Facebook's focus on the future of mixed reality is steadily ramping up. In the seven years since the social media company acquired virtual reality kickstart Oculus, Facebook's plans for VR have only gotten grander.
In order to satisfy their vision, Facebook's number of employees dedicated to mixed reality advancements has skyrocketed. In a report by The Information, it was revealed that the company's Reality Labs division makes up a fifth of the total headcount.
Why is Facebook investing so much in VR?
Virtual reality has evolved a lot since Oculus’ acquisition. Starting as wired headsets that require beefy PCs to run, Facebook's Oculus Quest hardware has made VR more affordable and accessible than ever. As the medium continues to become more mainstream, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg believes it’ll become the future of computing.
“I think it really makes sense for us to invest deeply to help shape what I think is going to be the next major computing platform, this combination of augmented and virtual reality, to make sure that it develops in this way that is fundamentally about people being present with each other and coming together,” Zuckerberg told The information. (via The Verge.)
What’s next for Zuckerberg’s VR future?
Facebook is continuing the journey that they’ve been on for the past few years. Following prior success, two generations of Oculus Quest headsets are currently in active development. Additionally, there are plans to explore augmented reality glasses.
Much like Apple’s upcoming mixed reality headset, the social media platform will attempt to release fully usable AR tech in the near future. In development as Project Aria, the first generation device is expected to launch this year.
Image By: Lux Interaction