Facebook announced it will pay $2 billion for the virtual reality company Oculus VR.
The company creates the Oculus Rift headset, a gadget that lets user play a variety of video games.
Facebook said it will be using the hardware behind the company to create their own virtual reality platform.
In the past, virtual reality headsets were hindered by their limited field of view, making it appear like you were sitting in a dark room facing a television that was several feet from you.
But the Oculus Rift puts you inside the screen, with an enormous field of view expanding so that it fills your vision. With stereoscopic 3D built in too, the level of immersion is unparalleled.
Head-tracking technology allows the Rift to "keep up" as you turn your head to look around the virtual environment. The best way to describe it: You feel completely immersed in a virtual world. Your real-world surroundings disappear. It can even make you dizzy.
With the headset's enormous popularity, many non-developers have purchased developer kits without the intention of developing games. The company recently announced they would be expanding into movies.
Here's a taste of what you can do with the Oculus Rift developer kit right now. It will only get better especially after this recent acquisition.
The Rift Development Kit comes in this sturdy plastic box.
You wear the Rift just like a pair of ski goggles.
The Oculus Rift attaches to a relay box, which then hooks up to your computer. This allows the headset to be lighter. The relay box can be plugged in by either an HDMI or DVI cable.
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