oculus - Tech News from Simmons Systems

Tech News from Simmons Systems

oculus

A collection of 26 posts

Legendary Game Developer John Carmack Raises $20M for AGI Startup Keen Technologies

Id Software co-founder John Carmack launches Keen Technologies, an artificial general intelligence startup backed by $20 million from Sequoia and prominent tech executives. Carmack aims to develop AI that functions as a universal remote worker.

Meta Acquires VR Fitness App Creator Within Following Company Rebrand

Meta bolsters its metaverse ambitions by acquiring Within, the Los Angeles startup behind the popular VR workout app Supernatural. The deal aims to expand virtual reality fitness offerings and enhance future hardware.

Facebook Renames Itself Meta to Pursue Virtual Reality Future

Facebook Inc. changes its corporate name to Meta as CEO Mark Zuckerberg shifts the company's focus toward building the metaverse. This rebrand reflects a new emphasis on augmented and virtual reality experiences that connect people across shared digital spaces.

Meta Quietly Retires Oculus Brand Despite Promises of No Changes

Shortly after Mark Zuckerberg promises that existing brands will not change during the Meta rebrand, the company announces it is killing off the Oculus name. The Oculus app and Oculus Quest headset will both adopt the Meta name early next year.

Facebook Parent Company Rebrands as Meta to Build the Metaverse

Facebook's parent company officially changes its name to Meta as it shifts its focus toward building the metaverse. The rebranding brings the company's apps and technologies under one new corporate umbrella.

Facebook Builds Massive First-Person Video Dataset to Train Future AI

Facebook announces Ego4D, a massive 2,200-hour first-person video dataset designed to train artificial intelligence for smart glasses and virtual reality. The tech giant plans to release the data publicly to researchers in November.

Massive DNS Failure Takes Down Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp for Six Hours

A widespread DNS configuration error knocks out all of Facebook's major platforms, impacting billions of users and halting internal company operations. Services are now back online, and the company confirms no user data was compromised during the outage.

Valve Ends SteamVR Support for Mac, Shifts Focus to Windows and Linux

Valve drops official macOS support for its SteamVR platform, leaving Mac owners to rely on legacy builds or Windows installations. The decision comes less than two years after Apple heavily promoted VR capabilities at its developer conference.

Adobe Acquires 3D Sculpting Tool as Facebook Shifts VR Focus

Facebook sells its VR sculpting software Oculus Medium to Adobe, signaling a strategic shift away from non-gaming creative tools. The move allows Adobe to integrate the niche software into its existing product ecosystem.

Oculus Visionary John Carmack Shifts Focus to Pursue Artificial General Intelligence

Legendary game developer John Carmack transitions to a consulting role at Facebook's Oculus to tackle the immense challenge of building Artificial General Intelligence. He pursues this highly ambitious goal from home as a self-described "Victorian Gentleman Scientist" before he gets too old.

Verizon Acquires Fading VR Startup Jaunt's Tech Assets

Verizon picks up the technology assets of Disney-backed virtual reality startup Jaunt after the company struggles to find a sustainable business model. The deal includes both Jaunt's older VR tech and newer augmented reality efforts, though no employees are joining Verizon.

Facebook Bets Billions on VR to Replace the World Wide Web

Facebook acquires CTRL-Labs and prepares to launch its Horizon VR universe as part of a long-term strategy to transition users from traditional web browsing to living inside a virtual shared space.