Facebook's Oculus VR was apparently not acquired so that we could play Farmville in immersive virtual reality.
The company has confirmed that it hopes to bring social media to the world of VR, allowing users to share fully immersive content with their friends.
Facebook Chief Product Officer Chris Cox answered questions at the Code/Media conference last night, saying that "virtual reality is pretty cool; we're working on apps for VR," in response to being asked what "the one thing you haven't accomplished yet that you'd really like to figure out" was.
According to Cox, virtual reality will be an extension of the kind of experience that users already enjoy on Facebook.
"You're just sending a photo, you're sending a video, you're sending a piece of text, you're sending an idea, you're sending a thought. [With VR], there's a version of the world where you're sending a fuller, immersive picture of what you're doing," said Cox.
That is to say that when a friend of yours shares a video of their hot air balloon ride in Hawaii, you could experience an immersive, 3D version of the ride through virtual reality.
Facebook bought Oculus VR in March of 2014 for a whopping $2 billion in an acquisition that surprised many. While the company has still only released consumer products through other companies such as Samsung, it's likely only a matter of time before Oculus announces a consumer version of its virtual reality headset. Facebook, it seems, is now at a point where it is ready to make good on its $2 billion investment.
No real details about the virtual reality version of Facebook have been released yet, except for the fact that the company is working on it. Cox did, however, continue on to say that Facebook VR probably wouldn't be released for a while.
Facebook won't be the first large tech company to enter the virtual reality market. Google entered the market through concepts such as Google Cardboard, which allows users to mount their smartphone in front of their face as a virtual reality headset.
While Facebook does own Oculus VR, the team at Oculus says that Facebook is an extremely hands-off owner. Because of this, it is unsure as to whether Facebook will become an integral part of the Oculus user experience once Oculus does finally release a consumer product. There is a chance that Facebook will start taking a more hands-on approach in the future.
