Facebook to Buy Oculus... Is this real?

[Mystify]

I'm sure there is no selection bias on that poll, nope, none at all

[OzOnE2k10]

I'm sorry, but the shock still hasn't left me yet.

Think about it though...




It's just the fact that it's Facebook I guess.
Still doesn't quite sit well with me, but I'll have to see what they really have in mind for new products (Palmer is suggesting even bigger announcements about hardware soon.)

Then again, as Palmer said, if it was a company like MS or Sony, then Oculus as we know it would likely have been well and truly controlled like a puppet.

As far as I can tell, they have signed all the relevant contracts to allow Oculus to stay as independent as possible with regards to new hardware / software.
The assurances from Palmer suggest that their original vision for VR will stay intact, and they will continue to create fantastic products.

Just watching the clip on Sky News now about the acquisition.

Can't really doubt the intelligence of the Oculus guys, nor Zuckerberg himself I suppose.
I'm not a big fan of some of Facebook's previous exploits either, but they've had some pretty impressive insights into the future so far.

Now that I've calmed down a bit, I personally think this is an immense announcement for VR as a whole, not just Oculus.

I'm slightly worried about possible "rough handling" of Oculus by Facebook, but I'm proud to know that people are clearly taking Oculus and VR seriously.

Look at it another way - when Oculus first started, we were all a bit worried about them getting proper investment to keep everything on track.
The initial $16 Million investment was fantastic news. It allowed them to expand a fair bit, and get some of the best talent on board.

But, the $2 Billion deal is a real game-changer for everyone involved, it's just tainted slightly by the image of Facebook's corporate style dealings.


OzOnE.

[unsilentwill]

Sure, maybe we could have done it on our own. There is merit to that argument. But it would have taken longer and with more risk. This deal really accelerates everything we are doing, and gives us a better shot of making VR completely ubiquitous.

This is the troubling part to me. Being here from E3 2012, I've grown to respect all of the delays, all of the times Oculus has said no to this company or that because they wanted to ship something the right way, with the right people and the right content. It's been fairly open, reassuring us that despite Iribe, there's been no intention to sell. You were building something on the support of those excited by gaming and VR rather than flashy mass market appeal. I'd be smart to develop something for Sony, but I was excited to develop for Oculus. Yesterday morning I was confident the CV1 was in the best hands possible.

This fast-and-big-and-now approach of being acquired by Facebook is worse to me than being sold to Apple, not for the fear Luckey has of being torn apart and cannibalizing the VR dream but Apple and Facebook are closed systems with their fair share of open moments. Everything is connected, control is not in your hands. It's not a tool, it's an business. If any of the policies of Facebook as it currently is seep into Oculus as it currently is, I think it is not a worthwhile VR dream. I'd rather see Oculus "fail" and create a niche, good product that inspires the next wave of narrative designs and stories than an absurdly hypothetical Metaverse based on Facebook policy.

Oculus employees are swearing up and down and using the word partnership, and as much as I'd like have half the trust they have in Facebook, I can't. Not right now anyway. The choices made for the consumer version and it's software will make all the difference to me, and my potential career in VR. Facebook is big, mobile is big, both are smart moves for an indie developer, but those are not the kind of games I want to make, or the kind of games I want people to play. Not jumping on the VR Farmville joke, but a top down Metaverse vs a bottom up Metaverse will affect content (advertising, data mining, gameplay style, pricing, competition, etc.).

But it's out of my hands.

[ften]

Yes, it's real. But then again, what is real? How do you define real? [sorry, had to do it. ]

Really guys, it's not the end of the world. Take a chill pill, huff your asthma pump, whatever your gotta do. We're all still alive, and I hope all in one piece.

There's a lot of hate following around (not sure much here luckily but other places) and I can totally understand where people are coming from. But it's not that bad.

Mostly I think people assume that Facebook is going to destroy the good thing we have going at Oculus, but I don't think that's the case. Really I think Mark and the guys at Facebook that were part of this deal do share the same vision for VR as Palmer and I and all the guys at Oculus do. We always wanted to bring VR to the masses, and this facilitates that goal. Sure, maybe we could have done it on our own. There is merit to that argument. But it would have taken longer and with more risk. This deal really accelerates everything we are doing, and gives us a better shot of making VR completely ubiquitous. I truly feel this is a milestone for VR, and people will look back at this day. Sure, selling 75K dev kits in a year and a half was great. But that is nothing compared to something like Sony selling 6 million PS4s in a few months. This acquisition really takes the company to a new level to be able to compete in this marketplace. I think anyone that has a stake in VR being successful should be excited about the news. It really is a great move.

Will the Facebook news affect the DK2 shipments at all?

[slipstream]

Candy crush saga in virtual 3D. I can hardly wait.

[ften]

Carmack has posted a few tweets about the acquisition, I particularly like this one;
"For the record, I am coding right now, just like I was last week.I expect the FB deal will avoid several embarrassing scaling crisis for VR."
https://twitter.com/ID_AA_Carmack/statu ... 3740692481

[Kirito]

I, for one, just contacted OVR to cancel my DK2 preorder.

It has not sense now. Either the Rift is going to a shitty place where I dont want to be, or the CV1 is going to be x1000 times better than the DK2.
Or both.

In any case, my projects are going to be in pause for the next few months. We'll see.

i tought L was smarter then that, virtual reality is realy going mainstream now so developers should be realy happy.

and mark said he will leave oculus alone in terms of hardware, virtual reality so

[Fractalys]

I'm sure there is no selection bias on that poll, nope, none at all

I saw it on reddit.

I would say that Facebook's influence will gradually expand. It will start with a
simple login with Facebook or create an account to install drivers. It basically becomes a
Steam/LIVE/PSN/Uplay/Origin competitor specifically designed for VR.
Voice-chat and achievements will be included.

I expect cross-platform Windows/Mac/Linux/Android (like Amazon)
Eventually they ditch Windows and Mac (for the same reasons that Gabe has)
Business Model will be 10-30% of every game sold, ads will be present in a
free2play secondlife environment.

[sevenalvan]

To all the anti-Facebook rebels who are planning to cancel their DK2 orders or not buy the CV1 in a heroic act of defiance against the imperialist FB forces.....seriously get over it, for every one of you there will be thousands of new adopters who will embrace the technology.

All this baby whining that "I'm not going to play anymore because of what they have done" is so futile.

Do you really think the management and investors at Oculus needed to ask your permission?

Just wait and see, this could actually be fantastic news that allows Oculus to scale up massively and a major move forward in taking VR mainstream.

It is amazing to think that it was not that long ago that Palmer was tinkering in his parents garage and posting his findings on forums like this....and today a $2 billion takeover by a tech giant and VR heading for mainstream use.

What an incredible outcome, congratulations to them and I for one have renewed enthusiasm for what is to follow in the months and years ahead.

[J. h4t3d]

i tought L was smarter then that, virtual reality is realy going mainstream now so developers should be realy happy.

and mark said he will leave oculus alone in terms of hardware, virtual reality so

Lets see, after Sony's GDC and now this, it's clear that this time VR is going to work as a business and be real, finally.
And I don't have any problem with this buy in terms of how it's going to help VR to grow. That it's great!

My problem is that, yesterday, OVR was destroyed as what once was, and now it will be another thing. Totally diferent. Thats all.

I dont know. Maybe is just that I remember the first time in SL, so big with so many people everywhere, and with a bit of blender embedded, so many possibilities. So... So f#cking spoilt, converted into a brothelcasino with banners in every wall.

And if the future of VR is a giant adssocialthing...

[bobv5]

i tought L was smarter then that, virtual reality is realy going mainstream now so developers should be realy happy.

and mark said he will leave oculus alone in terms of hardware, virtual reality so

Lets see, after Sony's GDC and now this, it's clear that this time VR is going to work as a business and be real, finally.
And I don't have any problem with this buy in terms of how it's going to help VR to grow. That it's great!

My problem is that, yesterday, OVR was destroyed as what once was, and now it will be another thing. Totally diferent. Thats all.

I dont know. Maybe is just that I remember the first time in SL, so big with so many people everywhere, and with a bit of blender embedded, so many possibilities. So... So f#cking spoilt, converted into a brothelcasino with banners in every wall.

And if the future of VR is a giant adssocialthing...

Yes. For VR overall it is probably good. But I am sad because I used to consider Oculus as kind of my friend. A friend that annoyed me a lot, and I didn't even like that much, but I would always have space if he had nowhere to sleep.

Now they are just another bunch of corporate scumbags. Very sad.

[Dilip]

My problem is that, yesterday, OVR was destroyed as what once was, and now it will be another thing. Totally diferent. Thats all...

Some one coined Tempered rift as 'FrenkenRift' now as oculus got tempered what will we call it now?

A.'Frenkenculus'
B.'Frenkenfaceculus'
C.'Frenkenoculbook'

Please cast your valuable vote!!!

[Stewox]

Hmm, anyone also seen these reddit bots saying how they love the acquisition ?

http://www.infowars.com/facebook-accuse ... criticism/

[GeraldT]

not sure what to think of this - I have been attacked as being a paid commenter several times these last couple of days, and so far I am still waiting for any Facebook checks to arrive.

I have much more solid theory http://www.reddit.com/r/oculus/comments ... cy_theory/

[ften]

not sure what to think of this - I have been attacked as being a paid commenter several times these last couple of days, and so far I am still waiting for any Facebook checks to arrive.

I have much more solid theory http://www.reddit.com/r/oculus/comments ... cy_theory/

LMAO, now that is a believable theory.

[Libertine]

The only thing im still really worried about is the FOV up'ing slowing down...

The "civilian" component of the Facebook influence will be fantastic. There are a million and one things i'd like to experience with an UHD Rift, like 360 degree Gopro stuff in UHD. I think it will help develop the necessary formats for this to take off.

I often think of this example as something that would be great in 3D with a wide FOV or even with head tracking in 360.
http://kcts9.org/hero/nova-building-gre ... als-122612
whole program if interested: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ancient/bu ... drals.html

[mickman]

so who's going to order the Oculus " FACELOOK "

sounds creepy...

[petersmc]

I was shocked at first, but now I get it. Facebook have so much paper value, that they must grow to other areas, or lose it. Facebook is a mature product. There are no big gains to be made anymore. They bought Instagram and Watsapp just to maintain their userbase, which must be a tricky ROI calculation at best.

Investing in VR is them creating a market to demand VR services. They have to do this before Facebook becomes a "has been" and their paper value falls too much. By owning Oculus, they have inside knowledge about when and what HMD gets released to the consumer, and can time the release of their VR services accordingly. For this not to be a damp squib, the CV1 has to be cheep but still compelling. By getting compelling VR to the mass market asap, with a roadmap to continual improvement and financial muscle to "make it happen", they will place themselves in a position to be first to market, and that is how they will make money.

Facebook probably just accelerated VR by an order of magnitude.

[OzOnE2k10]

Yep, I'm starting to get it as well, but still a tad worried for the future.

Going on what has happened with other recent acquisitions by FB though, they have been leaving the smaller companies to be pretty autonomous.
FB just want a part of the action as you say, and it's prudent for them to spread out to different markets atm.

That's also true when you look at the big picture now - VR has never had a boost quite like this in it's entire history.

No matter what happens with Oculus in the future (although I wish them all the best still), VR now has the best chance yet of staying in the mainstream.
I'm sure Oculus are on target to produce some of the best hardware and immersive experiences we've ever seen.

I was watching this last night, and it solidified my decision to keep my DK2 order....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=640oq4F ... N7i57hQ6yQ

(another of his videos about the Oc / FB thing)....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dc5QU6xaUD0

I know a lot of people will be holding out for the CV1 now instead of getting the DK2, but I can always sell the DK2 on if need be.

Also, now that I have a 1080p RiftUp kit on the way for the DK1, I can be enjoying all the previous games / demos with a VERY much improved display.

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/riftup/x/6889583

Just hang in there, guys.
We still have some amazing tech on the horizon, and much VR / gaming fun to be had.


OzOnE.
P.S. It's good to have @cybereality on here, so we can at least get some insight into what's going on at Oculus HQ.

[Kazioo]

A. they get to benefit from all future profits of occulus.

Thats the problem for me. I hate facebook. I want them to go out of business, and giving them my money makes them stronger. I'm not going to say that I would never buy anything from them, but now a Rift would be my absolute last resort. Before it would have been my preferred option.

That is a fair objection.

agreed - that is pretty much the notch argument and it is valid, a personal decision.

I'm actually not so sure about this argument. Why? Even before the acquisition, Oculus' monetization ideas were mostly about the software. They wanted to sell the hardware with a low margin and make money by publishing games, getting cut from Oculus Share etc. They wanted to do it like consoles (except maybe Nintendo).
PS3 had something like $300 negative margin in 2006. Tons of people who play only used games or rent them were causing a huge financial loss to Sony. There was also a second OS, so a lot of consoles were sold for computational purposes, which was even worse, because these consoles never saw a game or a BD movie.

Iribe paraphrasing Zuckerberg: "What if we also invest in the parts so you can sell the virtual reality platform at cost?""

Palmer: "This deal specifically lets us greatly lower the price of the Rift."


In other words: What about taking money from Facebook? Buy their hardware, don't use their software?

[bobv5]

In other words: What about taking money from Facebook? Buy their hardware, don't use their software?

Yes, this has been one of my thoughts. In a perverse way I am actually pleased, it gives me a kick in the arse to start hacking again, instead of just sitting around and waiting for oculus to sort it.

EDIT: As for my argument being legit or not, I simply do not like facebutt. I don't want to give them money. Do my reasons for not liking them even matter?

[GeraldT]

... Oculus' monetization ideas were mostly about the software. They wanted to sell the hardware with a low margin and make money by publishing games, getting cut from Oculus Share etc. They wanted to do it like consoles (except maybe Nintendo).
...

Where did you get this information? "like consoles" is not an option, since very likely most VR titles will be sold via Steam, not Share. They never discussed their business model for monetization openly as far as I am aware, so very curious where you got all this information.

[Alejux]

... Oculus' monetization ideas were mostly about the software. They wanted to sell the hardware with a low margin and make money by publishing games, getting cut from Oculus Share etc. They wanted to do it like consoles (except maybe Nintendo).
...

Where did you get this information? "like consoles" is not an option, since very likely most VR titles will be sold via Steam, not Share. They never discussed their business model for monetization openly as far as I am aware, so very curious where you got all this information.

They always made pretty clear they didn't intend to make money on the hardware. Remember all the comments from Palmer saying their ultimate goal was to make the hardware free? He wouldn't say that unless he had plans of monetizing with software and distribution.

[KBK]

Free hardware means only one thing, paid content. controlled content. Tightly controlled content with tightly controlled devices that cannot step outside of the use of specific content. It means an absolutely closed system.

Don't mean to sound so negative, but a payout has to happen somewhere, for free hardware. The clincher and the kicker has to appear on the stage in some fashion - all candy has it's costs, it's price. So, one should hope that the hardware is never really free, as that would be the most expensive of all.

[JonR]

Free hardware means only one thing, paid content. controlled content. Tightly controlled content with tightly controlled devices that cannot step outside of the use of specific content. It means an absolutely closed system.

Don't mean to sound so negative, but a payout has to happen somewhere, for free hardware. The clincher and the kicker has to appear on the stage in some fashion - all candy has it's costs, it's price. So, one should hope that the hardware is never really free, as that would be the most expensive of all.

I see no reason why Oculus couldn't offer both a subsidized, locked down HMD for the Facebook market and a full-price one for the enthusiast market. Simple product differentiation that would allow them to reach both markets with very little extra cost.

[squibbfire]

I don't think there ever will be a free HMD... there are no free TVs or Laptops. I would say it will just have a lower price...
and even if anything is locked down...it will still have VR gaming:-)

[squibbfire]

Sorry this is actually pretty funny...

http://youtu.be/NpbqRmqKlDw

[GeraldT]

I don't think there ever will be a free HMD... there are no free TVs or Laptops. I would say it will just have a lower price...
and even if anything is locked down...it will still have VR gaming:-)

agreed - a free HMD would mean tech enthusiasts would order them and take them apart. but free as in "get your phone for free with this 24 month contract" ... no doubt it will happen. not sure that kinds of contracts it will be bundled with and I am very curious if the Rift will see this happening before a standalone Rift is ready for primetime.

I do not care for these contracts - I buy my smartphones and use a provider that charges me nothing (mobile internet is super slow, but I don't really need it and I can buy a small fast datapackage in case I do for little money). I just don't want to be bound to a provider. So I would always buy my Rift - because as KBK says, a free Rift would be the most expensive.

[colocolo]

hmm.....maybe OVR ist intending to use the camera for VR skyping.( would also make more sense for FB apps.)
If CV1 then also would contain a telecom chip+mic, a bundle consisting of a VR headset and a mobile contract for free could become pretty interesting.
Anyone knows the specs of the cam? Wasn't it infrared? Du u need necessarily an extra IR sensor? I mean smartphone CCD sensors can sense x-rays simultaneously. (there is an app for that online )
Also there were those lines in the Rift Manuals about a wireless feature.

[GeraldT]

hmm.....maybe OVR ist intending to use the camera for VR skyping

that won't be a normal cam but a specialized on for IR tracking. so the picture will be no good for these scenarios.

PS: "specialized" sounds expensive, it just means without a filter for IR light

[OzOnE2k10]

It's probably just a normal webcam type image interface to the USB I'd guess, but that hasn't been confirmed yet.

As GeraldT said though, by "infrared" it just means it's likely a normal camera module with an infrared filter on the front to cut out 99% of the the visible light.
(You can see the shiny filter in the Crystal Cove vids, and on the DK1 photos.)

Yep, smartphone CCD sensors can detect radiation as well, but that's just a quirk of the particles hitting the CCD / CMOS.

It's an interesting idea to be able to use the camera as a normal webcam by removing the filter though.
Hopefully it will be at least 720p, but might be only XGA?

[Kazioo]

... Oculus' monetization ideas were mostly about the software. They wanted to sell the hardware with a low margin and make money by publishing games, getting cut from Oculus Share etc. They wanted to do it like consoles (except maybe Nintendo).
...

Where did you get this information? "like consoles" is not an option, since very likely most VR titles will be sold via Steam, not Share. They never discussed their business model for monetization openly as far as I am aware, so very curious where you got all this information.

8 months ago:

http://www.reddit.com/r/oculus/comments ... ?context=3

http://www.edge-online.com/features/ocu ... -for-free/


After Facebook acquisition:

http://i.imgur.com/EFZTUTF.jpg

[GeraldT]

Kazioo none of those sources says anything about their business model being "like consoles". Subsidizing hardware can mean a lot of stuff. In one of them they even say "if the company finds the right business model" ... so that is pretty much saying they don't know yet.

[bobv5]

... Oculus' monetization ideas were mostly about the software. They wanted to sell the hardware with a low margin and make money by publishing games, getting cut from Oculus Share etc. They wanted to do it like consoles (except maybe Nintendo).
...

Where did you get this information? "like consoles" is not an option, since very likely most VR titles will be sold via Steam, not Share. They never discussed their business model for monetization openly as far as I am aware, so very curious where you got all this information.

You messed up the quotes. The only time I have ever used the word "monetization", is right now, to tell you I would never say such a thing.

I see no reason why Oculus couldn't offer both a subsidized, locked down HMD for the Facebook market and a full-price one for the enthusiast market. Simple product differentiation that would allow them to reach both markets with very little extra cost.

I do. Anybody who is enough of a tech freak to want the full version, is enough of a freak to buy the cheap version, and flash the firmware, fit a mod chip, hack the drivers, download a file that automates the hack.

[Okta]

The Lowest Common Denominator.

Why do I cast away things as soon as they become 'the latest thing'?

Am I a hipster?

What happens when something becomes 'popular'?....

Lets look at 'Hollywood' movies for example. Their goal is too make as much money as possible. To achieve this they strain to placate as many different demographics as possible to broaden the audience. In doing so they end up placating very few after being spread into a grey mush of generalizations.

What about Facebook Oculus?

My concern here is that the Rift's upper limits may never be realized because it is now on course to be a daily tool of soccer mums, social media slaves and general douches. These are the people Facebook have already hinted they will be aiming at. The every day Joe, not the VR enthusiast.

Do these average Joe's need or want a 210 degree FOV, 360 head tracking and positional tracking, wireless haptic glove linked VR setups? Maybe the seated Cv1 will be all they ever need or want. If even that.

Given that things like the Virtuix Omni are fringe products for true VR enthusiasts and the Rift is already steering away from that vision of VR with its seated camera arrangement.

Is the Rift set to become the Iphone of the HMD world? The dumbed down smartphone for the masses?

I cant see why not.

If so we can only hope it will give rise to he Androids of the world to build something better...

[V8Griff]

Given that things like the Virtuix Omni are fringe products for true VR enthusiasts and the Rift is already steering away from that vision of VR with its seated camera arrangement..

Oculus had already moved towards using the camera before they had any real interest shown by Facebook as they demo'd that at CES.

[3trip]

The Lowest Common Denominator.

Why do I cast away things as soon as they become 'the latest thing'?

Am I a hipster?

What happens when something becomes 'popular'?....

Lets look at 'Hollywood' movies for example. Their goal is too make as much money as possible. To achieve this they strain to placate as many different demographics as possible to broaden the audience. In doing so they end up placating very few after being spread into a grey mush of generalizations.

What about Facebook Oculus?

My concern here is that the Rift's upper limits may never be realized because it is now on course to be a daily tool of soccer mums, social media slaves and general douches. These are the people Facebook have already hinted they will be aiming at. The every day Joe, not the VR enthusiast.

Do these average Joe's need or want a 210 degree FOV, 360 head tracking and positional tracking, wireless haptic glove linked VR setups? Maybe the seated Cv1 will be all they ever need or want. If even that.

Given that things like the Virtuix Omni are fringe products for true VR enthusiasts and the Rift is already steering away from that vision of VR with its seated camera arrangement.

Is the Rift set to become the Iphone of the HMD world? The dumbed down smartphone for the masses?

I cant see why not.

If so we can only hope it will give rise to he Androids of the world to build something better...

you know the lowest common denominator in Hollywood films wants realistic 3d effects in movies, so why would you think occulus & facebook will settle for less immersion? Especially now that occulus has the funding, you know the first release will be substantially better now thanks to that.

[Okta]

you know the lowest common denominator in Hollywood films wants realistic 3d effects in movies, so why would you think occulus & facebook will settle for less immersion? Especially now that occulus has the funding, you know the first release will be substantially better now thanks to that.

Do they? I thought they wanted to do crappy 2d-3d conversions to charge more for tickets?

[Okta]

Given that things like the Virtuix Omni are fringe products for true VR enthusiasts and the Rift is already steering away from that vision of VR with its seated camera arrangement..

Oculus had already moved towards using the camera before they had any real interest shown by Facebook as they demo'd that at CES.

That is true, but knowing Facefails end game, what is their motivation to move beyond that?

[V8Griff]

Given that things like the Virtuix Omni are fringe products for true VR enthusiasts and the Rift is already steering away from that vision of VR with its seated camera arrangement..

Oculus had already moved towards using the camera before they had any real interest shown by Facebook as they demo'd that at CES.

That is true, but knowing Facefails end game, what is their motivation to move beyond that?

Regardless of what people think about Facebook it's still a business and they will want to exploit every market so even if their desire is for seated applications it's still likely that ALL avenues will be investigated to maximise the sales opportunities. Also competition from other companies such as Sony who seem to have a 360 degree solution implemented on the Morpheus will assist in keeping them honest.

I'd suspect that with a more rigid strap over the head it would be relatively easy to mount additional LEDs to afford 360 degree tracking to the Rift as well.

Even so there is nothing preventing the true VR enthusiast ie the folk on here from implementing other positional tracking methods and ignoring or supplementing the data coming from the Rift tracking.