That was quick. A few days after leaving Xiaomi as its VP of Global, it seems that the ex-Google employee has now found a new home in the biggest social network in the world. Marck Zuckerburg, head honcho of Facebook, has announced that he has hired Hugo as the head of all things VR, which includes the firms’ Oculus team.
To underline that point, Hugo’s first appearance with Mark in his current capacity was done via VR, while the former was still in China. On his part, Hugo is excited about the role, saying “t’s been a dream of mine to work in virtual reality even back when AR/VR were just figments of science fiction; now we’re taking selfies in virtual worlds 🙂 I learned from Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun that there’s no greater calling in our industry than taking breakthrough tech and making it available to the greatest number of people.”
Hugo Barra joined Google in 2008 as group product manager for the Google Mobile Team, joining the Android team in 2010. He left Google in 2013 to join Chinese firm Xiaomi, where he became VP of Global and served as the western face of a Chinese company that had global ambitions. A few days ago Barra announced he was leaving Xiaomi, stating that “living in such a singular environment have taken a huge toll on my life and started affecting my health.”
We can’t wait what Barra, Zuckerberg and the rest of the Oculus team deliver in the realm of VR in the days ahead.
