We’re a day out from Oculus Connect 6 and a group of software designers are teasing big things.
Jonathan Ravasz, Product Design Prototyper at Facebook, recently tweeted about a session he’ll be hosting tomorrow. The session’s title is ‘To Be Announced’ and it will also feature Engineering Manager, Jenny Spurlock. In a tweet, Ravasz added that designer Etienne Pinchon, Product Designer Adam Varga and Interactions Designer Eugene Krivoruchko would join them to talk about “something special we have been cooking up”. The session takes place an hour after Facebook’s opening keynote ends.
I am excited to be giving a deep dive talk at #OC6 on something special we have been cooking up with @EtiennePinchon, @dmvrg & @crookookoo and the rest of our fantastic design crew at Oculus.
Hope to see you there and come say hi! ? pic.twitter.com/2UQqHN4hIc
— Jonathan Ravasz ? OC6 (@jonathan_ravasz) September 23, 2019
Notably, these designers are based in Facebook’s London offices. In another tweet, Pinchon stated that the session would prive a “sneak peak [sic] at this insanely cool and game changing thing we have been working on”.
Hey hey everyone! ? That’s finally it! ?The big reveal is approaching! So stoked for you to have your first sneak peak at this insanely cool and game changing thing we have been working on for you guys! Prepare to get mind blown! Don’t miss our talk, you will love it! ?✌️#OC6 https://t.co/zfiU3ad9UE
— Etienne Pinchon (@EtiennePinchon) September 23, 2019
Interaction Innovations?
Each of these designers has been working specifically in VR software, not hardware. Krivoruchko worked on software for hand-tracking at Leap Motion and Pinchon worked on a WebVR creation platform named Hologram. Ravasz, meanwhile, previously worked on Oculus Rooms and Venues and Varga’s Twitter bio notes an interest in “XR” and “interfaces”.
Furthermore, a recent listing for a Software Engineer at Facebook’s London offices reads: “As a software engineer for AR/VR at Facebook London, you’ll be working at the forefront of building the future of interaction in VR with the team that built Oculus Rooms and Oculus Venues. We’re looking for talented engineers passionate about product and working on cutting edge technologies.”
The company is also currently looking for a UX Designer in London.
This news might not relate to any new hardware, then. Looking at that past body of work, though, it could be related to how we interact with VR. Could the inside-out tracking cameras on Rift S and Quest be about to enable enhanced or entirely new forms of VR input?
Either way, we’re excited to see what this is. We’ll be at Connect tomorrow to bring you all the latest from the show. For now, check out our list of predictions for the main event.
