And it wants you to create 360 degree content to share with your mates
Facebook has kept pretty quiet on the VR front since it splashed the cash on Oculus back in March 2014 but chief product officer Chris Cox has just dropped a few juicy quotes at the Code/Media conference, revealing that the social network is busy creating VR apps.
“I mean, virtual reality is pretty cool,” he told Re/code’s Peter Kafka. “We’re working on apps for VR.”
Speaking about VR experience from the likes of Google Cardboard and Samsung Gear VR, Cox said: “You’re looking at the future, and it’s going to be awesome.”
He stated that Facebook media, particularly video, is being uploaded and engaged with at “record pace” in 2015 and that soon we will all be creating our own VR content though he didn’t offer any timeline. “You’ll do it, Beyoncé will do it,” said Cox.
Read this: The best Google Cardboard apps
We can see the appeal – adding an element of personalisation to virtual tourism, for instance. Go on your dream travelling stint and send your parents or mates 360 degrees videos of Peru or Bali instead of just Skyping them from the hotel.
“When you’re in Facebook, you’re just sending around these bits of experience — a photo, a video, a thought,” Cox said, whereas with VR, you could be “sending a fuller picture.”
Let’s just hope that fuller picture doesn’t end up being a stream of kittens falling over in 360 degrees. Otherwise we’ll have some serious Facebook culling to do before we get cosy with VR headsets including Facebook’s own consumer version of the Oculus Rift.
