Facebook Extends Virtual Reality Capability

Facebook Inc.’s Oculus, the virtual reality headset maker, bought the Israel-based gesture-control company Pebbles Ltd. According to Wall Street Journal, the transaction cost about $60 million.

The technology of the Israel-based developer Pebbles will significantly extend the functions of the Rift virtual reality headset that currently is only able to transmit pictures, not to interact virtuality.

“Through micro-optics and computer vision, we hope to improve the information that can be extracted from optical sensors, which will help take virtual reality to the next level. We’ve always believed visual computing will be the next major platform in our lifetime, and we’re excited to join the Oculus team to achieve that vision for the future,” said Nadav Grossinger, the CTO of Pebbles Interfaces.

Oculus’s the Rift Virtual Reality headset is expected to be released at the beginning of 2016. It’s still unclear will it be equipped with gesture recognition function.