In a move that should surprise no one who has followed the VR industry in the last year, Facebook announced yesterday that they are officially developing versions of their wide app library for VR.
Less than a year after purchasing Oculus for $2.1bn, Facebook is clearly already thinking towards the future of social media. At Recode’s Code/Media conference, Facebook’s head of product, Chris Cox, told Peter Kafka “we are working on apps for VR.”
Continuing to elaborate, Cox spoke to how currently with Facebook “you’re just sending around these bits of experience – a photo, a video, a thought,” but with VR you get to see a “fuller picture.” When asked when we might be able to see these apps in action, Cox remained as coy as anyone at Oculus saying it will be “a while” before we see them.
Release dates aside, this is pretty big news for the industry. We have long speculated that Facebook was internally working on versions of it’s product library suited for VR, it only makes sense given the price tag it paid for Oculus. It confirms that the company still sees the bright social future for VR; which has been evidenced by a number of successful social VR events – such as AltspaceVR’s Super Bowl party, and Convrge’s VR dance party, and the success of platforms like VRChat, JanusVR, and RiftMax.
