Facebook Acquires Oculus Rift

 

Ten years ago, the entire concept of virtual reality was laughed at. Most people knew it as the awkward and pointless act of strapping on clunky goggles for the sake of playing an arcade game. It was pretty embarrassing…and not to mention, tiresome.

But now things have changed.

Facebook—the social media giant—has acquired the Oculus Rift. Here’s why it’s important:

1) Facebook’s influence will help Virtual Reality

If Facebook (a multi-billion dollar industry) decides to get behind a company, then they plan on doing big things. We once knew the social media company as a simple page where we’d post our pictures and comment on our friend’s walls. But now, Facebook has become an information hub. As a company, they press forward in the hopes of dominating everyone and everything in its sight.

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But, it might not be so good either.

It’s no secret that Facebook sells your information to the highest bidder. And if that’s something you were never aware of, then I’ll say it again:

Facebook sells your information to the highest bidder!

So then what does this mean for Virtual Reality—especially the Oculus Rift?

In essence, nothing changes. At least for now that’s what it seems like. Virtual Reality is an immersive experience. It doesn’t necessarily translate into information gathering. In a way, I guess it can. But honestly, it’s not as intrusive as scanning your wall, the things you ‘like’, and your conversations for the sake of selling information. The bottom line is—Facebook will help speed up the virtual reality process.

2) Facebook continues to dominate

Companies hope to climb the leaderboards—the ranks that define who is doing well in the market, and who isn’t. Facebook is no exception. In fact, they want to conquer everything in their path. And, they’ll do just about anything to achieve that. This means that since Facebook is in the VR game, you can expect a bigger push of the Oculus brand. Microsoft, Sony and other competitors are rumored to be releasing their own versions of the Oculus Rift, so the market will be heating up.

3) Oculus and Kickstarter

The Oculus Rift began its life as a Kickstarter project. Of course, now that the startup company has ‘sold out’ to Facebook, they are no longer funded by regular people alone. The precedent set by the Oculus Rift has opened up a number of opportunities for small projects hoping to make it big.

But not everyone backing the project on Kickstarter was happy about the acquisition. In fact, many voiced their harsh opinions across various sites on the Internet. People begged for their money back, shouted profanities, and vowed to never back another Kickstarter again.

It’s not unreasonable. But it’s called ‘Kickstarter’ for a reason. The site’s primary purpose is to allow companies and ideas to prosper by inviting people to invest. By investing, you’re offered a reward, and are thanked for your participation.

In the future, you can expect more projects funded by Kickstarter to flourish in the market. And many will be bought out by much bigger companies.

The Oculus Rift Developer Kit 2 is available for purchase, and a mainstream model is expected to be released this fall.