In an unexpected business ploy, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg has purchased the rights to the virtual reality system known as the Oculus Rift for $2 billion. Many people are wondering what a social media giant like Facebook could want with the VR system.
After the announcement of the purchase was made, Zuckerberg described it as a “long term bet on the future of computing.” One demonstration shows how the platform could be used for an interesting virtual shopping experience. The video shows the customer put the goggles on and then proceed through a virtual mall with real stores such as Nordstrom. The user then picks up a purse and turns it around and looks at it in 3D, before purchasing it.
Senior Soren Swanson isn’t thrilled about Oculus selling its soul to Facebook, especially since Swanson helped the company get started by donating to its Kickstarter page.
“I think it’s weird and creepy,” Swanson said. “Recently, Facebook has been buying a lot of random start ups, trying to get their fingers in all the little pies.”
Oculus Rift is the leading virtual reality platform on the market at the moment. It allows gamers to immerse themselves in a three-dimensional world that they can explore and feel like they are actually there. Further ideas Zuckerberg has proposed is being able to attend a class without actually being in the classroom.
“I think the whole point of the Oculus Rift is to get away from reality,” Swanson said. “It was pretty shady and weird in my opinion.”
The gaming community in general, which helped the Oculus get started by donating through the crowdfunder Kickstarter, is very upset about the companies decision to sell itself to Facebook.
“I donated to the Kickstarter and got a developer kit,” Swanson said. “In a sense, I feel like I got ripped off. There’s nothing legally that people can do, if you read the fine print you’re really just making a donation. Definitely not going to end up buying one now.”
Junior Estrella Ramos owns an Oculus Rift and isn’t thrilled about Oculus’ decision either.
“I purchased it for gaming,” Ramos said. “I have a few of the games and it’s really cool. I don’t understand the point of having a “virtual mall” or whatever, I can just get up and go to the mall. I enjoy playing the games and that’s it.”
Mason Baas • Apr 17, 2014 at 12:23 pm
So now I can play virtual Call of Duty on Facebook?
Henry Jones • Apr 16, 2014 at 3:53 pm
It made me sad when Notch announced he was canceling Minecraft compatibility with OR. 🙁