Facebook acquires Two Big Ears

Facebook is continuing to devote resources to fine tuning how 3D audio impacts viewer perceptions in virtual reality. The social media giant and Oculus parent company announced they have purchased immersive audio company Two Big Ears and will be making their technology free as a part of their new Facebook 360 Spatial Workshop.

The Edinburg based company, which has been around since 2013, specializes in spatial 3D audio in cinematic and gaming experiences. The company technology focuses largely on how sound plays in 3D spaces and how it interacts with surfaces that surround the viewer. Further progress in building hyper-realistic 3D audio is a major get for Facebook video and the Oculus platform.

Both the Gear VR and Rift support the immersive audio technology and the fact that Facebook is opening up Two Big Ears 3Dception technology for free to developers is a nice move to keep content creators happy. The company previously had two immersive audio products based on solutions for both cinematic VR and gaming. While the cinematic VR product has morphed into the free “Facebook 360 Spatial Workstation”, Two Big Ears will be working with the Oculus team on a way to integrate the gaming software.

Immersive 3D audio is hugely important to high-end virtual reality like that available on the Rift, but it is really even more crucial to the rather rudimentary VR experiences like those that are available on Facebook video right now. With the Two Big Ears purchase, Facebook has made it easier for Developers to make their experiences better and has strengthened the company pull in making the social media site the default hub for immersive VR video content.

Facebook Oculus buys Pebbles Interfaces

Facebook owned virtual reality startup Oculus has confirmed that it is acquiring Pebbles Interfaces, a computer vision and depth sensing Technology Company based in Israel. Founded in 2010, Pebbles Interfaces develops advanced motion sensors that recreate physical objects within the digital realm, irrespective of the angle or range.

It also claims to have no latency, which would be a major boost for Oculus and its Virtual Reality headset. Pebbles Interfaces has built technology that uses custom optics, sensor systems and algorithms to monitor hand movement. Over time, technology breakthroughs in sensors will unlock new human interaction methods in VR and revolutionize the way people communicate in virtual worlds.

Following a $450,000 seed round raised in 2011, Pebbles Interfaces closed a chunky $11 Million round in 2013, which included big investors such as SanDisk. In a separate announcement, Pebbles Interfaces explains why it agreed to join Oculus, saying that it is at the forefront of the shift virtual reality has made in recent times, and it will help advance our vision of building immersive experiences and revolutionizing digital human interaction.

Facebook acquired Oculus for $2 Billion in March 2014. In June 2014, Oculus acquired Carbon Design Group, a Seattle based company that helped Microsoft design the Xbox 360 Controller, Kinect motion sensing camera. Two weeks later, Oculus acquired game networking engine RakNet and swiftly made it open source. Last year, Oculus acquired Nimble VR and 13^th Lab before going to snap up computer vision startup Surreal Vision in May.