The company’s VR/AR division will now be referred to as Facebook Reality Labs.
Oculus Connect is now Facebook Connect according to an update by Andrew Bosworth, head of the new Facebook Reality Lab.
Kicking-off September 16th, this years’ Facebook Connect will be the first conducted exclusively in a virtual format. Despite the lack of a physical venue, however, event organizers are promising big-name keynotes, educational developer sessions, and “tons of exciting announcements” throughout the multiday event.
Facebook’s VR/AR division, Oculus Research, is also receiving a bit of love in the form of a new label: Facebook Reality Labs. Lead by the previously-mentioned Andrew Bosworth, FRL will handle all VR/AR-related projects at Facebook moving forward as the company continues its shift away from its Oculus branding.
“Before today, we lacked a unified brand identity from which to tell the story of how we’re building the future of VR and AR,” states Bosworth. “With the Facebook Reality Labs name, we’re making clear where these technologies are coming from. We hope you’ll come along for the ride. In the meantime, we’ll be working in the lab.”
Last week the company announced plans for mandatory Facebook integration on all future hardware leading to an overall negative response from the community, many of whom angry with the company for “going back on its word.” Future devices will require users to link an official Facebook account in order to access the full suite of social features available at their disposal. Those operating current Oculus hardware with an Oculus account can continue to do so until 2023, at which point they too will need to merge their existing accounts or create a new one from scratch.
Facebook Connect kicks off September 16th on Facebook Live and Oculus Venues, or should I say Venues. No schedule has been provided as of yet, though John Carmack has confirmed via Twitter that he will be delivering his usual live talk as per tradition. Seeing as Carmack recently switched his focus from VR to AI, it’ll be interesting to hear his thoughts on the industry this past year.
Be sure you’re keeping up-to-date with everything Facebook Connect on Twitter and Facebook.
Image Credit: Facebook
