One of the big hopes of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is putting billions of users on VR (Virtual Reality). For now, this is a very grandiose goal, and related data show that last year's The entire industry in the third quarter, VR equipment shipments of only 1 million units.
For this reason, Recode interviewed Hugo Barra, Zuckerberg's executive director for VR operations, who had long been working at Google and had been overextended by China's smart phone maker Xiaomi At the beginning of last year, he started as Facebook's vice president responsible for VR business. During his time at Google, Barra was in charge of several early versions of Android research and development, and later joined Xiaomi to help Xiaomi grow overseas.He has now Becoming the de facto CEO of Facebook's Oculus business. "Oculus is actually the virtual reality company Facebook bought in 2014 for more than $ 2 billion.
At CES this week in Las Vegas, Barra shows a product that helps Facebook accelerate its ambitious vision of virtual reality, the all-new VR all-in-one , But Barra VR this one machine is mainly aimed at the Chinese market.At present, Facebook is working with millet to jointly solve the technical issues of this new product, as well as the issue of new products.
Although this cooperation was made after Barra left Facebook to join Millet, Barra said he did not have much influence on Facebook's social network header. "In a media interview this week, Barra said: 'It has been some time since Xiaomi and Oculus formed a partnership.'
Of course, in helping to achieve the ambitious goal of Facebook, Barre is never forget that the so-called "VR one machine" the importance of the so-called VR one machine, that is, the device is not configured bulky cables, do not need smart phones In the view of Barra, VR one machine is the key to promote the mainstream of VR equipment in the future.
Last October, Facebook announced the launch of its first VR all-in-one machine, the 'Oculus Go', which debuted the second of its kind in the Chinese market on Monday, both of which are expected to be available this year. In addition, Facebook also showed off last fall a prototype of a standalone VR all-in-one called Santa Cruz, but the exact date of the device is not yet available, and other Facebook rivals, such as Google and Google HTC, etc., have also introduced their own VR one machine equipment.
In this regard, Barra said, 'One machine is the most user-friendly device, users can easily wear, do not have to worry about many other issues, we think this is the most convenient VR devices that can exist for us, to Want to attract as many users to use VR technology, then the VR one machine is the key product.
Here's an excerpt from Recode's interview with Barra this week on related issues.
Recode: Facebook has always wanted to enter the Chinese market.Oculus will be Facebook to expand more of the Chinese market, the bridge? Or, this new type of VR device will stand alone outside of Facebook?
Barra: More to the latter Millet has been partnered with Oculus for some time, and we want our partner to be a company that has a reputation for creating high quality consumer electronics products, Push these products to the consumer.In addition, we also hope that the partners have a certain VR experience, understand the industry and a leading position in the Chinese market. No doubt they are very much in line with these standards, in fact, not all Of the companies meet these standards.
Recode: Why did you take over VR on Facebook? Is this a passionate tech job for you?
Barra: The first job in my life was an internship at the Disney Image Engineering department. I was mainly involved in the DisneyQuest project. Now it seems that these efforts have some VR features. That is to say, Disney built it 20 years ago It's why they are able to do a lot of virtual reality today, so I am a longtime fan of virtual reality, be it a consumer or an engineer. I have had the opportunity to work on platform development but seldom have the opportunity to develop something that is one of the most important platforms in our industry or something that is very important to consumers around the world and I think what we have - The way these problems are - what we have in VR and what Oculus has is just one of those things that are precious.
Recode: Since you joined, Oculus's practice is different?
Barra: I think one of the things I helped to do was really understand the importance of accessible devices and the importance of focusing on devices that make people easy to use, and of course the many things that we put into market for Oculus Go products These are my personal very passionate jobs.If I am not here, do these things happen? I do not know, but I think it can happen, but not sure.All way, this is a product that makes me very passionate.
Recode: The idea of making good products inexpensive Benefit from the time and experience of working in millet?
Barra: And indeed, both, largely due to my previous experience with millet, Android, and other parts of Google, when we were building applications for early phones, where I had been building platforms, including Those that allow these platforms to attract as many gamers as possible.
Recode: What's the biggest misconception about VR?
Barra: I think it's an isolationist view, believing that once a user uses VR, he or she is isolated from the rest of the world and others, but in our opinion the opposite is true. In fact, VR is A new technology that connects users to other people who may not be easily connected, and I think isolationist users may not have seen it yet or they have not tried that experience yet.
Recode: In addition to the price, so that VR equipment to usher in more users who will face those obstacles?
Barra: Of course, to give users a great experience, we also need to develop content ecosystem, so that we can give users a diverse experience.I have a VR headset, you also have a VR headset So, what can we do together? Maybe we can watch the movie together, maybe we can sculpt together or draw together, play games together, play cards together and browse the site together. All in all, it's all just beginning.
Recode: You have a deep understanding of the state of early Android, then how would you compare the early VR situation with the early days of the mobile industry?
Barra: Your question reminds me of a lot about mobile, and I remember that the research and development of the mobile business shifted from HTML5 and web pages to navigational development as well as from navigating R & D from stationary to more dynamic UIs. When a design changes or a way to make an application change, the developer has to go through an experience, but to argue and progress, things are.
Recode: Are you interested in creating Oculus retail stores?
Barra: We do not have that plan yet, and I do not think it is necessary, at least for now, because our partners are happy to work with us to bring Oculus equipment into their own retail business.
Recode: If you can only achieve one goal this year, then this goal will be what?
Barra: Of course it's building our partnership in this new product, the VR all-in-one product. We are currently working on Oculus Go and, of course, we're going to invest in Santa Cruz. Is one of the most important tasks we are facing this year.