When Facebook appear they were acquiring VR pioneer Oculus in early on 2022 for $2 billion, I was a scrap perplexed. Less than two years removed from its splashy debut on Kickstarter, Oculus' flagship Rift headset – still a developer kit at that fourth dimension – was under new ownership after having been marketed exclusively as a gaming accessory.

Many believed VR would accept video games to the side by side level. Legendary game maker John Carmack was then convinced that he resigned from id Software to devote his full attention to Oculus as the visitor's CTO.

Facebook was too building a proper name for themselves in the gaming industry as they served every bit the backbone for social networking titles similar FarmVille and Mafia Wars. Perhaps Facebook had a genuine interest in realigning itself with gaming and intended to apply virtual reality as a vehicle to do just that?

Well, not then fast.

While Facebook would keep to fiddle in VR gaming over the side by side several years, it became clear that founder Mark Zuckerberg had other plans for Oculus. Zuckerberg said at the time that mobile was the platform of today only Oculus had the opportunity to assistance create the most social platform ever and change how we work, play, and communicate.

Zuckerberg allow us in on that vision a few years after. At the 2022 F8 developer conference, Facebook launched an open beta for Facebook Spaces. Spaces was a VR version of the social network where people could collaborate in imaginary environments as drawing-style avatars.

The keyword here is "was." Facebook abandoned Spaces concluding year aslope Oculus Rooms, an app that let users create virtual spaces and invite friends to hang out, watch movies, play games, and so on.

Spaces seemed solid enough in theory but like many early on virtual reality games, it was lacking. The whole thing felt primitive and rudimentary – more similar a tech demo than a compelling experience with whatever true depth or fun cistron. Merely, Spaces wasn't every bit good every bit what it was trying to replace, only as early VR games couldn't concord a candle to traditional games.

Many factors contributed to VR'due south early fumbles, although this was to be expected for novel technology. Initial VR goggles were bulky and expensive, requiring powerful computers to drive their visuals. Even with a capable computer, the optical components within the goggles weren't up to snuff, resulting in shortcomings like a limited field of view and a screen door effect due to low resolution panels.

The industry attempted to address the high cost and low adoption of VR headsets by joining forces with handset makers to create VR viewers that relied on smartphones to ability their experience. The most famous example of this came through a collaboration involving Samsung and Oculus known as the Gear VR.

Consumers showed some initial interest in these at start just that didn't last. Samsung has since abandoned support for Gear VR.

So where does VR stand today? That's difficult to say, really.

On the gaming forepart, titles like Eve: Valkyrie, Resident Evil 7: Biohazard and No Man's Heaven have all moved the needle in a meaningful way although none more so than Half-Life: Alyx. Valve'due south VR adventure has earned tiptop marks (92/100) and is considered by many to be a medium-defining game.

All of these titles are far more complex than the first wave of VR titles (here's looking at y'all, Job Simulator) and a lot more fun, too. VR's trajectory could accept looked much different had quality games similar these been available a few years earlier.

The hardware is getting better, also, across a diversity of toll points.

The Valve Index, launched nearly a year agone, remains a hot article that's withal tough to come past. The standalone Oculus Quest, which tin can also be plugged into a PC, continues to be a peak correspondent equally i of Facebook'south non-advertising revenue streams. In the most recent quarter, Facebook said this division generated $297 million in acquirement, an 80 percentage increase compared to the $165 million its not-advertising bets brought in during the same period a year ago.

According to Steam's Apr 2022 hardware survey, fewer than two per centum of users have VR headsets. Sony has done alright with its PlayStation VR, having moved in backlog of five million units, but that'southward withal just a fraction of the more than 106 million PlayStation four consoles that are in the wild.

The 3rd pillar – social – is arguably the furthest behind the viii ball.

Oculus said terminal year that it was working on a successor to Facebook Spaces. Currently out in beta and scheduled to launch on a larger scale sometime in 2022, Horizon will task newcomers with creating an avatar to "limited their individuality." From there, you'll exist dropped into a "bustling boondocks foursquare" where you lot tin come across and mingle with others or teleport to "new worlds filled with adventure and exploration."

Using the World Architect, anyone volition be able to create new worlds and activities, "from tropical hangout spots to interactive activity arenas" where you lot can build, play or simply hang out. That all sounds a scrap… exhausting, no?

Facebook Horizon feels more alike to experiences we already have. Online virtual earth Second Life launched way dorsum in 2003. Minecraft has supported VR since 2022. And virtually recently, Epic added a Party Royale mode to Fortnite that delivers a virtual playground loaded with all sorts of activities that really look fun.

Even with better games and more impressive hardware, the sobering realization is that VR remains far from widespread adoption.

Even with better games and more than impressive hardware, the sobering realization is that VR remains far from widespread adoption. Without a stiff social presence, it'll exist that much harder for virtual reality to garner the mainstream traction needed to accomplish the masses and go a game-changing medium.

Facebook may take had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to capitalize on an unfortunate circumstance with the pandemic. Practicing social distancing with stay-at-home orders in place for 2 months now (and counting) would have given people the time, opportunity, and desire to connect with others through virtual reality. It could have supplemented human interaction at a unique time when nosotros are being told to stay away from others.

Perhaps the situation striking the states, simply VR in general is but not there yet.

You may argue Facebook has squandered a major opportunity. Much of Oculus' original staff has departed over the past few years including co-founders Palmer Luckey and Brendan Iribe. Carmack too stepped down as CTO to focus on bogus intelligence.

Six years in, it's clear Facebook is no closer to figuring out social VR than it was when it bought Oculus. Possibly fortunately, Facebook doesn't have a monopoly on social media and virtual reality. While the company is in the best position to explore social connectivity with VR, the marketplace is wide open for anyone to swoop in and create a compelling feel. Things will eventually go back to normal simply they'll never be the same again.

Image credit: Andrush, Route to VR, Tinxi, GamerToTheEnd, IRINA SHI