Meta Collaborates with Former Oculus Founder to Develop Top AR and VR Systems for U.S. Military

Sure, let’s dive into this tangled web of tech intrigue. So, there’s this guy Palmer Luckey—if you’re not familiar, he’s kind of a big deal in the VR world. Picture this: he’s got this military tech startup, Anduril, and now they’re teaming up with Meta to craft what they’re calling “the best AR and VR systems for the US military.” Honestly, it sounds like something that could be part of a crazy action movie plot.

Anyway, rewind a bit. Luckey’s the dude who founded Oculus back in 2012. Remember those clunky VR headsets? That was his brainchild. They caught Facebook’s eye—yeah, before it was Meta—and they bought it for some astronomical sum, over $2 billion or something. Luckey hung around for a while until politics (oh, joy) got him booted out. Then he went off to birth Anduril which, surprise surprise, is worth a truckload of money now too.

So here’s the juicy part. Anduril isn’t just tinkering with drones and all. They’ve been putting their fingers in the XR pie for a while now. Oh, and they’ve kinda scooped up this project—IVAS. Something to do with making AR helmets for soldiers, initially Microsoft’s headache, but now it’s Luckey’s turn to juggle.

And just when you think you have it sussed, they drop the bombshell: “Hey, we’re in cahoots with Meta to work on this.” The stated aim? To save the military big bucks using tech initially meant for us average folks. Funny how that works, right?

Luckey seems pretty stoked, saying working with Meta again is just peachy. And the folks over at Meta? Oh, they’re playing nice too, despite past differences. Zuckerberg and Bosworth threw in some quotes, which was like a verbal handshake, showing they’re on good terms with Luckey now.

So, yeah. Looks like this Meta and Anduril thing is all about that AR helmet for the Army’s $20 billion program. What’s wild is seeing Meta leap into the fray, bringing their tech wizardry to the front lines. Quite the spectacle, huh?