Oculus’ Hugo Barra Unboxes the Gear VR’s New Controller

Today will see Facebook hold its annual F8 conference in California, with plenty of news expected relating to virtual reality (VR). Before that takes place the new head of Oculus, Hugo Barra, has released an unboxing video showcasing the Gear VR Controller as well as the Galaxy S8.

The new Gear VR controller was officially unveiled during the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Spain, with only a few details emerging. Then during the Samsung Unpacked event in March the company announced the specifications, pricing and availability of the device.

Hugo Barra - Oculus Announcement

Current Gear VR owners will be able to buy the controller for $39 USD, or those new to the platform can purchase the Gear VR + Controller package for $129. In Barra’s video, the all-in-one box is now shown, with the Oculus head detailing the various included components.

He then runs through the features of Gear VR before looking at the controller in more depth. While VRFocus  readers have probably seen numerous images and flashy marketing trailers on the new device, the unboxing video gives a really nice look at the ergonomics and feel of a product that’s likely to be very popular with Gear VR owners.

Over 70 titles are being worked on with Barra confirming at least 20 will be available for launch which takes place this Friday 21st April. Video games confirmed for the controller so far include Augmented Empire, Drop DeadSingSpace and Rangi.

Checkout the video below, and for all the latest Oculus new and updates, keep reading VRFocus.

Hugo Barra to Lead Oculus and “All Virtual Reality Efforts” at Facebook

Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg has tapped Hugo Barra, Xiaomi’s current Global VP, for the position of CEO at Oculus VR. Barra will be tasked with not only leading Oculus, Facebook’s subsidiary, but all of Facebook’s VR projects. Barra will be replacing Brendan Iribe who stepped down from the position last month to head the company’s PC VR group.

Hugo Barra [image courtesy NDTV Gadgets 360]
Hugo Barra [image courtesy NDTV Gadgets 360]
Before his time at Xiaomi, Brazillian entrepreneur Barra was also VP of Android product management, often taking to the stage at major events to introduce new versions of the mobile operating system and the company’s flagship phones. Later, Barra left Google for chinese mobile manufacturer Xiaomi becoming VP of International, again taking on front-of-house duties for the company’s major announcements.

“I’ve known Hugo for a long time, starting when he helped develop the Android operating system, to the last few years he’s worked at Xiaomi in Beijing bringing innovative devices to millions of people,” writes Zuckerberg in a Facebook blogpost.

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“Hugo shares my belief that virtual and augmented reality will be the next major computing platform. They’ll enable us to experience completely new things and be more creative than ever before. Hugo is going to help build that future, and I’m looking forward to having him on our team.”

“It’s been a dream of mine to work in virtual reality even back when AR/VR were just figments of science fiction; now we’re taking selfies in virtual worlds,” writes Barra. “I learned from Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun that there’s no greater calling in our industry than taking breakthrough tech and making it available to the greatest number of people. Really looking forward to doing just that at Facebook — taking VR mainstream — working with you, Brendan, Mike Schroepfer, and the Oculus team!”

It’s been a tumultuous few months at Oculus, with the surprise announcement that its original CEO, Brendan Iribe, was to step down and the ongoing $2Bn legal battle with game publisher Zenimax over alleged IP theft by their former employee and now Oculus CTO, John Carmack. That legal case is due to reach its conclusion on Monday, with any potential ramifications likely falling to Barra to deal with. On top of that,

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The appointment of Barra hopefully now provides Oculus with the leadership it needs as it continues to try to built its VR empire in the face of strong competition from Valve and HTC in the PC VR Market and Google’s Daydream VR offering rivalry for its Samsung Gear VR partnership. But despite suffering a number of setbacks in 2016, with the strong public support from its parent company Facebook and the universally well received recent launch of its motion controllers Oculus Touch, Barra has reasons to be positive heading into 2017 in his new role.

The post Hugo Barra to Lead Oculus and “All Virtual Reality Efforts” at Facebook appeared first on Road to VR.

Ex Xiaomi VP Hugo Barra to Head Oculus Confirms Zuckerberg

It’s been an announcement the virtual reality (VR) industry has been awaiting for just over a month now, but finally the new head of Oculus has been confirmed. In a post on his own account, Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg has revealed that Hugo Barra will now lead the VR company on its future endeavours.

Heading the Oculus team at Facebook, Barra brings with him years of experience having been Vice President at Chinese tech giant Xiaomi, and prior to that VP of Android Product Management at Google.

In his Facebook post Zuckerberg said: “I’m excited that Hugo Barra is joining Facebook to lead all of our virtual reality efforts, including our Oculus team. Hugo’s in China right now, so here we are together in VR. It seems fitting.

“I’ve known Hugo for a long time, starting when he helped develop the Android operating system, to the last few years he’s worked at Xiaomi in Beijing bringing innovative devices to millions of people.

“Hugo shares my belief that virtual and augmented reality will be the next major computing platform. They’ll enable us to experience completely new things and be more creative than ever before. Hugo is going to help build that future, and I’m looking forward to having him on our team.”

Hugo Barra - Oculus Announcement

To which Barra responded: Thanks, Mark! I can’t wait to get started in building that future and join the team in a couple of months. It’s been a dream of mine to work in virtual reality even back when AR/VR were just figments of science fiction; now we’re taking selfies in virtual worlds. I learned from Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun that there’s no greater calling in our industry than taking breakthrough tech and making it available to the greatest number of people. Really looking forward to doing just that at Facebook — taking VR mainstream — working with you, Brendan, Mike Schroepfer, and the Oculus team!”

So while it’s going to be a couple of months until Barra joins the company fully, Oculus’ previous CEO Brendan Iribe will helm the PC focused arm of the business while Jon Thomason will lead the mobile side. What’s still unclear is where original founder and previous face of Oculus, Palmer Luckey, will fit in.

For further coverage of Oculus, keep reading VRFocus.