SAN FRANCISCO : Facebook has announced a $2-billion deal to buy a startup behind virtual reality headgear that promises to let people truly dive into their friends’ lives. Facebook co-founder and chief Mark Zuckerberg said that the acquisition of Oculus was a long-term bet that making the social network’s offerings more immersive would pay off. “People will build a model of a place far away and you will just go see it; it is just like teleporting,” Zuckerberg said. “I do think gaming is a start,” he said in a conference call, referring to the Oculus headset’s original design focus.
Zuckerberg billed the acquisition as part of a drive to build the “next major computing platform that will come after mobile.”