Following the recent unfavorable court decision which saw a $500 million judgement levied on Oculus and some of its founders last week, Facebook has shared a glimpse into what they call “the most advanced virtual and augmented reality research center and team in the world.”
Today Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg posted photos of himself touring the Oculus Research lab in Redmond, Washington, where he says “some of the best scientists and engineers in the world are pushing the boundaries of virtual and augmented reality.”
The team is led by Michael Abrash and focuses on things like advanced optics, eye tracking, mixed reality and new ways to map the human body. The goal is to make VR and AR what we all want it to be: glasses small enough to take anywhere, software that lets you experience anything, and technology that lets you interact with the virtual world just like you do with the physical one.
Oculus Rift is already the best VR experience you can buy—and the technology being built in this lab right now makes me want the future to get here a lot sooner.
Among the photos, one showed Zuckerberg wearing a pair of tracked VR gloves. He annotated each picture, which we’ve included below (click for the full description of each).
Speaking to Zuckerbeg’s visit, former Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe (who recently stepped down to head the company’s newly formed Rift division), teased multiple breakthroughs that are headed to upcoming Oculus products:
Part of what made the decision to join Facebook so easy, was Mark’s commitment and shared vision around building the most advanced virtual and augmented reality research center and team in the world. It’s remarkable and inspiring to see what the team has accomplished across VR and AR in such a short amount of time.
We’re now on a path to bring a number of these breakthrough technologies into upcoming products. From advanced optics and display systems to revolutionary tracking and machine perception, we’re going to enable entire new categories of experiences and continue to blur the lines between the virtual and real world, bringing us even closer to the Holodeck.
The timing of today’s release of the photos coincided with a Valve media event hosted at their HQ (not 15 minutes down the road from the Oculus Research facility), where the company confirmed development of three new made-for-VR games.
Despite what trouble may result from the ZeniMax v. Oculus verdict, Zuckerberg seems to be holding steadfast in his commitment to VR and Oculus as part of Facebook’s long term vision.