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Facebook Taps Apple Vet to Head Oculus' VR Hardware Development

Michael Hillman amassed 15 years of experience at Apple working on projects such as the iMac.

David Craddock

March 27, 2017 12:50 PM

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Facebook hired ex-Apple engineer Michael Hillman as head of VR development. Hillman will draw on 15 years of experience on some of Apple's most prolific products to help map out VR products for Oculus.

Hillman will collaborate with Oculus COO Hans Hartman to guide Facebook into the future of virtual reality. No stranger to visual-focused tech, Hillman filed dozens of patents for Apple for displays and batteries.

Bringing Hillman on board further narrows the gulf between Facebook managers such as CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Oculus principals. Facebook hired former Google VP Hugo Barra earlier this year as VP of Virtual Reality. Last December, Brandon Iribe stepped down as CEO of Oculus to take a position within the company's PC VR team.

Oculus and Facebook remain optimistic about VR's future. Shacknews CEO and editorial director Asif Khan spoke with VP of Content Jason Rubin about Oculus' role in publishing, the balance between advanced HMDs and quality software, and more.

[Source: Tech Crunch]

David Craddock

Long Reads Editor

David L. Craddock writes fiction, nonfiction, and grocery lists. He is the author of the Stay Awhile and Listen series, and the Gairden Chronicles series of fantasy novels for young adults. Outside of writing, he enjoys playing Mario, Zelda, and Dark Souls games, and will be happy to discuss at length the myriad reasons why Dark Souls 2 is the best in the series. Follow him online at davidlcraddock.com and @davidlcraddock.