Facebook recruits ex-Apple engineer to head up Oculus hardware research
Facebook has hired veteran Apple engineer Michael Hillman as head of VR hardware within the social media giant’s Oculus division, a role that will see him tasked with drawing up a product roadmap for the immersive gadget.
With a back catalogue including iconic products such as the iMac, Hillman is well placed to bring the niche product out of the bedrooms of technology geeks and into the arms of mass market consumers with Facebook desperate to sell its expensive gadgets to its user base of two billion.
Its much vaunted Oculus Rift headset has had a far from trouble-free gestation, suffering numerous delays and a hefty $599 price tag, which have seen it lose early market share to Sony’s rival PlayStation VR system.
In a bid to regain the initiative the firm is now investing heavily in a wireless tracking prototype codenamed ‘Santa Cruz’, freeing wearers from a tangle of cables linked to the present generation of headsets.
Oculus recently announced a major recruitment drive as it seeks to create a mix of augmented and virtual reality experiences for users.
Hillman departed Apple in 2015 before joining autonomous vehicle start-up business Zoox.