Palmer Luckey's successful Oculus Rift Kickstarter in 2012 basically launched this new wave of VR hype we're currently in, but now he's leaving/being forced out of Oculus the company that Facebook now owns:
According to Oculus, this will be Palmer’s last week with Friday marking his official last day as an employee of Facebook. In an official statement, the company said that: “Palmer will be dearly missed. Palmer’s legacy extends far beyond Oculus. His inventive spirit helped kickstart the modern VR revolution and helped build an industry. We’re thankful for everything he did for Oculus and VR, and we wish him all the best.” When asked if Luckey’s departure was voluntary, Facebook representatives declined to comment, citing a policy of not discussing internal personnel matters.”
This is almost certainly due to Luckey becoming PR poison due to his troll-ish Trump support last year. I've met and spoke with Palmer several times since 2014, and always found him a enthusiastic, friendly dude, albeit with a sometimes dismissive arrogance typical to very young men who get a glimmer of Silicon Valley success so early on. For instance, he got into a bit of a hair-splitting debate with Philip Rosedale on my Facebook page. And when I profiled him for Wired last year, this is how he painted the social benefits of VR:
“It's easy for us to say, living in the great state of California, that VR is not as good as the real world,” Luckey went on, “but a lot of people in the world don't have as good an experience in real life as we do here.” In fact, as Luckey suggests to me in a follow-up conversation, it may be people from developing nations who’ll be among the first to embrace virtual reality. While the technology must become extremely compelling to attract well-off Californians away from their enviable real lives, he argues, “[i]f you’re talking about Chinese workers or people who are living in Africa, I think the threshold is a lot lower… it could be a lot of the early adopters are the people who have a greater incentive to escape the real world.”
After Oculus, I wonder if he'll take that vision to another VR company. Anyway, here's some more Luckey highlights from New World Notes:
- Palmer Luckey On The Future Of Second Life & Other Virtual Worlds In Oculus Rift & VR In General
- Time Magazine Puts Virtual Reality On Its Cover - VR Enthusiasts Duly Freak Out
- John Carmack & Palmer Luckey Gnomically Respond To My Wired Article On John Carmack & Palmer Luckey
- High Fidelity Launches Compatibility For Oculus DK2 For Macs, Explains How Other VR Devs Can Do The Same UPDATE: Palmer Luckey Says "Not Exactly A Breakthrough
- Palmer Luckey Foresaw Rapid Adoption Of VR In China Last Year; Predicts Chinese VR Gold Farms & VR Dissent
- Palmer Luckey's Support For Pro-Trump Group Reminds Me Of His Support For Pacifying The Poor With VR
- Palmer Luckey’s Mexican-American Virtual Reality Mentor “Dismayed” By His Support For Pro-Trump Group
Aha so don't have to give a reason for the nausea poll thing (male, VR Always makes me feel urgh) as it was the whill of Luckey boy. Wow FB do get some things right.
Posted by: sirhc deSantis | Friday, March 31, 2017 at 05:18 AM