Facebook held their F8 developer conference in San Francisco this week to demonstrate how technology is going to evolve over the next 10 years. The talk centred around A.I, solar powered internet planes, and Virtual Reality.
VR has been in process for the past few years, immersing gamers into completely new worlds. The 360° view headsets that allow the user to block out their surroundings in favour for somewhere different have been deemed an anti-social activity.
That is, until Facebook CTO Mike Schroepfer revealed social VR.
In a market predicted to be worth $120 billion by 2020, it’s no wonder that the biggest social influencer in the world is leading the move and developing a platform where you can meet with friends and family across the globe without leaving the couch.
The teams behind the VR tools are working on scenes which can allow as many as five people to interact with each other at once. And, although this hasn’t been officially released yet, it clearly shows the direction social VR is heading.
The Oculus headset was purchased by Facebook two years ago and developers who thought the VR industry might take off have been proven correct. Other companies were quick to follow with Google, Sony and HTC all pushing the headset development to the forefront of their efforts.
Some of the speakers were represented by customised avatars which visually represented them instead of the generic cartoon characters. It was also mentioned that the headset may be able to capture the user’s face, or use uploaded pictures from Facebook to create a personalised avatar.
The headsets allow you to teleport into surroundings by becoming absorbed in spheres, for example; you can visit a landmark, take a selfie with your friends, and upload and share on Facebook.
VR is building an exciting future for technology, but at the current price and the incredibly niche uses it’s unclear whether it will lead the way as the future of social and interaction.
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