Long ago, virtual reality felt like it was something that was a product of the fantasy world of movies. And here we are today with virtual reality sitting in the passenger's seat but chomping at the bit to take the wheel.
The current era of virtual reality started with a vision. VR headsets became a thing and a company called Oculus was born. And to top it all off, it was an American teenager who initiated it all.
But, what is Oculus? What does it do and who developed such technology? Find out who the Oculus founders are and how they are taking our world into the virtual reality universe.
What Is Oculus?
Oculus is a device mounted over the head that allows its user to interact with a virtual environment. The kit is similar to a pair of goggles that cover the eyes.
Most of the time, it is paired with a powerful PC to power and enact the images and environment properly.
Most popular PC brands are good enough to power with Oculus. Brands such as Dell, Alienware, and Asus all have the specs needed for this VR device.
Oculus has been known to produce top-quality virtual reality headsets and has developed some of the best including Oculus Rift and the Oculus Questline.
Uses of Oculus
Oculus headsets have many different uses however, the main purpose for such virtual reality technology is to provide its users with interactive experiences.
One major use of this virtual reality headset is it creates an intimate environment for its user and the computer to interact with. You may have also seen an ad circling the web of a mother who lost her daughter and was able to talk to her through the use of a virtual reality headset.
The 3D Effect
Oculus also presents this kind of realistic and much more personalized experience to some degree. While most internet users can only experience in two dimensions, Oculus provides a complete 3D virtual reality experience.
Apart from personal experience, Oculus is also devised as part of many other industries. One of which is within the architecture industry. Architects spend most of their time drawing and creating different simulations for their clients.
With the help of Oculus, clients can now see and even get to feel like they are walking through each room in the building and create a sense of the entire space.
Medical Assistance
Oculus devices also offer a great contribution to medicine. The device has allowed surgeons all over the world to be more confident and skilled when it comes to complicated surgeries.
Surgeries take a lot of planning and seeing the patient's body as if they were on the surgery table should help surgeons through proper training.
How Oculus Came to Be
Oculus started with a dream from a boy named Palmer Luckey. At the age of 15, he fell in love with the concept of virtual reality. It was his love for video games that fueled his passion for creating this powerful virtual reality headset.
It wasn't until he was 16 when he finally took his passion to new heights by creating his virtual reality headset after studying previous iterations of the device.
While he was attending college classes by day, he was experimenting on head-mounted displays by night. Oculus finally came to be when Luckey met the co-founder of id Software, John Cormack on a forum.
The two hit it off with their passion for creating VR headsets. Soon, these headsets were featured in conventions like E3 and the popularity of VR headsets skyrocketed.
Kickstarter Campaign
What started as a Kickstarter project hoping to sell just 100 headsets turned into a major venture as more and more industry leaders came to support the young startup.
Within 24 hours, the campaign reached over $600,000 and in three days, they would break the million-dollar mark. Later on, Facebook took an interest in the product and the rest is history.
Conclusion
The company that launched Oculus was met with backlash after the acquisition from Facebook however, it did not stop them.
From a meager dream coupled with intense passion and meeting the right people, Palmer Luckey was able to see his passion for virtual reality come to reality. And because of his vision, we'll be seeing more of VR.
