About a year ago, Facebook invested $2 billion in Oculus, a virtual reality headset firm and experts were sure that the social media giant is up to something big. In a recent development, Facebook has announced that it will be developing specific apps for virtual reality. At Recode’s Code Media conference in Dana Point, Mr. Cox, product manager at Facebook revealed Facebook’s exciting plans about virtual reality apps.
Cox didn’t mention the time frame of the launch of these apps but claimed that it could be ‘soon’. About the nature of apps he said that it will be like sharing your experiences in reality. He termed it as stepping into other people’s reality. He said people will be sharing their reality with other people’s reality. “You’ll do it. Beyoncé will do it,” he told in his interview. He also mentioned that looking into a virtual reality now through these apps will be like looking into the future.
Cox told Re/code’s senior editor Peter Kafka about some apps that Facebook is currently working on. One of the apps he mentioned is about piloting an aircraft; the other app Facebook is working on will be able to take you to Mongolian yurt. However, He mentioned that we are a long way from a time when everyone will have virtual reality sets and will be sharing experience rather than simple text, photo or video.
The consumer version of the Rift -Crescent Bay- is also many months away from reaching to public. This version was unveiled in September and it has improved features than its predecessor. It has back tracking LEDs, practically capable of 360 degree tracking. Its refresh rate has also been increased and unlike the previous version, this comes with integrated headphones. These features show a potential for virtual reality app development and Facebook will soon be tapping into this billion dollar space.