Oculus top brass, Hugo Barra, departs Facebook
Hugo Barra, VP of Facebook Reality Labs and partnerships for Oculus and Facebook, has left the company. At the company since 2017, Barra oversaw the development of the Oculus Go, Quest, and Quest 2, the company's most successful headset to date.
"Some personal news: Today is my last day at Facebook Reality Labs," Barra announced on his Facebook page, "after 4 years working on projects that have been more exciting and more challenging than anything I've encountered in my career, with some of the brightest minds and kindest people I've ever had the pleasure to meet.
"... Looking back at what we accomplished together with Oculus Go, Quest and Quest 2, I'm truly beyond proud. And I'm equally excited about what's yet to come, starting this year with the launch of Facebook's smart glasses in partnership with Ray-Ban, which will begin connecting the dots from today's VR headsets to tomorrow's AR glasses."
Facebook's smart glasses are reportedly arriving this year, and are poised as a stepping stone to its first AR glasses. However, the first pair, made in partnership with Ray-Ban, won't offer an integrated display, so can't be called AR glasses just yet.
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Barra says he will be moving into healthcare technology space, after reflecting on the impact and response to the global coronavirus pandemic.
"I hope to be able to apply what I've learned from working in the consumer tech industry to help solve meaningful problems in the healthcare world. Looking forward to sharing more soon!"
Facebook and Oculus will keep on ticking over, though. Facebook's next VR project may be the Oculus Quest Pro, which Andrew Bosworth, another VP of Facebook Reality Labs, stated was in the works, although not slated to launch this year.
Quest 2 owners can also get excited for the launch of Resident Evil 4, which will launch sometime this year.