How Facebook’s Social VR Could Be The Killer App For Virtual Reality
...a demo that Schroepfer showed on stage at F8 was just a very early prototype of what social VR could be, and while the company would surely love to hand ready-for-primetime social VR experiences to users today, it’s a safer bet to expect them when they’re ready, and really capable of delivering what the company calls "social presence"—the sense that you’re really with other people, sharing real experiences, when you’re using multiperson VR.
Oculus first began showing people multi-user VR last year, it’s "Toybox" experience, a delightful two-person romp that utilizes the company’s hand-held Touch controllers, which integrate users’ hands in three-dimensional space. If you ever listen to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg talk about VR, you’ll inevitably hear him talk about how you can play ping-pong against another person in VR. That’s Toybox.
Now, though, Facebook is making multi-user VR much more social. During his keynote, Schroepfer showed how he and Mike Booth, a Facebook engineer located at the company’s Silicon Valley headquarters more than 30 miles away, were able to jump together into a series of 360-degree photographs, with each person represented by an animated avatar, and each able to see all around them as they interacted.
They even pulled out a VR selfie stick and took an instant selfie, which they then uploaded directly to Facebook. This was totally social—no game mechanics at all. That’s because, Social VR product manager Mike Beltzner explained to Fast Company at F8, Facebook found through its research that playing games, even with other people, took away from the social experience. "The more game-like it is," Beltzner said, "the less you interact."
"Some have raised concerns that VR and [augmented reality] might be disconnecting, but Facebook's social VR demo shows how these immersive experiences can bring people together," said Linc Gasking, the cofounder and CEO of 8i, a leading VR technology developer. "It's clear that the holy grail for VR and AR is people. It's real humans that are going to drive these social interfaces that will connect us in ways we haven't yet imagined. Soon you'll not only be able to take a virtual selfie with your friend, but imagine taking a selfie with your friend and Steph Curry after watching a Warriors game in VR."
While the on-stage demo involved Schroepfer and Booth interacting inside a still 360 image, Beltzner told Fast Company that the social VR group has worked with 360 video as well.
Anthony Batt, co-founder of the VR production company Wevr. "The Internet has taught us that computers are as much about communication as they are about computation.
Gasking said "These immersive platforms will bring about a transition of how we experience the many tech applications we use on a daily basis. In the future, we'll essentially walk into volumetric immersive applications, not just social apps like Facebook, but also e-commerce, real estate, dating, education, or any number of apps we consume on a flat screen today."
See the full story here: http://www.fastcompany.com/3058914/how-facebooks-social-vr-could-be-the-killer-app-for-virtual-reality