Let’s Socialize, The VR Way

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Lets socialize, the VR way

• With time, we have found better ways to
  communicate and share. Earlier it was text which
  later moved on to a picture. Well, a picture was
  definitely the medium we widely accepted but what
  was more engaging was a video. And to bring this
  all to us, we cannot forget but thank Facebook.
  After Facebooks video strategy turned out to be
  a success, the social network giants CEO is now
  eager to completely revolutionize the way we
  communicate by mastering virtual reality
  technologies. Almost 2 years back Facebook
  acquired Oculus VR for 2 billion, a company
  known for making virtual reality glasses. Well,
  that huge amount says for itself that some big
  things are about to begin. So, lets get to know
  how Facebook is helping in bringing the most
  immersive and engaging technology Virtual
  Reality to masses.
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• Till now we have seen virtual reality as a medium
  of escape. The HMDs are meant to be mounted to
  shut down the real world in favour of a virtual
  one. But here, we are talking about Social VR.
  Though any of the games or apps available for VR
  till date have nothing much to do with being
  social but then there comes Facebook. Facebook,
  an inherently social company is working towards
  making virtual reality Social.

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• Recently, at the F8 developer conference,
  Facebook demoed how it looks at virtual reality
  which is precisely connecting two or more people
  in a virtual world. As everyone watched, Facebook
  CTO Mike Schroepfer stood on stage in front of a
  live audience in San Francisco, put on one of
  Facebooks Oculus Rift virtual reality headsets
  and teleported to London. There, he met up with
  another Facebook employee, who was actually
  wearing his own headset at the companys Menlo
  Park, Calif., headquarters. The two didnt
  actually meet, of course, but they were able to
  chat and experience London together as digital
  avatars. They even took a virtual selfie and then
  shared it directly to their real Facebook page.

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• According to facebook, the idea is to give a
  sense of what we mean when we say enabling
  virtual and social presence in VR. The most
  important part of the Facebook Social VR
  experience is to make people feel like they are
  inhabiting the same space. Like they say, Its
  about sharing an experience, but not to go into
  space and shoot aliens. Talking about the
  future, Zuckerberg exclaimed that, in the
  future well probably still carry phones in our
  pockets, but I think well also have glasses on
  our faces that can help us out throughout the day
  and give us the ability to share our experiences
  with those we love in completely immersive and
  new ways that arent possible today. 
• But, considering the fact that VR is an expensive
  technology and so are high-end headgears like
  Facebooks Oculus Rift, bringing the concept of
  social VR to masses is going to be a tough task.
  If Facebook wants to sell lots of VR headsets
  and, more importantly, get the world using its VR
  software, it needs to create interest for VR
  technology beyond the solo gamer. 
• Though, the ability to meet others face-to-face
  from thousands of miles apart might help.
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