business will reference it in 10 , 25, 100 years to come. It is the raw ground. You will be able to enjoy virtually any one of several environments and experiences. Education to Star fighter mastery, to Wing Chun / JKD lesions with a virtual Bruce. In 5 to 10 years the bio wall of interaction will be played with, pleasure / pain / speed / g force / cold / hot, all just impulses. Things are going to change, some of them will not be for the best, no body can say the world is perfect but at least in our life times we will see the dawn of an idealised gaming environment. Face book will require you to log in to use VR, if you don't like it there will be alternatives. Remember.. Oculus is nothing, Its day zero, DK2 is late after noon in day 0, we are at the start of technologies ability to impress on us properly. I ask for total emersion video gaming and the ability to completely convince my senses in the gaming setting of the moment, nothing less. Top dollar is available to the company that provides it, I am of the generation of useful information and data consumption but the there are others. To stand in the way of the Facebook purchase of OR is fool hardy, nothing in the last 100 years of humanity's history has illustrated any form of national or sovereign purity, its not going to start with a piece of plastic that allows you to look into a virtual world "unlicensed".
It sounds like your getting yourself ready to be a battery a la The Matrix. Also, are you sure you want a full sensory experience with gaming? I mean have you played The Stick of Truth? You'd quite quickly regret being able to smell after a Dragonshout.
Michael Abrash Joins Oculus As Chief Scientist. http://www.oculusvr.com/blog/introducing-michael-abrash-oculus-chief-scientist/
So anyone ordering dev2? Is there a point or should we rather wait - this year's summer rumor sounds appealing...
