Amazon Video is looking for a senior software development manager for virtual reality, marking the retailer's step into the platform.
Seeing as how more and more companies such as Netflix are getting into the technology, this move is pretty much expected, and perhaps it could be considered as a necessity as well if Amazon wants to keep up in the heated competition.
The job posting was spotted on Glassdoor, and according to the description, Amazon needs a talented developer to lead its virtual reality team that will be "responsible for building the Virtual Reality experience within Amazon Video."
UploadVR first chanced on the ad, suggesting that it won't be a single hire.
In Amazon's words, "entertainment is evolving rapidly," and its future will go beyond 2D viewing. It continues to say that this venture will include an "ingestion and playback platform for Virtual Reality experiences." That could mean that the team will develop something that'll be far more than watching television in a virtual reality space like the case with the Netflix app for the Samsung Gear VR. In other words, the company is aiming for immersive content similar to the 360-degree videos that YouTube offers.
Amazon's efforts in the virtual and augmented reality game are no secret. It has already even created a nifty landing page for Amazon UK. With the new hiring, it appears that the retailer is up and about in widening its reach.
In related news, Netflix intends to make considerable progress in virtual reality as VP of Product Innovation of the company Chris Jaffe suggests, possibly targeting 360-degree movies in the foreseeable future.
"Right now, with virtual reality, we think virtual reality has a great place in gaming, and we've very interested in where it could go in storytelling," he told Trusted Reviews in an interview a few weeks ago.
Sure, virtual reality is rapidly advancing, with a ton of developers here and there pushing for remarkable experiences. However, it could take a while for Amazon to get things off the ground considering the cost and work involved in making 360-degree VR content, not to mention that it's relatively late to arrive on the scene.
