Former lead engineer on Valve’s virtual reality project, Atman Binstock, has joined Oculus VR as its new chief architect, the company has announced.
Binstock will lead the new Oculus R&D team based in Seattle and their search for “exceptional engineers” interested in the research and development of the “future of virtual reality”.
“Just over two years ago, [Valve’s] Michael Abrash and I were sitting in a coffee shop in Kirkland. He was trying to convince me to come work on AR and VR with him at Valve,” Binstock wrote, in part. “Michael convinced me that this was basically the myth of technological inevitability: the idea that because technologies were possible, they would just naturally happen. Instead, the way technological revolutions actually happen involve smart people working hard on the right problems at the right time. And if I wanted a revolution, and I thought I was capable of contributing, I should be actively pushing it forward.”
“Two years later, we’ve solved some of the basic problems, proven great VR is not only possible but truly magical, and now I want to bring it to the world. I’m incredibly excited and humbled by the opportunity — We’re just scratching the surface of what’s possible, and I can’t wait to discover what’s next!”
In the announcement, Oculus also reiterated that they have nearly sold out of Oculus Rift development kits and as a result sales in most regions have ceased. Production and distribution of the kits have been slowed down as well due to a “handful” of its harware components no longer being manufactured. “We’ll have more news on this soon,” the post adds, “so stay tuned!”
(via Polygon)