The tech entrepreneur who helped kick-start the virtual reality revolution is stepping down from the company which he helped to found.
Palmer Luckey – who sold Oculus to Facebook for over $2 billion (£1.6 billion) in March 2014 – is leaving the social network after a series of highly publicised gaffes.
Facebook confirmed yesterday that the trouble-tainted designer of the Oculus Rift would be leaving the firm.
Facebook dived into virtual reality after buying the startup three years ago.
The multi-millionaire’s departure came in the wake of a lawsuit over Oculus Rift virtual reality technology.
It also emerged that Mr Luckey was linked to an online ‘troll’ group that promoted memes in favour of Donald Trump during the US election.
‘Palmer will be dearly missed,’ Facebook said in an email reply to an AFP inquiry.
‘His inventive spirit helped kickstart the modern VR revolution and build an industry. We’re thankful for everything he did for Oculus and VR, and we wish him all the best.’
Open support for Donald Trump in Silicon Valley was scarce during the election.
Some developers vowed not to create software for Rift virtual reality gear because of Luckey’s pro-Trump efforts.
Mr Luckey was noticeably absent from the stage at a major Oculus developers conference late last year.
In February, a US jury ordered in that Facebook and creators of Oculus Rift pay $500 million (£400 million) to gaming software firm ZeniMax.
Their lawsuit accused Mr Luckey and his colleagues – who developed the Rift virtual reality gear – of using source code illegally obtained from the gaming firm.
The jury dismissed the charge that Oculus stole or misappropriated trade secrets but did find Oculus liable for copyright infringement and other violations.
Mr Luckey was ordered to pay $50 million (£40 million) of the award and another former Oculus executive, Brendan Iribe, $150 million (£120 million).
ZeniMax had sought $4 billion (£3 billion) in damages in the case, in which Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg testified to defend his company.
Oculus said it planned to appeal the verdict and was ‘undeterred’ in its efforts to bring virtual reality technology to consumers.
‘Our commitment to the long-term success of VR remains the same, and the entire team will continue the work they’ve done since day one — developing VR technology that will transform the way people interact and communicate,’ the Oculus statement said.
Facebook began selling the Rift headsets as part of the social network’s push into virtual reality.
The firm announced in January that it had recruited Hugo Barra – who recently quit a top position with Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi – as its new head of virtual reality.
‘Hugo shares my belief that virtual and augmented reality will be the next major computing platform,’ CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced on his personal Facebook page.
Barra caused a sensation in 2013 by leaving Google to become a vice president at Xiaomi.
After the idea first surfaced in the 1980s, virtual reality has finally started to take off – having established its place in video gaming, social networks and even porn. Now experts say soon VR tech such as the Oculus Rift could be coming to the workplace.Virtual business meetings will replace conference calls, as the technology has started to be tested in offices worldwide – and this could happen in the next couple of years. Zuckerberg showed off the firm’s first attempt at social software for the Oculus Rift headset at the Oculus Connect conference in San Francisco.He also revealed the firm was developing a new midrange VR headset, and said its eventual aim was a pair of VR and AR sunglasses. The new software allows people to join the same virtual space, and do everything from watch a video to be transported to the surface of Mars.
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