SAN FRANCISCO: At the F8 developer conference in San Francisco, Facebook’s chief technology officer Mike Schroepfer hinted that VR games are coming to Facebook.
“Why is VR going to work now, when it didn’t work in the ’80s and ’90s? … Each one of these core tracks of technology had to hit a minimum core viability…to get to that sense of presence to sense that you’re truly there,” Schroepfer said.
Schroepfer also said the prospect of VR gaming could come “this year,” and that people may soon play games in VR on “something” shipped by Oculus.
Facebook spokesperson said that this was not intended as an announcement of availability for Oculus Rift’s consumer version.
“You’re going to be able to do it in something shipped by Oculus. This is going to be incredible,” he said.
Schroepfer also showed a demo for the game EVE: Valkyrie, where users are in the cockpit of a spaceship.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Oculus VR told, when asked if Oculus Rift would be for sale this year: “Nah. When we are ready to announce consumer, we will shout it from the mountaintops.”
Oculus chief scientist Michael Abrash said during the keynote that VR done right “truly is reality, as far as the observer is concerned.”
But he added VR today “is good enough to create experiences, but just barely.”
He also said consumer-ready VR headsets could take “a year or two” before they are ready for realistic VR experiences
