Oculus VR might not just be used for entertainment purposes according to Facebook, as the popular headset has several other applications beyond just those that are purely in the name of fun. Of course, there are also social media functions and applications that might also appear in the device, especially since the Oculus Rift headset and the company behind it are owned by Facebook.
Speaking in a recent interview, Oculus’s chief product officer Chris Cox stated that you will most likely be seeing Facebook apps and services on the headset as well – you might be able to share more than just pictures and videos from the device, as Cox said in vague terms that it could be possible for users to stream their current environment to other users in real time through the device as well.
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If you’re packing an Oculus Rift on holiday, or just in your living room, this means you could very well share a direct first person view of your current surroundings to other Oculus Rift devices – a sort of ‘spectator view’ of what you’re seeing beamed directly into the eyes of whoever is watching.
His description of a planned ‘Facebook VR’ app also sounded like users might even be able to piece together a fully viewable 360 degree environment from multiple sources in a sort of panoramic streaming video. Whilst so far we’ve heard very little about any kind of Facebook branded project for the device, if it does end up fitting this description it could require massive amounts of bandwidth to get it working.
This might sound crazy, but the applications of such a system again could be far greater than just simply entertaining users – you could even do a bit of learning using the headsets, and we know it sounds crazy but complex activities such as playing the piano, or even open heart surgery (okay that IS crazy), could be streamed from a first person viewpoint to people on the other end to learn the ropes themselves.
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Trying to piece together just what Facebook on VR might be like is difficult at this point – Mark Zuckerberg’s statement on the purchase of Oculus – “Imagine sharing not just moments with your friends online, but entire experiences and adventures,” – seems to be coming to fruition at this point. But it’s still early days for both the Oculus Rift platform as well as VR as a whole.
What we do know is that this year a fresh batch of prototypes as well as testing programs for a whole host of VR devices are on the way, but 2015 is probably not going to be the year when VR fully emerges from maturation from a far fetched concept to a huge mainstream product.
Via: The Verge
Via: Techspot