Catching up with Palmer Luckey is a lot more difficult these days.
The founder of Irvine-based startup Oculus VR Inc. has status as a rock star in the technology world that was clear to see at June’s Los Angeles Convention Center during E3, the world’s largest video gaming conference. Handlers ushered the 22-year-old computer whiz from one meeting to the next as fans eagerly tried to grab his attention by talking up code or their favorite games.
Facebook Deal
That’s what happens when your company catches the eye of Mark Zuckerberg and is acquired for a head-scratching $2 billion by social networking giant Facebook Inc.
The deal that moved virtual reality from the pages of science fiction novels and to Wall Street analysts’ reports helped Luckey earn Business Person of the Year honors in the tech sector.
Luckey, dressed in his trademark blue sport coat and sandals ensemble, summed up the company’s goals for the past year at E3: “Just showing everyone how far we’ve come.”
Indeed.
The company didn’t even exist two years earlier.
Before launching Oculus, Luckey was honing his technical skills by day as an engineer in the Mixed Reality lab at University of Southern California’s Institute for Creative Technologies, where he contributed to research and development of virtual reality systems and head-mounted displays.
By night, he tinkered with electronics at his parents’ Long Beach home, amassing the world’s largest collection of virtual reality headsets along the way and becoming an avid online forum participant, launching ModRetro.
Earlier Versions
It was in Long Beach where he upended the industry with the virtual reality optical technology he developed. The first crude model was essentially a dangling circuit board taped to a head strap, but it worked, immersing the user in a 360-degree environment.
Another version, made of plastic and fused together with hot glue, went on to ship about 60,000 units at $300 each. The so-called Crystal Cove model, which featured high-definition resolution, was a huge leap forward in innovation but still caused motion sickness. That problem wasn’t fixed before Zuckerberg tested the prototype in February at Facebook’s headquarters in Menlo Park.
No matter—Zuckerberg, along with Facebook Vice President of Product Chris Cox and Chief Technology Officer Mike Schroepfer, left the meeting impressed with the technology.
Chief Executive Brandon Iribe convinced Zuckerberg to fly to Irvine a month later and test the company’s newest prototype, which was developed with Bellevue, Wash.-based Valve Corp. and addressed the matter of motion sickness.
Vision
Zuckerberg brought Facebook mergers and acquisitions guru Amin Zoufonoun to the meeting. Iribe conducted another demo and laid out Oculus’ vision for virtual reality and the infrastructure and financial muscle needed to support the technology.
It would require one of the biggest networks on the planet and hundreds of millions of dollars in research and development.
Oculus’ whirlwind ride as a private company lasted only 18 months before ending in the early morning hours of March 24.
The news of Facebook’s second-priciest buy in its 10-year history wasn’t announced until a day later.
Many of the 100 or so employees at Oculus became millionaires overnight, capping one of the most successful technology stories in Orange County history.
The deal, finalized in July, kicked off a series of developments for Oculus as it blazes a trail in virtual reality.
At E3, the company disclosed plans to publish its first game, “Lucky’s Tale,” a third-person adventure, with McKinney, Texas.-based Playful Corp., which is comprised of developers behind the iPhone megahit “Words with Friends.”
The business model expanded in September in a licensing deal to power Samsung Electronics Co.’s $200 Gear VR headset, which was recently released and allows users to experience virtual reality through an app run through the consumer electronic giant’s Note 4 smartphone, which snaps into the device.
That same month the company hosted Oculus Connect, a developer conference at the Loews Hollywood Hotel in Los Angeles that drew designers, engineers, and others from around the world to collaborate on creating virtual reality experiences.
Marketing Campaigns
The Oculus Rift, expected to be released this year, has been tested in several sectors but has gotten particularly strong demand in marketing campaigns.
British Columbia’s tourism arm is among the latest players to utilize the headset to create virtual reality content. Destination British Columbia’s “The Wild Within” campaign, which debuted last month for media and industry insiders in several U.S. cities, allows users to choose between two adventures: a boat ride that visits a family of sea lions, or a mountain hike.
Swedish automaker Volvo Car Corp. used the Rift last month to showcase a new SUV model at the Los Angeles Auto Show and for a limited edition series of the same vehicle for VIP customers at a September event in Stockholm.
Some buyers purchased the $90,000 XC90 online without seeing the actual vehicle.
Marriott has also used the Oculus headset to take viewers to the beach in Hawaii and atop a London high-rise building.
