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Oculus to Acquire Carbon Design Team

oculusvr.com

31–40 of 51 posts

Re: Oculus to Acquire Carbon Design Team

#31
post #25
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Knowledge gained working with a renderer and two screens can be used with camera(s) and one screen, such as what a cellphone/tablet/computer has.

I don't know exactly how you meant 'two screens' (two experienced screens, or two hardware screens?), but in case you meant the latter, there is only one screen. https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Oculus+Rift+Teardown/13682

Let's say two vantage points, then.

Re: Oculus to Acquire Carbon Design Team

#32

An Oculus controller to go with the headset is looking more and more likely. I'm guessing that it will be similar to the PlayStation Move controller but with infrared instead of visible light tracking. They're already doing infrared tracking for the headset, so it would be easy to track a couple of controllers as well.

since the oculus already tracks its own position in space, a controller would really only need to know position relative to the headset, something like a front / down facing Leap motion (with minimal lag?) could do wonders for VR presence

Re: Oculus to Acquire Carbon Design Team

#33

How does Oculus acquire anything at this point. Don't they mean Facebook acquires Carbon?

Yeah, although the scope of the acquisition is currently limited to the scope of Oculus ("operating independently") within Facebook. I've also seen announcements regarding PayPal acquiring companies even though PayPal is a subsidiary of eBay Inc.

Re: Oculus to Acquire Carbon Design Team

#34

So why would Oculus acquire Carbon Design, rather than contracting them to design/build their products?

You are basically paying to grow a competitor if you outsource high skilled work. Strategically it's better to control all knowledge/resources that your company is dependent on.

Apparently ASUS started selling computers after Dell outsourced a bit too much to them.

http://www.asymco.com/2012/12/07/the-real-threat-that-samsun...

Re: Oculus to Acquire Carbon Design Team

#35
post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since they operate independently and likely have their own cash pile for stuff like this, the legal entity making the purchase is actually Oculus. Same with like Nest/Google AFAIK.

I wondered the same thing about Nest/Google the other day. It could also be an abstraction on the part of Google/Facebook to hide their associations with the brand, to avoid brand reputation damage of some sort.

Facebook is taking this holding-company approach to WhatsApp, Instagram and Oculus. Unilever, P&G and Nestle should be wary of another holding company controlling their customer channel, especially after the Axciom partnership which gives Facebook access to the _offline_ purchases of Facebook customers. The consumer goods companies should fund new social networks, to diversify their online reach.

http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-and-acxioms-big-data...

"Audience Operating System .. allows advertisers to tie together your "digital persona" even if you've changed your name due to marriage, the use of a nickname, or because you sometimes use a middle name. It also figures out whether someone who has moved addresses or changed phone numbers is the same person or not."

Re: Oculus to Acquire Carbon Design Team

#36
post #8

I keep thinking the long term goal here is not an Oculus Rift product, but devices that tie in augmented reality and marketing / sales, with hooks to your Facebook account. I honestly see them ditching anything to do with a game display device.

Oh my God I thought these bullshit cries of doom stopped. It's such a simple matter of business. If Oculus did that, no one would by a Rift. That would be bad for Oculus, Facebook, and consumers. The much more likely thing to result from the Facebook buyout is they use their $2B to build a better product and market it better to compete against new behemoths butting in the VR marketplace like Sony and others that are surely about to jump on the bandwagon. That would be good for the consumers, and thusly good for Oculus and Facebook. There are literally zero good reasons Facebook would ram down tacky social media bullshit onto the Rift. That's bad design, bad business, and no one would like it.

Isn't rabid Facebook hating getting old now?

Re: Oculus to Acquire Carbon Design Team

#37
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would a company hire an employee rather than contracting them out to do the same work? Bingo. User Bane understands why:)

Did you just contract out your answer to bane?

He only needed the answer once -- so a pretty smart move :)

Re: Oculus to Acquire Carbon Design Team

#38
post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are basically paying to grow a competitor if you outsource high skilled work. Strategically it's better to control all knowledge/resources that your company is dependent on.

Apparently ASUS started selling computers after Dell outsourced a bit too much to them. http://www.asymco.com/2012/12/07/the-real-threat-that-samsun...

Didn't the same situation happen with Sony and Samsung in electronics?

Re: Oculus to Acquire Carbon Design Team

#40
post #20

Great for Carbon. The situation for hardware design firms (right now, and often) is brutal - the degree of difficulty to consistently book enough new work to keep your talented team members employed is incredibly high, and more companies are moving this work in-house. There are a number of these firms in the Seattle area, and all of them are struggling. Acquisition is often preferable to closing your doors, which cou…

Can I ask what your connection to the industry is?
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