Facebook's Social VR

“We’re making the long-term bet that immersive, virtual and augmented reality will become a part of people’s daily lives." Mark Zuckerberg made this comment when he bought Oculus Rift two years ago.

At F8 Developer Conference 2016, Zuckerberg launched "Social VR" that connects two or more real people in a virtual world. To show a demo of the latest invention in San Francisco, Mike Schroepfer, the Chief Technology Officer of Facebook, strapped on an Oculus Rift virtual reality headset and connected with Product Manager Michael Booth in Menlo Park, California. The two didn't meet in reality but in virtual reality, where they were able to chat and experience London together.

Schroepfer also took a selfie with Booth and shared with the crowd at the conference and said, "In other words, you and a pal can hook up in the virtual world, and decide which 360-degree photo you'd like to visit maybe a landmark like the Eiffel Tower."

Facebook currently has two teams building social VR tools; "This team will explore how people can connect and share using today's VR technology, as well as long-term possibilities as VR evolves into an increasingly important computing platform," the company wrote in an official blog post.

“Proximity would no longer determine who you spend your time with. Virtual reality is the ultimate social platform where physical differences disappear, really feeling like you're there,” explained Yaser Sheikh, head of Oculus research.

Zuckerberg addedd, "Pretty soon, we're going to live in a world where everyone has the power to share and experience whole scenes as if we're there in person. Social VR is going to change the way we all experience the world."

One of the key challenges faced by Facebook is making the digital avatars as real as possible. Currently, they look like cartoons. However, Facebook is thinking of other ways to make these avatars more personal.

Oculus will begin shipping its headset to early adopters next month