While Oculus is mostly known for producing hardware like the Oculus Rift and the upcoming Oculus Go and Santa Cruz headsets, the company also works closely with a number of developers and content creators to produce new virtual reality (VR) experiences. This is the impetus behind the Oculus Launch Pad, as promoted at the Oculus Connect event.
Launch Pad is aimed at helping promising VR content creators develop and market their ideas, particularly creators from marginalised groups whose different perspectives can create a richer range of VR content. Oculus finds these candidates through an application process, then brings them to a two-day boot camp.
The boot camp, held at the Oculus and Facebook headquarters at Menlo Park get a free Samsung Gear VR headset, along with hands-on courses that help support their interest in VR, followed by continued support and mentoring as the candidates continue to develop their ideas.
As said by Oculus themselves: “VR is for everyone, and the best way to grow a vibrant content ecosystem with mass appeal is to incorporate the full range of unique perspectives from our development community.”
Full details for the 2018 Launch Pad applications have not been released, but further details can be found on the Oculus website. A video presentation is available to view below.
VRFocus itself helped sponsor a similar event geared towards helping promote diversity in the VR field. As always, more details and further new on VR events will be here once they become available.