Then that Playstation is about to release, on 13 October, his helmet virtual reality (VR), Facebook went on the offensive Thursday, 6 October, at a conference in San Jose, California. Mark Zuckerberg, the boss of the company has presented the future of the Oculus, the headset of VR owned by Facebook. With a demo out of the ordinary : on stage, he donned his helmet and showed how it could, in virtual reality, share with remote friends, embodied in avatars.
In this demonstration, the users talk amongst themselves, play chess or cards, and play with swords and lightsabers that they were able to draw themselves. The face of their avatar, which reminds the characters of Miitomo, the social network launched this year by Nintendo, can express several emotions, that the user triggers to the controllers, Oculus Touch. They can teleport set in different “universes” : a photo of the 360 degrees of the planet mars, an underwater video populated by sharks, and even the house of Mark Zuckerberg, in order to verify directly that her dog is doing well.
The founder of Facebook, has also shown that it was possible to add screens to the screen : users can watch a movie together on a virtual screen, responding to (real) video calls on Facebook Messenger and even take selfies… With a ” selfie stick “.
” that counts, it is who you are “
It is not known for the moment, at what stage of development is this service that is both fascinating and disturbing, or how it would work in real-life conditions, outside the framework of well-bounded demos official. But it embodies, nevertheless, the strong desire for Facebook to capitalize on the VR (virtual reality – ” virtual reality “), and social, to the time where one of the main criticisms made to this technology is precisely its individualism. A lot of critics of the RV estimate, as well as virtual reality as a hobby is doomed to fail because it deprives its users of the pleasure of social interaction. the ” The idea is that the virtual reality is first of all about the people “, , defends, on the contrary, Mark Zuckerberg in a post to Facebook. the ” What matters is with who you are. “
This application is akin to an amazing mix between Facebook and the VR – picks up the color code of Facebook and integrates some of the features of the social network, of which Messenger. The billionaire had already announced, at the time of acquisition of Oculus by Facebook in 2014, of its intention to make a social tool :
” It is really a new communication platform. Feeling really the presence of others, you can share spaces and experiences without limits with people who are a part of your life. Imagine that you can share online with your friends, not only moments, but experiences and adventures complete. “
other projects of VR social
” Attractive “ for some, ” absurd “ for others, the project of Facebook is not the only one to be dedicated to the virtual reality social. Some companies, like AltspaceVR, or vTime, try also to launch on the niche. Just as… Second Life, the platform, which had done so much talk about it over a decade ago, in which users, represented by an avatar infinitely configurable, could perform an incalculable number of actions in a virtual world. The CEO of Linden Lab, which develops in Second Life, had explained to the World in April that his company was working to create a similar platform that is compatible with the VR, called for the instant Project Sansar.
But unlike these companies, Facebook already has a user base of considerable potential, with the billion and a half people that make up its network. Provided, of course, that they are willing to acquire this helmet : 699 euros, without counting the price of the computer is able to make it work, nothing is less sure.
Read also : Why the Oculus Rift, the virtual reality helmet, may fail commercially
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