• Latest
  • All
  • How To
Facebook’s Virtual Insanity, Taking Virtual Reality Beyond Gaming through $2 Billion Investment in Oculus VR

Facebook’s Virtual Insanity, Taking Virtual Reality Beyond Gaming through $2 Billion Investment in Oculus VR

March 26, 2014
xiaomi

Xiaomi June 26 Mega Launch: From EVs to Foldables

June 24, 2025
All-Screen-iPhone-2027-Apple

Apple Reportedly Working on an All-Screen iPhone

June 24, 2025
Unified Payment Interface

CBK’s New Fast Payment System Plan Could Rival M-Pesa

June 24, 2025
Starlink

Starlink Resumes Sign-Ups in Nairobi After 7-Month Freeze

June 24, 2025
DHgate Tablet Cases deals
ASUS ROG Flow Z13

ASUS ROG Flow Z13 Proves Portability and Power Can Coexist

June 24, 2025
Infinix InBook Air

Infinix InBook Air Review: Perfect Laptop for Students and Simple Workflows

spotify-mobile

Spotify Lossless HiFi Update Nears Reality After Years of Delay

June 23, 2025
whatsapp

WhatsApp Is Testing a New AI Tool To Help Users Write Texts

June 23, 2025
SHIF Status

How to Check Your SHIF Status in Kenya: A Complete Guide

June 23, 2025
youtube google ai

Google Finally Admits To Using YouTube Videos To Train Its AI Models

June 23, 2025
Microsoft AI for Good Lab tool GIRAFFE

How Microsoft’s AI for Good Lab Is Helping Save Giraffes from Extinction

June 20, 2025
itel City 100

Gen Z Get a New Budget AI Smartphone With the itel City 100

June 20, 2025
Techweez | Tech News, Reviews, Deals, Tips and How To
  • News
  • Entertainment
  • Reviews
  • Features
  • Editorial
No Result
View All Result
Techweez | Tech News, Reviews, Deals, Tips and How To
  • News
  • Entertainment
  • Reviews
  • Features
  • Editorial
No Result
View All Result
Techweez | Tech News, Reviews, Deals, Tips and How To
No Result
View All Result

Facebook’s Virtual Insanity, Taking Virtual Reality Beyond Gaming through $2 Billion Investment in Oculus VR

Carlos Ageng'o by Carlos Ageng'o
March 26, 2014
in News
Reading Time: 3 mins read
248
0
Palmer Luckey - Oculus VR Co-founder

Palmer Luckey - Oculus VR Co-founder

Facebook’s investment into Instagram and WhatsApp was in an area where the company already has experience, messaging. Much as the company’s interest in Oculus is may seem alien to its business and can be compared to Google’s acquisition of Android in 2005. Both form investments into future platforms – Android represents mobile platform and Oculus, the virtual reality platform.

Palmer Luckey - Oculus VR Co-founder
Palmer Luckey – Oculus VR Co-founder

Discussions between the 2 companies began several months ago with Facebook valuing Oculus VR at $1.5 billion three months ago. Oculus CEO demoed the Rift to Mark Zuckerberg back in February. “The initial expectation wasn’t that he was coming down to acquire us. He just wanted to see what we were up to.” – Brendan Iribe, Oculus VR CEO.

Oculus VR was founded by Palmer Luckey, getting its initial funding from supporters on Kickstarter at $2.5 million. The company later got funded by VC’s in a campaign led by Andreesen Horowitz raising $75 million. The Oculus Rift prototype sold at $300 with developers ordering 75,000 units, the last developer version of the headset was released at the GDC 2014 for pre-order with a $350 price tag. A consumer version of the VR headset is next in the production roadmap and the newly found commitment from Facebook promises the mass production of an affordable VR headset. Facebook values Oculus at $2 billion, of this $400 million will be in cash. The rest of that money broken down: 23.1 million shares of Facebook common stock, $300 million earn-out in cash and stock based on future performance
RIFT
The deal had initially been resisted by Oculus VR investors upon fears that the compnay would lose its independence under the social media giant. The buy-out however provides Oculus with enough resources to achieve its target of bringing VR to the consumer market. Its long term goal is to create an affordable VR experience and make this available in a small form factor.

“A decade or two from now, it will be nothing but sunglasses. You’d put them on and have this new virtual world.” Iribe said while speaking to Re/Code’s Eric Johnson.
comics-oculus-rift-virtual-reality-nerfnow-664672
Development for the VR headset is now set to go beyond gaming platforms now that Oculus has won confidence as a technology built for the future. “While the applications for virtual reality technology beyond gaming are in their nascent stages, several industries are already experimenting with the technology, and Facebook plans to extend Oculus’ existing advantage in gaming to new verticals, including communications, media and entertainment, education and other areas,” says Facebook in a press statement.

So far development of the VR headset has been driven by the mobile market. Components used to create the Rift are not particularly optimized for the headset but for the smartphones. Through Facebook’s support, Oculus can now scale up production and acquire hardware built specifically for VR therefore creating the product in greater volumes. The risk of investing in VR has now also been greatly reduced – this had been part of the reception given to Project Morpheus (“[…] with Sony getting in the mix, it really does mean there’s going to be a bigger audience, there’s going to be more people that can buy games,” Oculus VR co-founder, Nate Mitchell while speaking at Develop).
order
“We are excited to work with Mark and the Facebook team to deliver the very best virtual reality platform in the world. We believe virtual reality will be heavily defined by social experiences that connect people in magical, new ways. It is a transformative and disruptive technology, that enables the world to experience the impossible, and it’s only just the beginning.” – Brendan Iribe.

Oculus headquarters remain in Irvine, CA with the transaction expected to close in the second quarter of 2014.

Tags: FacebookVirtual Reality
SendShare146Tweet92
Carlos Ageng'o

Carlos Ageng'o

Bringing you news on information systems, business intelligence and IT innovations. Contact me on @aKhadiemik and c [dot] agengo [at] techweez [dot] com

Related Posts

Kenya's Government Censors X for Global Image

Abductions and Arrests! Kenyan Government’s Fear and Hate of X Users Makes No Sense

June 19, 2025
University student fined for defamatory Facebook posts

University Student Fined KES 7.5 Million for Defamatory Facebook Posts

May 29, 2025
ID Checks May Soon Be Required for Social Media in Kenya

ID Checks May Soon Be Required for Social Media in Kenya

May 21, 2025
Apple Event

Apple Becomes First Trillion Dollar Brand in New Global Ranking

May 20, 2025
Android FreeType patch

Android May 2025 Security Update Fixes Critical FreeType Zero-Click Vulnerability

May 7, 2025
Meta

Meta Criticized Over AI Chatbots’ Disturbing Interactions with Minors

April 28, 2025

Latest

xiaomi

Xiaomi June 26 Mega Launch: From EVs to Foldables

June 24, 2025
All-Screen-iPhone-2027-Apple

Apple Reportedly Working on an All-Screen iPhone

June 24, 2025
Unified Payment Interface

CBK’s New Fast Payment System Plan Could Rival M-Pesa

June 24, 2025
Starlink

Starlink Resumes Sign-Ups in Nairobi After 7-Month Freeze

June 24, 2025
ASUS ROG Flow Z13

ASUS ROG Flow Z13 Proves Portability and Power Can Coexist

June 24, 2025
Infinix InBook Air

Infinix InBook Air Review: Perfect Laptop for Students and Simple Workflows

Best devices

budget smartwatches 2025

Best Budget Smartwatches To Buy in Kenya 2025

February 13, 2025

Best Infinix Smartphones To Buy in Kenya 2024

February 13, 2025

Best Laptops for Battery Life in 2024

August 21, 2024

Best “Battery Warrior” Smartphones To Buy in 2024

August 22, 2024

Xiaomi June 26 Mega Launch: From EVs to Foldables

June 24, 2025

Apple Reportedly Working on an All-Screen iPhone

June 24, 2025

Techweez is a fast growing influential source of technology news, reviews and analysis by leading tech geeks in the industry.

Follow Us

Editorials

Abductions and Arrests! Kenyan Government’s Fear and Hate of X Users Makes No Sense

Actors and Film Crews Are Worried About Veo 3 Taking Their Jobs

Samsung QLED TVs Now Officially Certified for Real Quantum Dot Technology

Trump’s Tariffs Will Be the End of Affordable Tech

5 Ways to Prep Your Tech for Resale

The Weaponization of PDFs: How Cybercriminals Are Exploiting a Trusted Format

More News

Spotify Lossless HiFi Update Nears Reality After Years of Delay

WhatsApp Is Testing a New AI Tool To Help Users Write Texts

How to Check Your SHIF Status in Kenya: A Complete Guide

Google Finally Admits To Using YouTube Videos To Train Its AI Models

How Microsoft’s AI for Good Lab Is Helping Save Giraffes from Extinction

Gen Z Get a New Budget AI Smartphone With the itel City 100

  • Terms Of Use
  • Techweez Brand
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact Us

© 2024 Techweez - Palahala Media Group may earn a commission when you buy through links on our sites.
A Palahala Media Group Brand. All rights reserved.
.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist

Techweez | Tech News, Reviews, Deals, Tips and How To
Crunchy Cookies 🍪 Ahead!

Hey there! Just a heads-up: we're big fans of cookies - both the digital and edible kind! 🍪 We use our cookies and some from third parties to ensure your browsing experience on our site is smooth sailing and secure.

 

But wait, there's more! We also use cookies to gather stats and insights on how you navigate our site. It's like getting a behind-the-scenes peek at your digital adventures!

 

Don't worry, you're in control. You can adjust your cookie settings anytime to suit your preferences. Feeling curious? Dive into our Privacy Policy for all the juicy details. Happy browsing! 🚀

Functional Always active
Listen, this legal stuff is about as exciting as watching paint dry. But it basically says we only use your stuff for what you asked us to do, and nobody else gets to peek!
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
It's those sneaky cookie crumbs websites leave behind to count visitors, like counting ants at a picnic! Totally harmless, just for fun facts. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
Hey there! Just letting you know we use some fancy gizmos to remember your preferences. This way, we can show you ads that are, well, not completely bananas.
Manage options Manage services Manage {vendor_count} vendors Read more about these purposes
Make cookies
{title} {title} {title}
Techweez | Tech News, Reviews, Deals, Tips and How To
Crunchy Cookies 🍪 Ahead!
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
Listen, this legal stuff is about as exciting as watching paint dry. But it basically says we only use your stuff for what you asked us to do, and nobody else gets to peek!
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
It's those sneaky cookie crumbs websites leave behind to count visitors, like counting ants at a picnic! Totally harmless, just for fun facts. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
Hey there! Just letting you know we use some fancy gizmos to remember your preferences. This way, we can show you ads that are, well, not completely bananas.
Manage options Manage services Manage {vendor_count} vendors Read more about these purposes
Make cookies
{title} {title} {title}
No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Features
  • Editorial
  • Automotive
  • Entertainment

© 2024 Techweez - Palahala Media Group may earn a commission when you buy through links on our sites.
A Palahala Media Group Brand. All rights reserved.
.