14 DAY TRIAL // Michael Abrash, the former head of research and development at Valve, announces that he is joining Oculus Rift as the chief scientist effective immediately, in order to further developer the core virtual reality tech of the company.
He is quoted by the team as saying that, "Facebook’s acquisition of Oculus means that VR is going to happen in all its glory. The resources and long-term commitment that Facebook brings gives Oculus the runway it needs to solve the hard problems of VR – and some of them are hard indeed."
Abrash says that he looks forward to working with John Carmack and that virtual reality has the potential to change not just gaming but also the way users interact with computers and other technology.
It's unclear whether the departure of the head of research means that Valve no longer has any long term plans to create its own virtual reality technology.
Sony is working on its own Project Morpheus solution for the PlayStation 4.
Earlier during the week Facebook made the surprise announcement that it was acquiring the Oculus Rift for 2 billion dollars (1.55 billion Euro) and that it was aiming to develop the new technology in order to enhance interaction between its users.