Facebook responds to the alliance between Google and Luxottica, with the purchase (yesterday) of Oculus, a leading company in virtual reality technology. The deal was closed for $2 billion, including $400 million in cash and 23,1 million in Facebook shares. Mark Zuckerberg himself announced it with a post on Facebook. The operation will be completed by the end of June.
“Our mission – wrote Zuckerberg – is to make the world more open and connected. In recent years this has mostly meant building mobile applications to allow sharing with people on your network. Much remains to be done on mobile, but at this point we believe we are in a position where we can focus on what the platforms will become next, and make the experiences even more useful, enjoyable and personal”.
The startup Oculus was founded through crowdfunding by a 21-year-old American, Palmer Luckey, who created a prototype of virtual glasses starting from a pair of ski goggles. They are called Oculus Rift and for now they are mainly used for games. Among the Oculus products stands out a suit that allows the player who wears it to experience the sensation of being on a playing field.
