3 ms·

> The reaction by the community is completely irrational. I think you are missing the big picture because you are not realizing the potential of this technolog

> The reaction by the community is completely irrational. I think you are missing the big picture because you are not realizing the potential of this technology (Mark probably has, that's why he bought Oculus). VR will absolutely change the way we interact with each other in the future. This is not about gaming at all. This is about people wearing VR headsets (which will probably look like sunglasses) in everyday situations (augmented reality). Oculus is the leader in this area and Facebook is in control now. For many people a possible utopia has turned into a dystopia over night.

panacea 13y ago
And I think you're wearing virtual-virtual goggles. "VR will absolutely change the way we interact with each other in the future." Probably... but OR was solving hardware/society challenges, and those challenges can't be solved by handing the reins to the masters of the fucked-up dystopia that is Facebook.
- panacea 13y ago
  I should probably qualify my statement.... actually no. Social is me, my family and my friends! Fuck this Zuck dude's power trip.
AUmrysh 13y ago
Oculus may be the leader, but they're certainly not the only game in town. Jeri Ellsworth (Technical Illusions) with the CastAR, Sony has one, GameFace Labs, Durovis, etc. are all competitors. Even if Oculus is the best thing out there, their advances will quickly spread to the community. With the competition we're seeing in the area, it's going to be very crowded, I don't think Oculus being bought by Facebook is bad for consumers. It could be bad for Oculus, but it's not like Facebook is against open source (just look at their github), so I don't think we need to worry about them trying to squirrel away every advancement they make behind a patent or anything.
marknutter 13y ago
I'm pretty sure everybody who's even remotely interested in VR tech understands the potential it has to change the way we communicate and interact with us. But that's certainly not the only application, and I highly doubt Facebook will pursue that angle to the detriment of every other possibly application for VR, including gaming. If I were Mark, I would have bought Oculus, too. Not because it fits well with Facebook the product, but because VR is going to be amazing. The only thing I would have done differently than Mark is buy Oculus earlier.
- leoc 13y ago
  One thing is that the Rift really isn't going to match well with Facebook the highly-mass-market product for a long time. I think the DK1's modest GPU demands have given people a misleading impression of what CV1 will actually cost to run. If Oculus takes the high road and ships a 2560×1440@90Hz CV1 before the end of 2014 then the total buy-in cost at launch could be $800-$900 even for most people who already have their own gaming PC handy: you'd need a powerful and power-hungry GPU, and no currently-existing SLI/Crossfire setup is going to cut it either. With such uncertain prospects for going it alone it seems clear why Oculus would want to be bought by Facebook; like a typical FB acquisition, what's less clear is why FB would want to buy Oculus, since the Rift will have comparatively few owners at first even if all goes well. Three possibilities: 1) Zuckerberg is worried that Oculus and all the other VR efforts could fail, leaving FB without a Next Big Thing to evolve into in future years as VR becomes affordable 2) Zuckerberg is worried that Oculus could fail while Project Morpheus succeeds, leaving VR a failure on the PC but successful on consoles. Sony would love to have its own hit social network, or to make Facebook grovel to gain access to the PS4 platform; Facebook would not enjoy it so much 3) Zuckerberg is another starry-eyed Oculus-loving geek, but unlike all the others he has the spare change to make sure that the VR dream stays alive My hunch is that it's some combination of all three. Other people are worried about FB wanting to exert proprietary control over the Rift "platform"; I'm less worried about that. If the Rift is a hit on the PC it will have competitors, which will put manners on Facebook and/or just give people somewhere else to go. If Oculus had gone it alone and failed, likely there would be no successful competitors for several years either, and FB logins would be the least of our concerns.
rm999 13y ago
Honestly, I think you're the one missing the bigger picture. Look forward a few years; do you really think oculus is going to be the only player in VR? There are already several companies seriously working on VR, and many more will follow soon. Oculus is ahead of a new entrant in the industry by at most ~1-2 years, but probably less because they've done a lot of the hard work that can copied quickly. Virtual reality goggles/glasses/whatever will probably be a lot like computer monitors: dumb, commodity devices that you can shop for at best buy. Saying that facebook is in control of VR is misunderstanding the situation - it would be like saying google is in control of mobile phones. Facebook won't be in control of VR, they're just ahead of the curve a little so they can help define what VR will be (instead of reacting to what it will become, like they did with mobile). edit: Oh yeah, I forgot to make my main point: with facebook's resources, the entire field of VR will be pushed ahead by at least a few months. Oculus likely has the "right" vision of how to move forward with VR but didn't have the resources to fully execute it. The innovation that will funded by facebook will help the rift, which will "inspire" competitors.

panacea 13y ago

And I think you're wearing virtual-virtual goggles. "VR will absolutely change the way we interact with each other in the future." Probably... but OR was solving hardware/society challenges, and those challenges can't be solved by handing the reins to the masters of the fucked-up dystopia that is Facebook.

panacea 13y ago
I should probably qualify my statement.... actually no. Social is me, my family and my friends! Fuck this Zuck dude's power trip.

AUmrysh 13y ago

Oculus may be the leader, but they're certainly not the only game in town. Jeri Ellsworth (Technical Illusions) with the CastAR, Sony has one, GameFace Labs, Durovis, etc. are all competitors. Even if Oculus is the best thing out there, their advances will quickly spread to the community. With the competition we're seeing in the area, it's going to be very crowded, I don't think Oculus being bought by Facebook is bad for consumers. It could be bad for Oculus, but it's not like Facebook is against open source (just look at their github), so I don't think we need to worry about them trying to squirrel away every advancement they make behind a patent or anything.

marknutter 13y ago

I'm pretty sure everybody who's even remotely interested in VR tech understands the potential it has to change the way we communicate and interact with us. But that's certainly not the only application, and I highly doubt Facebook will pursue that angle to the detriment of every other possibly application for VR, including gaming. If I were Mark, I would have bought Oculus, too. Not because it fits well with Facebook the product, but because VR is going to be amazing. The only thing I would have done differently than Mark is buy Oculus earlier.

leoc 13y ago
One thing is that the Rift really isn't going to match well with Facebook the highly-mass-market product for a long time. I think the DK1's modest GPU demands have given people a misleading impression of what CV1 will actually cost to run. If Oculus takes the high road and ships a 2560×1440@90Hz CV1 before the end of 2014 then the total buy-in cost at launch could be $800-$900 even for most people who already have their own gaming PC handy: you'd need a powerful and power-hungry GPU, and no currently-existing SLI/Crossfire setup is going to cut it either. With such uncertain prospects for going it alone it seems clear why Oculus would want to be bought by Facebook; like a typical FB acquisition, what's less clear is why FB would want to buy Oculus, since the Rift will have comparatively few owners at first even if all goes well. Three possibilities: 1) Zuckerberg is worried that Oculus and all the other VR efforts could fail, leaving FB without a Next Big Thing to evolve into in future years as VR becomes affordable 2) Zuckerberg is worried that Oculus could fail while Project Morpheus succeeds, leaving VR a failure on the PC but successful on consoles. Sony would love to have its own hit social network, or to make Facebook grovel to gain access to the PS4 platform; Facebook would not enjoy it so much 3) Zuckerberg is another starry-eyed Oculus-loving geek, but unlike all the others he has the spare change to make sure that the VR dream stays alive My hunch is that it's some combination of all three. Other people are worried about FB wanting to exert proprietary control over the Rift "platform"; I'm less worried about that. If the Rift is a hit on the PC it will have competitors, which will put manners on Facebook and/or just give people somewhere else to go. If Oculus had gone it alone and failed, likely there would be no successful competitors for several years either, and FB logins would be the least of our concerns.

rm999 13y ago

Honestly, I think you're the one missing the bigger picture. Look forward a few years; do you really think oculus is going to be the only player in VR? There are already several companies seriously working on VR, and many more will follow soon. Oculus is ahead of a new entrant in the industry by at most ~1-2 years, but probably less because they've done a lot of the hard work that can copied quickly. Virtual reality goggles/glasses/whatever will probably be a lot like computer monitors: dumb, commodity devices that you can shop for at best buy. Saying that facebook is in control of VR is misunderstanding the situation - it would be like saying google is in control of mobile phones. Facebook won't be in control of VR, they're just ahead of the curve a little so they can help define what VR will be (instead of reacting to what it will become, like they did with mobile). edit: Oh yeah, I forgot to make my main point: with facebook's resources, the entire field of VR will be pushed ahead by at least a few months. Oculus likely has the "right" vision of how to move forward with VR but didn't have the resources to fully execute it. The innovation that will funded by facebook will help the rift, which will "inspire" competitors.