VIRTUALWORLD—It surely must be nice to have billions lying around to buy shit. Like the two billion Facebook just coughed up for Oculus VR, Inc., a leader in immersive virtual reality technology. Considering the excitement that Oculus has generated among the developer community, grabbing it for a cool 2 bil in cash and FB shares has to be considered something of a coup for Facebook, which sees its new toy as a platform for the future.
In an announcement issued today, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg sounded positively effusive about the acquisition, stating, "Mobile is the platform of today, and now we're also getting ready for the platforms of tomorrow. Oculus has the chance to create the most social platform ever, and change the way we work, play and communicate."
The announcement also pointed to growing interest in the the new technology, stating, "Oculus is the leader in immersive virtual reality technology and has already built strong interest among developers, having received more than 75,000 orders for development kits for the company's virtual reality headset, the Oculus Rift. While the applications for virtual reality technology beyond gaming are in their nascent stages, several industries are already experimenting with the technology, and Facebook plans to extend Oculus' existing advantage in gaming to new verticals, including communications, media and entertainment, education and other areas. Given these broad potential applications, virtual reality technology is a strong candidate to emerge as the next social and communications platform."
Okay, sounds great, but what about the porn? As AVN has previously reported, adult innovators are already hard at work creating sexy immersive uses for the Oculus Rift, including Thrixxx and a game called "Wicked Paradise." But now that Facebook is the parent of Oculus, as with Google Glass, it's hard to imagine the kids being allowed to play with porn. Indeed, assuming Facebook will want to have a social network footprint attached to every use Oculus is put to—and that is a very reasonable assumption—porn is destined to be an official outlier at best.
Still, technology, like information, demands to be free, so look for a myriad of profoundly creative uses for the Oculus Rift, including sexual ones.
The transaction between Facebook and Oculus VR is anticipated to take place in the second quarter of this year, according to today's announcement, which included the breakdown of the agreed-upon deal. The $2 billion sale price "includes $400 million in cash and 23.1 million shares of Facebook common stock (valued at $1.6 billion based on the average closing price of the 20 trading days preceding March 21, 2014 of $69.35 per share). The agreement also provides for an additional $300 million earn-out in cash and stock based on the achievement of certain milestones."
