And that Marc Zuckerberg at the past Mobile World Congress said that I did not expect to make more purchases for a long period of time. The latest acquisition of Facebook has been the company Oculus VR for 2000 billion dollars, about 1450 billion euros at the exchange.
But what does that company do? If for Oculus VR nothing comes to mind, if I tell you about its flagship device called Oculus Rift, it is very likely that you still do not know what I am talking about unless you know the Kickstarter platform in which anyone can contribute money to develop the projects that seem most interesting to them.
Oculus Rift is a virtual reality device designed primarily by and for video gamesAlthough it can be used for other uses, such as in military training, that of video games is the main reason that led to the creation of this project. The project appeared on the Kickstarter crowdfunding platform a couple of years ago with the goal of obtaining $ 250.000, an amount that it far exceeded, reaching 2,4 million.
Due to the success of Oculus VR on Kickstarter, attracting the interest of many people who collaborated on the project, Sony, meanwhile, got down to work to design a similar device called Morpheus. A week before the announcement of the purchase of Oculus by Facebook, Sony officially presented the Morpheus virtual reality glasses, even without commercial availability. These glasses are designed for the new PS4 and will go on sale by the end of the year, perhaps around Christmas time, where companies make most of their income throughout the year. It is more than likely that this year, more companies will present similar devices.
This device, similar to that of snorkel goggles, completely covers the user's field of vision. One of the strengths is that you do not have to go to the gym before using these glasses, as they are quite light. In addition, the screens where the images are displayed are designed so as not to cause eye problems.
Can you imagine the past that would be to be able to play Modern Combat, Halo, Gear of War and others with this device? Would be like be fully part of the game interacting as if it were real life, without taking the physical risks that our characters endure. What we do not have to stop to think about is the face that people will make when they see us using this device turning their heads as if we were possessed.
When we talk about virtual reality to most of us in our thirties, several movies come to mind like Tron, The Lawnmower, Virtuosity and Total Challenge among others, all films from the 90s that was when this technology began to arouse interest among the public.
Nintendo, in 1995, released the Virtual Boy console that used a projector similar to glasses to show games in monochrome 3D, through a stereoscopic effect. It was a complete failure. The idea came to Nintendo after seeing the success of the movie The Lawnmower. If you flip the image, looks like an inverted lawn mower.
At the moment this device only available to developers, who have already begun to express their opinion regarding Facebook's purchase of Oculus. One of the most critical has been Markus Persson, creator of Minecraft and who was in negotiations with the company to create a version for this device. Markus has communicated via Twitter that he has canceled any possible deal with Oculus after it was purchased by Facebook. The reason he has communicated for not continuing to work for this platform is that Facebook is not a technology company, it is not dedicated to developing games and its objective has nothing to do with the industry. Other developers, however, have announced that they will continue working with Oculus just as they were doing until now, before the purchase by Facebook.
In theory, Oculus VR will remain independent. Despite the supposed independence that Oculus will enjoy, to the developers who have expressed their discomfort Users who donated money to carry out the project are joining them every time. Social media and internet forums are fuming. Many of them are requesting that the donated amount be returned to them. From the Reddit platform, Palmer Luckey, the brain of this technology, tries to calm the spirits "If I ever need a Facebook account to use this technology, I quit." He also commented that "over time people will realize that the purchase of Oculus VR by Facebook will be good for the project." It was good for him (he applied for patronage through crowdfunding and subsequently sold the company), but can Facebook really help this technology advance more quickly? o Will your input cause the project to be distorted?
When Facebook bought Instagran, it assured that there would be no changes to the platform, but Mark Zuckerberg has to make the businesses he acquires profitable, so users who were hoping that Instagram wasn't going to change were wrong. A few months ago it was announced that the vintage photography platform would begin to include advertising. With WhatsApp the same thing as always has been promised. When will advertising come to WhatsApp despite being a currently paid service? Will Facebook eliminate the annual fee to justify the introduction of advertising? To what extent is WhatsApp going to change?
Now you just have to wait and see what finally happens with Oculus. Will it be the end of virtual reality for video games? Or will it be a new way to play FarmVille? There are more unanswered questions right now than there are answers to all the questions that have arisen in the wake of the latest Facebook acquisition. Time will tell.
