Last week saw Facebook announce some major news regarding its virtual reality (VR) efforts and this influx continues today. The company has revealed that its annual Oculus Connect event is being rebranded and the official name for its VR/AR division has been formalised.
The event will now be called Facebook Connect and it’ll take place on 16th September. Like most other conferences the physical event has been turned into a digital one, open to anyone interested in attending.
Explaining the rebrand in a blog posting Facebook said: “This is our seventh year hosting our annual AR/VR conference, and over the years, Connect has grown to include so much more than Oculus, with research updates and product news from Spark AR to Portal from Facebook. Moving forward, our annual AR/VR event will be called Facebook Connect to better reflect its broader scope, and we look forward to sharing even more news that represents the work happening across the entire Facebook Reality Labs team.”
As for Facebook Reality Labs (FRL), the name isn’t actually new but what it encompasses is. Originally Oculus Research, this was the R&D arm which would occasionally announce projects such as lifelike avatars or the Half Dome prototypes. Now Facebook Reality Labs will be the umbrella name for the entire Facebook VR/AR team. The R&D teams will now go by FRL Research.
“AR and VR will change how we work, interact, and play, with novel use cases we haven’t even begun to imagine. Many of the technologies needed to deliver on the promise of AR glasses don’t exist yet,” notes a statement. “Rather than distracting us and taking us away from the people around us, tomorrow’s AR and VR devices will melt away, letting us connect and be truly present with the people and moments that matter most.”
The Oculus brand is slowly fading away as Facebook continues to assimilate the VR company into its branding. As further announcements are made, VRFocus will keep you updated.
Source: Read Full Article