Facebook acquires Oculus VR for R21.4 billion

Facebook has announced a US$2 billion (±R21.4 billion) deal to acquire Oculus VR, makers of the in-development head-mounted virtual reality set named Oculus Rift, Reuters reports.

The Oculus deal comprises $400 million in cash and 23.1 million shares of Facebook common stock.

This acquisition follows a $19 billion deal for WhatsApp, and marks Facebook’s first hardware deal. The company said virtual reality is a strong candidate to emerge as the next social and communications platform.

Said Facebook founder and Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg, “mobile is the platform of today, and now we’re also getting ready for the platforms of tomorrow. Oculus has the chance to create the most social platform ever, and change the way we work, play and communicate.”

About Oculus Rift

While the Oculus Rift will occupy gamer’s thoughts for its immersive potential, the project has many potential applications, such as in fields of education, film, architecture, and design.

During January’s CES 2014, Oculus VR unveiled its latest Rift virtual reality headset prototype, dubbed Crystal Cove.

With a redesigned form factor, the display is now an AMOLED screen at 1080p resolution with 110 degrees of vision.

Oculus VR has implemented “low persistence” display technology which reduces motion blur, and latency has been reduced which eases some of the motion sickness experienced by users. Oculus has managed to achieve a 30ms latency, but is targeting 20ms for the final product.

Positional tracking has been implemented, meaning the wearer can now lean and tilt the viewpoint in the virtual environment.

Further head movement monitoring allows for in-game movement through head motions – up/down, left/right, and forward/back. This is done using an external tracking camera that monitors LEDs on the headset.