Google the magnanimous tech giant will have a whole new dedicated team and division to the surging technology in gaming, Virtual Reality. Ever since Facebook acquired Oculus VR and Microsoft came up with HoloLens, Google has felt the need to plow ahead in the field and go mainstream in the technology.
Sundar Pichai, CEO of the search engine brand has finally made a move and will have a significant executive governing the leading the whole unit. Google is planning to bring in Clay Bavor, VP for Product management who has previously run Apps like Gmail, Drive and Docs as the head for the emerging enterprise. While Bavor will drop Apps to focus majorly on Virtual Reality, Diane Green, the Senior Vice-President at Google will lead the Web Applications segment.
A Google spokesperson confirmed the changes but we still don’t how big or small the team working on the new division will be as compared to Facebook’s 400 people team working solely on Oculus.
Google which had till now teased people with its attempt at Virtual Reality is now ready to take a leap of faith in the field. There are also rumors that Google is negotiating to partner with GoPro the action camera company to let the users experience a 360 view of virtual Reality with a new technology that Google has been working on.
After Google Cardboard’s somewhat success after being introduced as a mainstream Virtual Reality product, Google is now set to give its competitors a potential run for their money. Google Cardboard was also coordinated and supervised by the now VP of Virtual Reality arm, Clay Bavor and saw some lateral success with distribution programs in schools. The integration of Cardboard and GoPro will bring Virtual Reality to Youtube.
Google’s failure with the marketing and launch of Google Glass had the industry getting skeptical about the company’s dedication to the subject. However, facebook’s assertive and confident claims about their ambitions with Virtual Reality got the Googlers to take a stride ahead.
Google’s much secure and long-term bet lies in the investment it is likely to make in the virtual reality company Magic Leap. Now that Google’s precious exec Bavor has given up all other responsibilities to solely look after Virtual reality, and Facebook and Microsoft are already pacing ahead with vitally incredible innovations, we are likely to see some hefty competition in the tech world.
