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  • California, U.S.
    Jun, 2012

    Palmer Luckey

    California, U.S.
    Jun, 2012

    As a head-mounted display (HMD) designer at the University of Southern California Institute for Creative Technologies, Palmer Luckey earned a reputation for having the largest personal collection of HMDs in the world and was a longtime moderator in Meant to be Seen (MTBS)'s discussion forums.




  • Los Angeles, California, U.S.
    Jun, 2012

    The beginning of the fund

    Los Angeles, California, U.S.
    Jun, 2012

    The Oculus Rift prototype was demonstrated at E3 in June 2012. On August 1, 2012, the company announced a Kickstarter campaign to further develop the product.




  • California, U.S.
    Jul, 2012

    The Foundation

    California, U.S.
    Jul, 2012

    Through MTBS's forums, Palmer developed the idea of creating a new head-mounted display that was more effective than what was currently on the market and was also inexpensive for gamers. To develop the new product. Luckey founded Oculus VR with Scaleform co-founders Brendan Iribe and Michael Antonov, Nate Mitchell, and Andrew Scott Reisse.




  • Menlo Park, California, U.S.
    Dec, 2012

    Dev Kit

    Menlo Park, California, U.S.
    Dec, 2012

    Oculus announced that the "dev kit" version of the Oculus Rift would be given as a reward to backers who pledged $300 or more on Kickstarter, with an expected shipping date set of December 2012 (though they did not actually ship until March 2013).




  • California, U.S.
    Thursday Dec 12, 2013

    Marc Andreessen

    California, U.S.
    Thursday Dec 12, 2013

    On December 12, 2013, Marc Andreessen joined the company's board when his firm, Andreessen Horowitz, led the $75 million Series B venture funding. In total, Oculus VR has raised $91 million with $2.4 million raised via crowdfunding.




  • Suwon-si, South Korea
    2014

    Samsung Partnership

    Suwon-si, South Korea
    2014

    In 2014, Samsung partnered with Oculus to develop the Gear VR, after the success of the then-in-development Rift.




  • Menlo Park, California, U.S.
    Tuesday Mar 25, 2014

    Facebook Acquisition

    Menlo Park, California, U.S.
    Tuesday Mar 25, 2014

    Although Oculus only released a development prototype of its headset, on March 25, 2014, Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook, Inc. would be acquiring Oculus for US$2 billion, pending regulatory approval. The deal included $400 million in cash and 23.1 million common shares of Facebook, valued at $1.6 billion, as well as an additional $300 million assuming Facebook reaches certain milestones. This move was ridiculed by some backers who felt the acquisition was counter to the independent ideology of crowdfunding.


  • Menlo Park, California, U.S.
    Friday Mar 28, 2014

    Michael Abrash

    Menlo Park, California, U.S.
    Friday Mar 28, 2014

    On March 28, 2014, Michael Abrash joined the company as Chief Scientist.


  • Los Angeles, California, U.S.
    2010s

    The Note 4 VR collaboration

    Los Angeles, California, U.S.
    2010s

    From 2014 through 15, two Innovator Editions (in-development versions of the Gear VR mainly sold to developers for sole research and understanding) were developed, manufactured, and sold. The device that the Innovator Editions used was the Note 4.


  • Menlo Park, California, U.S.
    Jan, 2015

    HQ Transported

    Menlo Park, California, U.S.
    Jan, 2015

    As of January 2015, the Oculus headquarters has been moved from Irvine, California to Menlo Park, where Facebook's Headquarters is also located. Oculus has stated that this move is for their employees to be closer to Silicon Valley.


  • Los Angeles, California, U.S.
    May, 2015

    Acquiring Surreal Vision

    Los Angeles, California, U.S.
    May, 2015

    In May 2015, Oculus acquired the British company Surreal Vision, a company based on 3D scene-mapping reconstruction and augmented reality. News reported that Oculus and Surreal Vision could create "mixed reality" technology in Oculus' products, similar to the upcoming HMD, Microsoft HoloLens. They reported that Oculus, with Surreal's help, will make telepresence possible.


  • Los Angeles, California, U.S.
    Friday Nov 20, 2015

    Gear VR

    Los Angeles, California, U.S.
    Friday Nov 20, 2015

    On November 20, 2015, the consumer edition of the Gear VR was released to the public and sold out during the first shipments. The device supported the Samsung Galaxy Note 5, Samsung Galaxy S6, Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge, Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+, and later, the Samsung Galaxy S7, and Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge.


  • California, United States
    Mar, 2016

    Facebook Itegration

    California, United States
    Mar, 2016

    Upon the acquisition of Oculus by Facebook Inc., Luckey "guaranteed" that "you won't need to log into your Facebook account every time you wanna use the Oculus Rift." Under its ownership, Oculus has been promoted as a brand of Facebook rather than an independent entity and has increasingly integrated Facebook platforms into Oculus products. Support for optional Facebook integration was added to Gear VR in March 2016, with a focus on integration with the social network, and integrations with features such as Facebook Video and social games.


  • California, U.S.
    Monday Mar 28, 2016

    Oculus Rift Release

    California, U.S.
    Monday Mar 28, 2016

    The Oculus Rift CV1, also known as simply the Oculus Rift, was the first consumer model of the Oculus Rift headset. It was released on March 28, 2016, in 20 countries, at a starting price of US$599. The 6,955 backers who received the Development Kit 1 prototype via the original Oculus Rift Kickstarter campaign were eligible to receive the CV1 model for free.


  • California, U.S.
    Sep, 2016

    Optional Facebook Support

    California, U.S.
    Sep, 2016

    In September 2016, support for optional Facebook integration was added to the Oculus Rift software, automatically populating the friends' list with Facebook friends who have also linked their accounts (displaying them to each other under their real names, but still displaying screen names to anyone else).


  • California, U.S.
    2016

    Oculus from Facebook

    California, U.S.
    2016

    By 2016, the division began to be largely marketed as Oculus from Facebook.


  • California, U.S.
    Tuesday Dec 6, 2016

    Oculus Touch

    California, U.S.
    Tuesday Dec 6, 2016

    On December 6, 2016, Oculus released motion controller accessories for the headset known as Oculus Touch.


  • Los Angeles, California, U.S.
    Wednesday Dec 28, 2016

    Facebook acquired The Eye Tribe

    Los Angeles, California, U.S.
    Wednesday Dec 28, 2016

    On December 28, 2016, Facebook acquired Danish eye-tracking startup The Eye Tribe.


  • U.S.
    Feb, 2017

    ZeniMax Media

    U.S.
    Feb, 2017

    Following Facebook's acquisition of Oculus VR, ZeniMax Media, the parent company of id Software, and John Carmack's previous employer sought legal action against Oculus, accusing the company of theft of intellectual property relating to the Oculus Rift due to Carmack's transition from id Software to Oculus. The case, ZeniMax v. Oculus, was heard in a jury trial in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, and their verdict was reached in February 2017, finding that Carmack had taken code from ZeniMax and used it in developing the Oculus Rift's software, violating his non-disclosure agreement with ZeniMax, and Oculus' use of the code was considered copyright infringement. ZeniMax was awarded $500 million in the verdict, and both ZeniMax and Oculus are seeking further court actions.


  • California, U.S.
    Wednesday Oct 11, 2017

    Oculus Go

    California, U.S.
    Wednesday Oct 11, 2017

    On October 11, 2017, Oculus unveiled the Oculus Go, a mobile VR headset manufactured by Xiaomi (the device was released in the Chinese market as the Xiaomi Mi VR). Unlike the Oculus Rift, the Go is a standalone headset that is not dependent on a PC for operation. Unlike VR systems such as Cardboard, Daydream, and the Oculus co-developed Samsung Gear VR (where VR software is run on a smartphone inserted into a physical enclosure, and its screen is viewed through lenses), it contains its own dedicated display and mobile computing hardware. The headset includes a 5.5-inch 1440p fast-switching LCD display, integrated speakers with spatial audio and a headphone jack for external audio, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 system-on-chip, and 32 or 64 GB of internal storage. It runs an Android-based operating system with access to VR software via the Oculus Home user experience and app store, including games and multimedia apps. The Go includes a handheld controller reminiscent of one designed for the Gear VR, which uses relative motion tracking. The Oculus Go does not use positional tracking.


  • California, U.S.
    2018

    The first Generation

    California, U.S.
    2018

    The initial Oculus headsets, produced under the "Oculus Rift" brand, are traditional VR headsets that require a PC to operate. In 2018, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated that the original Oculus Rift "CV1", Oculus Go (a lower-end standalone headset released in 2017), and first-generation Quest were the company's first generation of products, and expected new iterations of the three to be developed for a second generation of the company's technology.


  • Burlingame, California, U.S.
    Aug, 2018

    Burlingame Point campus

    Burlingame, California, U.S.
    Aug, 2018

    Facebook announced in August 2018 they had entered negotiations to lease the entire Burlingame Point campus in Burlingame, California, then under construction. The lease was executed in late 2018, and the site, owned by Kylli, a subsidiary of Genzon Investment Group, was expected to be complete by 2020. Oculus was expected to move to Burlingame Point when development is complete.


  • Los Angeles, California, U.S.
    Sep, 2018

    Entity Within

    Los Angeles, California, U.S.
    Sep, 2018

    In September 2018, Oculus became a division of a new structural entity within Facebook known as Facebook Technologies, LLC.


  • California, U.S.
    Wednesday Sep 26, 2018

    The Oculus Quest

    California, U.S.
    Wednesday Sep 26, 2018

    On September 26, 2018, Facebook unveiled Oculus Quest. It was originally unveiled as a higher-end counterpart to the Oculus Go, and part of a goal to reach one billion VR users. Similar to Oculus Go, it uses embedded mobile hardware running an Android-based operating system, including a Snapdragon 835 system-on-chip, and 64 or 128 GB of internal storage. The Quest uses OLED displays with a resolution of 1600x1440 per eye and running at 72 Hz. It supports Oculus Touch controllers via an "inside-out" motion tracking system known as "Oculus insight", which consists of a series of cameras embedded in the headset. The controllers were redesigned to properly function with Insight. It supports games and applications downloaded via Oculus Store, with ported launch titles such as Beat Saber and Robo Recall. It also supports cross-platform multiplayer and cross-buys between PC and Quest. Facebook stated that they would impose stricter content and quality standards for software distributed for Quest than its other platforms, including requiring developers to undergo a pre-screening of their concepts to demonstrate "quality and probable market success".


  • California, U.S.
    Wednesday Mar 20, 2019

    Oculus Rift S

    California, U.S.
    Wednesday Mar 20, 2019

    On March 20, 2019, at the Game Developers Conference, Facebook announced the Oculus Rift S, a successor to the original Oculus Rift headset. It was co-developed with and manufactured by Lenovo and launched at a price of US$399. The Rift S contains hardware features from the Oculus Go and Oculus Quest, including Oculus Insight, integrated speakers, and a new "halo" strap. The Rift S uses the same 1440p fast-switching LCD display and lenses as the Oculus Go (a higher resolution in comparison to the original model, but lower in comparison to Oculus Quest), running at 80 Hz, and is backward compatible with all existing Oculus Rift games and software. Unlike the original Oculus Rift, it does not have hardware control for inter-pupillary distance.


  • California, U.S.
    2019

    Oculus Rift S Favored

    California, U.S.
    2019

    Oculus began to phase out the original Oculus Rift "CV1" in 2019, in favor of Oculus Rift S — a follow-up to the original model manufactured by Lenovo that incorporates elements of the Go and Quest.


  • Menlo Park, California, U.S.
    Tuesday Aug 13, 2019

    Nate Mitchell Departure

    Menlo Park, California, U.S.
    Tuesday Aug 13, 2019

    On August 13, 2019, Nate Mitchell, Oculus co-founder and VP of product announced his departure from the company.


  • California, U.S.
    Nov, 2019

    Oculus Link

    California, U.S.
    Nov, 2019

    In November 2019, Facebook released a beta for a new feature known as Oculus Link, which allows the Quest to be attached to a PC over USB 3.0 for use with Oculus Rift-compatible software.


  • California, U.S.
    Wednesday Nov 13, 2019

    CTO Stepping Down

    California, U.S.
    Wednesday Nov 13, 2019

    On November 13, 2019, John Carmack wrote in a Facebook post that he would step down as CTO of Oculus to focus on developing artificial general intelligence. He stated he would remain involved with the company as a "Consulting CTO".


  • California, U.S.
    Jun, 2020

    Oculus Go End-of-Life

    California, U.S.
    Jun, 2020

    Oculus Go was declared end-of-life in June 2020, with software submissions to end in December 2020, and firmware support ending in 2022.


  • California, U.S.
    Thursday Aug 13, 2020

    The "user" Data

    California, U.S.
    Thursday Aug 13, 2020

    On August 18, 2020, Facebook announced that all "decisions around use, processing, retention, and sharing of [user] data" on its platforms will be delegated to the Facebook social network moving forward. Users will soon become subject to the unified Facebook privacy policy, code of conduct, and community guidelines, and all users will be required to have a Facebook account to access Oculus products and services.


  • California, U.S.
    Tuesday Aug 18, 2020

    New policies

    California, U.S.
    Tuesday Aug 18, 2020

    Standalone account registration became unavailable in October 2020, all future Oculus hardware (beginning with Oculus Quest 2) only supported Facebook accounts, and support for existing standalone Oculus accounts on already-released products will end on January 1, 2023. Facebook stated that this was needed to facilitate "more Facebook powered multiplayer and social experiences" and make it "easier to share across our platforms". Facebook stated that users would still be able to control sharing from Oculus, maintain a separate friends list within the Oculus platform, and hide their real names from others.


  • Germany
    Sep, 2020

    Decision Criticisms

    Germany
    Sep, 2020

    Users and media criticized Facebook for the move. Ars Technica noted that there is no clear way to opt-out of information tracking and that the collected data will likely be used for targeted advertising. Furthermore, Facebook requires the use of a person's real name. In September 2020, Facebook temporarily suspended sales of the Oculus Quest in Germany; a German watchdog had presented concerns that this integration requirement violates the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which prohibits making use of a service contingent on consenting to the collection of personally identifiable information, and the requirement that existing users also link to a Facebook account to use Oculus hardware and services.


  • California, U.S.
    Sep, 2020

    Oculus Quest 2 Announcement

    California, U.S.
    Sep, 2020

    In September 2020, Facebook unveiled an updated version of the Quest, Oculus Quest 2. It is similar to the original Quest, but with the Snapdragon XR2 system-on-chip and additional RAM, an all-plastic exterior, new cloth head straps, improved Oculus Touch controllers with improved ergonomics and battery life, and an 1832x1920 per-eye display that is currently supporting running at 120 Hz. Similar to the Rift S, it uses a single display panel rather than individual panels for each eye. Due to this design, it has more limited inter-pupillary distance options than the original Quest, with the ability to physically move the lenses to adjust for 3 common IPD measurements. The Quest 2's models are both priced US$100 cheaper than their first-generation equivalents.


  • California, U.S.
    Wednesday Sep 16, 2020

    Oculus Quest 2 Favored

    California, U.S.
    Wednesday Sep 16, 2020

    On September 16, 2020, the Rift S was discontinued in favor of the Oculus Quest 2.


  • California, U.S.
    Jun, 2021

    Facebook Announcement

    California, U.S.
    Jun, 2021

    In June 2021, Facebook announced it would do a test launch of targeted advertisements in applications for Oculus Quest. The company claims that movement data, voice recordings, and raw images from the headset will not be used in targeting. Instead, the ads will rely on information from the user's Facebook profile and all user activity related to Oculus - installing apps, viewing content, subscription to apps, adding an app to the checkout cart or wishlist. The company has not stated whether ads will appear only in applications or in the Oculus Home experience as well.


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