Facebook Inc. is pushing the frontiers of virtual reality. The firm is forging ahead in its bid to make virtual reality (VR), well, more real with the purchase of an Israeli startup named Pebbles Interfaces. News breaking yesterday has it that Facebook’s virtual reality unit Oculus VR has bought Pebbles.
Oculus VR and Pebbles were quiet about the details of the deal but the Wall Street Journal reports that Facebook paid about $60M for the purchase. Facebook Oculus is one of the leading firms in the field of VR. The Pebbles’ deal will further help Oculus provide a better VR platform.
Pebbles has a VR technology that helps users to see their arms and hands in the VR world. Most of the VR systems don’t show the hands and arms of users.
Few of them could provide digitally rendered arms and hands for users. Pebbles sums up its importance to Oculus’s VR push in a statement saying, “at the forefront of that shift is Oculus, and joining Oculus will help advance our vision building immersive experiences and revolutionizing digital human interaction.”
The Future is Brighter for Facebook
Just yesterday, some analysts opined that Facebook’s second quarter (Q2 2015) earnings are less relevant in the grand scheme of things. Most of the market may not bat an eyelid if Facebook fails to meet forecasts on sales and earnings in the current quarter or in the next couple of quarters. Those with Facebook shares are keeping their eyes on the long-term at Facebook.
For one, the firm has monetized its Facebook social network for ad revenues. The firm is throwing out new features to keep users engaged. The firm is also rolling out new sets of ad-friendly initiatives. Wall Street seems to think that is that Facebook is probably undervalued because the firm is more than its social media network.
The potential input from Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp has not been factored into Facebook value if some on Wall Street are believed. Then, there is Oculus, which is at the forefront of creating products for a total VR experience. The release of the Oculus Rift is scheduled for Q1 2016. The firm is already working on the second and third gens of the product.
Facebook has big dreams for its VR unit – to Facebook, it’s more than a platform for playing games. In a Wired Article, Facebook CTO, Mike Schroepfer provided insights into the far-reaching uses of VR. He said that virtual reality might be the next frontier for networking as people begin to shoot immersive 360 degree videos.
