Having bought Oculus last year for an obscene sum, Facebook is looking at how it can really get the most out of its $2 billion. The answer: something called “Teleportation Station”.
Announced during a press event before the start of the Dublin Web Summit, Facebook CTO Mike Schroepfer wants to start teleporting people to new worlds by 2025, according to The Next Web.
“Facebook wants to build a device that allows you to be anywhere you want, with anyone, regardless of geographic boundaries,” said Schroepfer.
Of course, this isn’t real teleportation we’re talking about here. Instead, Schroepfer sees the Teleportation Station as a way to trick your senses into believing the virtual world you’re seeing and interacting with is actually real.
The first part of this mammoth challenge is Oculus Touch, the two virtual reality controllers expected to arrive early next year. The second hurdle will be to use Oculus’ strong ties with content creators to deliver more virtual worlds for users to explore, along with Oculus’ acquisition of Surreal Vision so anyone can easily create their own worlds.
The third challenge, however, is far trickier because it involves immersing the senses. Facebook isn’t taking the challenge lightly, though, and could easily solve it through research and acquisitions by 2025.
Teleportation Station was actually revealed just before Facebook’s F8 summit earlier this year, but nothing about it was actually mentioned at the event itself. While Schroepfer didn’t touch upon why this was the case, it’s likely Facebook didn’t feel ready to fully reveal its plan, despite unveiling some new Timeline-focused VR tech.
For a glimpse of what VR interactions could look like in the future, read about how Speech Graphics is bridging the uncanny valley through the power of speech.
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