6 ms·

When a billionaire nerd that is "one of us" buys the VR company John Carmack is the CTO of and backs it with all the resources at his disposal I get excited. Wh

by staunch 13y ago

When a billionaire nerd that is "one of us" buys the VR company John Carmack is the CTO of and backs it with all the resources at his disposal I get excited. When he reunites two fathers of 3D game programming and the makers of the Quake engine I start to freak out. On the upside we have an unlimited budget to make VR real and on the downside the team can always start again with VC money if necessary.

dmunoz 13y ago
Saying that Oculus is John Carmack's VR company is unfavourable to those who actually brought Oculus about. Carmack was hired fairly late in Oculus' history. Edit: You edited it now to say 'John Carmack & Co's VR company' which still doesn't make much sense. Carmack joined Oculus as a CTO almost exactly a year after Oculus had its successful Kickstarter campaign.
- staunch 13y ago
  You don't know the history, clearly. Carmack and Luckey were working together before the concept of Occulus as a company existed at all. The first prototype went from Luckey's desk to Carmack's desk. Carmack endorsed the Kickstarter campaign publicly and created Doom 3 BFG for it. He setup a booth at E3 to demo it. Also, all I really meant to say was "the company Carmack works at" in a shorter way. I have massive respect for Palmer Luckey.
  - AdamFernandez 13y ago
    There seems to be very little talk of Palmer Luckey here. He started this whole thing, and all anyone can talk about is Carmack. I'm not trying to disparage John Carmack, as that would be difficult considering his awesome achievements. And he certainly brings with him expertise and reputation advantages. I just hope more people understand where this all originated.
    - eigenvalue 13y ago
      If this works out like I think it will, history will give plenty of credit to Palmer Luckey.
    - cma 13y ago
      Carmack wrote the lens distortion shaders and found a software hack in the gyros/accelerometers to get it running at a higher hz and did his own filtering of the raw data from the sensors based on his experience building autostabilizing rocket ships. The devkit ended up using better sensors etc. , but both Luckey and Carmack were important in making the initial unit that was in the E3 demo that helped build confidence for the kickstarter.
  - tod222 13y ago
    Yes, Carmack's demo was a priceless endorsement that legitimized Oculus. An industry legend demoing something spearheaded by someone nobody had heard of. How do you think it was reported? E3 2012: John Carmack’s VR headset [1] John Carmack is making a virtual reality headset, $500 kits available soon, video interview inside [2] E3 2012: John Carmack unveils virtual reality gaming headset [3] Hands-On With Oculus Rift, John Carmack's Virtual Reality Goggles [4] John Carmack's snazzy VR headset takes to kickstarter with the oculus rift [5] Between E3 and the Kickstarter, people associated Carmack with Oculus due to the press coverage. His reputation launched the company. This was not a case of Carmack trying to steal credit or the company, it was purely the result of his enthusiasm. It speaks well of Carmack that he took such a prominent role without concern for compensation or ownership. [1] http://www.edge-online.com/news/e3-2012-john-carmacks-vr-headset/ http://www.edge-online.com/news/e3-2012-john-carmacks-vr-hea... [2] http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/06/06/john-carmack-is-making-a-virtual-reality-headset-500-kits-available-soon-video-interview-inside/ http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/06/06/john-carmack-is-making-a-v... [3] http://www.t3.com/news/john-carmack-unveils-virtual-reality-gaming-headset http://www.t3.com/news/john-carmack-unveils-virtual-reality-... [4] http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/725013/hands-on-with-oculus-rift-john-carmacks-virtual-reality-goggles/ http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/725013/hands-on-with-o... [5] http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-08-01-john-carmacks-snazzy-vr-headset-takes-to-kickstarter-with-the-oculus-rift http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-08-01-john-carmacks-s...
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ralonso 13y ago
And it's not just Carmack and Abrash - they also have Tom Forsynth [0] and Atman Binstock [1], two other amazing people who've been pioneers in graphics programming and VR (and AR) development! And it's very likely that Valve will soon be firing most people who worked on their VR prototype, which means that it's possible that Oculus VR picks them up as well. It's the closest thing to a dream team for nerds: Abrash and Carmack, two of the people who completely changed an entire industry in the 90s; Luckey, the definition of a true hacker who helped revive a dying market (if there ever was one in the first place); Forsynth and Binstock, who also played a key role in many areas in the games industry; and lastly, Zuckerberg, a ruthless nerd with impossibly-deep pockets. [0] http://home.comcast.net/~tom_forsyth/ http://home.comcast.net/~tom_forsyth/ [1] http://www.oculusvr.com/blog/welcome-atman-binstock-chief-architect/ http://www.oculusvr.com/blog/welcome-atman-binstock-chief-ar...
- reportingsjr 13y ago
  I'm kind of curious as to why you think that Valve will be firing most of their VR team. Do you think that they have fully proven that VR is possible and done what they can without going in to production? If I'm not mistake I believe that a handful of the VR people are also working on the steambox and controller which still has a ways to go.
  - ralonso 13y ago
    Last year Valve did "mass" (relative to the size of the company and divisions) firings [0] after Jeri Ellsworth was fired. Right now it's just speculation, but I doubt Valve has either the time, money or motivation to compete against two giants, Facebook and Sony, and against the other new competitors that are starting to appear [1][2][3]. Valve's hands are already full with the SteamBox, the controller, Steam itself and however many games they have in development. But yes, you're right - some of the VR developers might simply be relocated to other projects within Valve. Who knows. [0] http://www.theverge.com/2013/2/13/3985642/great-cleansing-at-valve-software http://www.theverge.com/2013/2/13/3985642/great-cleansing-at... [1] http://www.trueplayergear.com/ http://www.trueplayergear.com/ [2] http://www.lazygamer.net/general-news/razer-climbing-on-the-virtual-reality-bandwagon/ http://www.lazygamer.net/general-news/razer-climbing-on-the-... [3] InfinitEye: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH86II2CwdE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH86II2CwdE
MrZongle2 13y ago
I share your enthusiasm about Abrash joining Carmack to work on the Rift. But if I may pick nits, any billionaire -- nerd or not -- is most assuredly not "one of us". The rest of us have to worry about paying the bills, driving ourselves to our jobs, working in less-than-stellar offices, worrying about the cost of gas, food and medical bills, the education their kids receive, etc. I'm not trying to stoke the fires of class warfare, but billionaires are not shackled for financial reasons like the rest of us. They can vacation in paradise, make cool things happen at a stroke of a pen, and if they choose to spend hours per day doing nothing but daydreaming and speculating...they can.
- deleted 13y ago
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  - MichaelGG 13y ago
    >lots of us would love to do what he's doing A lot of us would like to run an advertising company?
    - deleted 13y ago
      [deleted]
      - deleted 13y ago
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    - rayiner 13y ago
      An advertising company that focuses on delivering up impressionable 13-21 year old eyeballs, no less.
    - benched 13y ago
      Why don't we call television networks advertising companies? Because it isn't a cultural signal for "I am sophisticated" on tech message boards.
      - 13y ago
drawkbox 13y ago
Wow so you have Abrash, Carmack, Luckey together working on VR and funded by another genius (who also happens to have billions to fund it) Zuckerberg, it might happen for real this time. Starting to feel like the VR times we are in might mimic the advancements of physics and the genius around the early 1900s. I thought Luckey was smart to bring in Carmack then Zuckerberg has all three working for him, definitely won the game and using money in a way others can only dream.
- EpicEng 13y ago
  I guess the term "genius" has lost some of it's meaning. Zuck is no genius. He created (implemented + borrowed) something which filled the right niche at the right time and rode the wave. Many could have ridden that wave; they needn't be geniuses to do so. More power to him, wish I had done it, but let's not demean true geniuses by lumping Zuck in with them. I just hope Oculus is allowed to steer near its originally intended path. I'm not holding my breath.
  - drawkbox 13y ago
    If you got Carmack and Abrash working with you on cool tech while having no funding worries ever, I'd call you a genius as well. Luckey is a smart dude as well, he brought in Carmack, got this whole thing going, and is really smart + project driven for 21, builds lasers in his spare time. Zuck built an app that everyone including your mom uses, so that is also pretty impressive aside from having all those guys work for you. So all four are really geniuses or at least really smart pioneers. With that, Facebook is now mainstream. Facebook buying Oculus just made VR mainstream again and noticed in finance. So while game developers and gamers were sold (I backed it), the mainstream remembered it from the past VR experiences which sucked. All the VR guys are in one place, well funded, attracting more to it and there is a mainstream outlet for VR (Facebook) and funding will be out in the market because of the deal. Now everyone is sold on it even if some developers and backers were surprised by it (even I felt a bit eh). I ultimately think it was a genius move. To read Abrash tell it, Facebook's recent acquisition of Oculus VR influenced his decision by rendering virtual reality development a viable career path.
- deleted 13y ago
illuminate 13y ago
"a billionaire nerd that is "one of us"" How do you figure?

by staunch 13y ago

dmunoz 13y ago

Saying that Oculus is John Carmack's VR company is unfavourable to those who actually brought Oculus about. Carmack was hired fairly late in Oculus' history. Edit: You edited it now to say 'John Carmack & Co's VR company' which still doesn't make much sense. Carmack joined Oculus as a CTO almost exactly a year after Oculus had its successful Kickstarter campaign.

staunch 13y ago
You don't know the history, clearly. Carmack and Luckey were working together before the concept of Occulus as a company existed at all. The first prototype went from Luckey's desk to Carmack's desk. Carmack endorsed the Kickstarter campaign publicly and created Doom 3 BFG for it. He setup a booth at E3 to demo it. Also, all I really meant to say was "the company Carmack works at" in a shorter way. I have massive respect for Palmer Luckey.
- AdamFernandez 13y ago
  There seems to be very little talk of Palmer Luckey here. He started this whole thing, and all anyone can talk about is Carmack. I'm not trying to disparage John Carmack, as that would be difficult considering his awesome achievements. And he certainly brings with him expertise and reputation advantages. I just hope more people understand where this all originated.
  - eigenvalue 13y ago
    If this works out like I think it will, history will give plenty of credit to Palmer Luckey.
  - cma 13y ago
    Carmack wrote the lens distortion shaders and found a software hack in the gyros/accelerometers to get it running at a higher hz and did his own filtering of the raw data from the sensors based on his experience building autostabilizing rocket ships. The devkit ended up using better sensors etc. , but both Luckey and Carmack were important in making the initial unit that was in the E3 demo that helped build confidence for the kickstarter.
- tod222 13y ago
  Yes, Carmack's demo was a priceless endorsement that legitimized Oculus. An industry legend demoing something spearheaded by someone nobody had heard of. How do you think it was reported? E3 2012: John Carmack’s VR headset [1] John Carmack is making a virtual reality headset, $500 kits available soon, video interview inside [2] E3 2012: John Carmack unveils virtual reality gaming headset [3] Hands-On With Oculus Rift, John Carmack's Virtual Reality Goggles [4] John Carmack's snazzy VR headset takes to kickstarter with the oculus rift [5] Between E3 and the Kickstarter, people associated Carmack with Oculus due to the press coverage. His reputation launched the company. This was not a case of Carmack trying to steal credit or the company, it was purely the result of his enthusiasm. It speaks well of Carmack that he took such a prominent role without concern for compensation or ownership. [1] http://www.edge-online.com/news/e3-2012-john-carmacks-vr-headset/ http://www.edge-online.com/news/e3-2012-john-carmacks-vr-hea... [2] http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/06/06/john-carmack-is-making-a-virtual-reality-headset-500-kits-available-soon-video-interview-inside/ http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/06/06/john-carmack-is-making-a-v... [3] http://www.t3.com/news/john-carmack-unveils-virtual-reality-gaming-headset http://www.t3.com/news/john-carmack-unveils-virtual-reality-... [4] http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/725013/hands-on-with-oculus-rift-john-carmacks-virtual-reality-goggles/ http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/725013/hands-on-with-o... [5] http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-08-01-john-carmacks-snazzy-vr-headset-takes-to-kickstarter-with-the-oculus-rift http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-08-01-john-carmacks-s...
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]

ralonso 13y ago

And it's not just Carmack and Abrash - they also have Tom Forsynth [0] and Atman Binstock [1], two other amazing people who've been pioneers in graphics programming and VR (and AR) development! And it's very likely that Valve will soon be firing most people who worked on their VR prototype, which means that it's possible that Oculus VR picks them up as well. It's the closest thing to a dream team for nerds: Abrash and Carmack, two of the people who completely changed an entire industry in the 90s; Luckey, the definition of a true hacker who helped revive a dying market (if there ever was one in the first place); Forsynth and Binstock, who also played a key role in many areas in the games industry; and lastly, Zuckerberg, a ruthless nerd with impossibly-deep pockets. [0] http://home.comcast.net/~tom_forsyth/ http://home.comcast.net/~tom_forsyth/ [1] http://www.oculusvr.com/blog/welcome-atman-binstock-chief-architect/ http://www.oculusvr.com/blog/welcome-atman-binstock-chief-ar...

reportingsjr 13y ago
I'm kind of curious as to why you think that Valve will be firing most of their VR team. Do you think that they have fully proven that VR is possible and done what they can without going in to production? If I'm not mistake I believe that a handful of the VR people are also working on the steambox and controller which still has a ways to go.
- ralonso 13y ago
  Last year Valve did "mass" (relative to the size of the company and divisions) firings [0] after Jeri Ellsworth was fired. Right now it's just speculation, but I doubt Valve has either the time, money or motivation to compete against two giants, Facebook and Sony, and against the other new competitors that are starting to appear [1][2][3]. Valve's hands are already full with the SteamBox, the controller, Steam itself and however many games they have in development. But yes, you're right - some of the VR developers might simply be relocated to other projects within Valve. Who knows. [0] http://www.theverge.com/2013/2/13/3985642/great-cleansing-at-valve-software http://www.theverge.com/2013/2/13/3985642/great-cleansing-at... [1] http://www.trueplayergear.com/ http://www.trueplayergear.com/ [2] http://www.lazygamer.net/general-news/razer-climbing-on-the-virtual-reality-bandwagon/ http://www.lazygamer.net/general-news/razer-climbing-on-the-... [3] InfinitEye: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH86II2CwdE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH86II2CwdE

MrZongle2 13y ago

I share your enthusiasm about Abrash joining Carmack to work on the Rift. But if I may pick nits, any billionaire -- nerd or not -- is most assuredly not "one of us". The rest of us have to worry about paying the bills, driving ourselves to our jobs, working in less-than-stellar offices, worrying about the cost of gas, food and medical bills, the education their kids receive, etc. I'm not trying to stoke the fires of class warfare, but billionaires are not shackled for financial reasons like the rest of us. They can vacation in paradise, make cool things happen at a stroke of a pen, and if they choose to spend hours per day doing nothing but daydreaming and speculating...they can.

deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
- MichaelGG 13y ago
  >lots of us would love to do what he's doing A lot of us would like to run an advertising company?
  - deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]
    - deleted 13y ago
      [deleted]
  - rayiner 13y ago
    An advertising company that focuses on delivering up impressionable 13-21 year old eyeballs, no less.
  - benched 13y ago
    Why don't we call television networks advertising companies? Because it isn't a cultural signal for "I am sophisticated" on tech message boards.
    - 13y ago

drawkbox 13y ago

Wow so you have Abrash, Carmack, Luckey together working on VR and funded by another genius (who also happens to have billions to fund it) Zuckerberg, it might happen for real this time. Starting to feel like the VR times we are in might mimic the advancements of physics and the genius around the early 1900s. I thought Luckey was smart to bring in Carmack then Zuckerberg has all three working for him, definitely won the game and using money in a way others can only dream.

EpicEng 13y ago
I guess the term "genius" has lost some of it's meaning. Zuck is no genius. He created (implemented + borrowed) something which filled the right niche at the right time and rode the wave. Many could have ridden that wave; they needn't be geniuses to do so. More power to him, wish I had done it, but let's not demean true geniuses by lumping Zuck in with them. I just hope Oculus is allowed to steer near its originally intended path. I'm not holding my breath.
- drawkbox 13y ago
  If you got Carmack and Abrash working with you on cool tech while having no funding worries ever, I'd call you a genius as well. Luckey is a smart dude as well, he brought in Carmack, got this whole thing going, and is really smart + project driven for 21, builds lasers in his spare time. Zuck built an app that everyone including your mom uses, so that is also pretty impressive aside from having all those guys work for you. So all four are really geniuses or at least really smart pioneers. With that, Facebook is now mainstream. Facebook buying Oculus just made VR mainstream again and noticed in finance. So while game developers and gamers were sold (I backed it), the mainstream remembered it from the past VR experiences which sucked. All the VR guys are in one place, well funded, attracting more to it and there is a mainstream outlet for VR (Facebook) and funding will be out in the market because of the deal. Now everyone is sold on it even if some developers and backers were surprised by it (even I felt a bit eh). I ultimately think it was a genius move. To read Abrash tell it, Facebook's recent acquisition of Oculus VR influenced his decision by rendering virtual reality development a viable career path.
deleted 13y ago

illuminate 13y ago

"a billionaire nerd that is "one of us"" How do you figure?