The Facebook purchase of Oculus VR in 2 billion dollar is still quite shocking. Particularly, it is because the company is only 2-year-old and the owner is only 21. And for people who are more familiar with technologies, there are two more reasons to be shocked. One, the legend graphics programmer, John Carmack, joined the company. And two, Virtual Reality (VR), a once hot technology, was considered a mistake and pretty much dead.
I still remember when I was an intern in Microsoft Research Asia, 2011, I attended a talk given by Professor James A. Landay. During the Q&A session, a student asked Dr. Landay about the prospect of VR. Dr. Landay said something like "many people believe VR is a mistake, and augment reality is the right way". Indeed, in the first fad of VR back in late 1990s and early 2000s, companies spent a lot of money for VR but the return was frustrating [1]. However, the founder of Oculus VR just loves VR all the time and collected most of available VR equipment. This love gives him motivation and this collection gives him inspiration. I guess most of us could regret for what unique interests we have abandoned in order to cater to others, and what large amount of money we have lost...
Let's wipe our tears and move on. Despite the lesson of perseverance, we could also find some other interesting things. For me, I would say a unique thing will never be a mistake and every unique thing will have a position and purpose in the world. And this is why I am able to write this article and you are able to read it. We know that human are mammals. But in 65 million years ago, the lord of the earth, dinosaurs, might not know mammals, which at that time, were just some tiny creatures eating bugs to survive. An alien who visited earth at that point could say that mammals are "a mistake" compared with dinosaurs. However, we all know the story afterwards, dinosaurs got wiped out in a disaster and mammals control the world. We could say that mammals win this time, but the ultimate winner is Nature who keeps the diversity of the ecosystem to combat disasters.
Same principle applies for technology. VR might not be the mainstream technology in the past 20 years and possibly not the mainstream technology in the next 20 years, as Oculus VR might fail. However, VR does have the value to exist, because it might play a critical role in the future. Every unique technology fits a technological niche, and is prepared for its day.
References:
[1] http://time.com/39577/facebook-oculus-vr-inside-story/
[2] The picture. http://media.pcgamer.com/files/2013/04/Eve-Oculus-RIft.jpg
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