Mark Zuckerberg Wants 1 Billion People To Use VR, Trolling To Be Blocked

During the recent Oculus Connect event, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg announced that he wants one billion people to use virtual reality. While he didn’t provide specifics on when he would like this to happen, it’s safe to say that the social media figure has a lot riding on the trend catching up. Of course, there are also concerns with regards to harassment, which is why Oculus intends to get ahead of the problem.

With a goal of having a seventh of the world’s population using VR, many consider that Zuckerberg is being a bit too ambitious, especially if he wants to achieve this number in the coming decades. Customers are not exactly lining up to buy the Oculus Rift or the HTC VR, as TIME points out, and the larger public is barely aware of the market’s existence.

Apparently, this is not going to stop Facebook from trying to push for the more widespread adoption of VR and it’s starting by addressing the main concern of convenience. Basically, VR headsets are cumbersome, complicated, and expensive. The social network wants to change that and one of its solutions is something called Oculus Go.

Meant to launch next year, the Go is a headset that is intended to allow for the seamless use of VR apps without having to get a high-end PC or smartphone. The device will apparently sell for $199, as well, which is significantly cheaper than what the Oculus Rift costs now.

Of course, an increase in VR adoption also paves the way for increased harassment and trolling on the platform. Oculus executives are assuring potential users that they are already on the case, even implementing new ways to block such disruptive elements, Gizmodo reports.

A developer tool is being provided to developers, which will allow users to simultaneously block others across multiple apps. This is being done with the hopes of coaxing hesitant users to at least try the new technology.