Facebook’s Sean Liu: we are at an inflection point of the VR industry

Hello Sean, it’s a pleasure to host you here. Compliments for what you’re doing at Oculus! Can you introduce yourself to the few readers that don’t know you yet?

Hey, Antony. It’s really good to connect with you to talk all things VR, especially as we head into VRX. I’m Sean and I’m currently Director of Product for VR at Facebook. My team’s work focuses mainly on our hardware devices, like Quest, Rift S, and Oculus Go.

How have you started working in the VR field?

I was participating in the Global Game Jam back in 2014. A friend had borrowed a DK1, and we decided to build a VR game that weekend. We ended up funding it through Kickstarter and eventually launching it on the Oculus store (Oculus Share back in the day). Amazingly, months later I ended up joining Oculus.

What do you like the most about this technology?

From the very beginning when I began working in this space, the most powerful thing to me about virtual reality is that it allows you to connect. Whether you’re connecting with people or with your passions, virtual reality has this ability to make you feel more connected than anything else that’s come before it. We have this shorthand that we use for our mission and you may have heard some of us say this at F8 or Oculus Connect: we like to say virtual reality lets you Defy Distance. And it’s easy to think we’re being hyperbolic here or that it’s just a slogan. But to us, Defy Distance represents that presence you feel so viscerally when you’re connecting in VR, no matter where you are in the physical world. You really do feel like you’re defying distance.

At OC6, Oculus has introduced many amazing features for Oculus Quest, like Hand Tracking, Go emulation and Oculus Link. What is the one you are proud of the most? And Why?

Choosing between the three is like choosing a favorite child so I really couldn’t pick just one! If I had to say what my favorite things are about these innovations, it’s what they represent when they all come together. All three of these are part of our commitment to continue to improve Oculus Quest through software updates. We’re at the point where we’ve put Quest into the market, we’re seeing people use and engage with it, and we want to make that experience better and better over time. So it’s seeing each of these features bringing value to people. And, that’s not to mention how it’s not just consumers who benefit. These features also open up new audiences for developers or new ways developers can build. So really these have value for both users and developers.

I can’t wait to try the Link with my Quest!

We can’t wait for you to try it either … we just announced this week! The software is rolling out in beta, where we’ll continue to test and optimize. From there, we’ll add support for more PC systems. And, later this year, we’ll release a premium, custom optical fiber cable to provide a best-in-class experience with maximum throughput while using Oculus Link.

Regarding Hand Tracking, there is a debate online if it is not available on Rift S because of technical issues (like lack on PC of a specialized DSP like the one offered by Qualcomm) or if it has been a business decision because the Quest is the device for consumers you are investing the most in. Can you clarify what is the truth?

Well, first I’d like to acknowledge that we’re really excited about the buzz from our community. We’re constantly listening to this buzz and the enthusiasm, questions, feedback — the good and the bad! — all matter to us as we build. As far as hand tracking, we are starting on the Quest platform first. It’s important we evaluate hand tracking on Quest this first go-around before we consider bringing it to other devices.

These days SuperData has said that Oculus Quest has sold in total 400,000 units. Some people have come out disappointed by this number. Can you comment on this estimate?

When we’re talking about Quest, we really do need to pause for a moment and acknowledge just how pleased we are with the reactions we’re seeing from consumers and developers alike — really just the whole community. As far as sales, I can’t comment on any specifics or even broadly, but Mark has spoken on the record about Quest, including during an earnings call this past August when he shared, “we’re selling them as fast as we can make them.” 

When do you think a device offered by Oculus (like the Quest) can enter the mainstream selling more than 10M units having big retention? 2 years? 5 years? 10 years?

I love the enthusiasm you have for our tech, and I can promise you we’re equally excited about the growth of the entire ecosystem over the past year plus. But it’s also important to remind ourselves that we’re still in the very early days of VR. These are truly long-term bets we’re making as a company that we believe will change how we connect in the coming decades. That being said, once again, we’re really excited about the momentum we’ve seen with Quest and how it’s opened up VR to even more people. Quest is an important step along the way — and we’re not slowing down from here! 

In the future, is there still a place for 3DOF headsets like the Oculus Go?

I really can’t comment on our future roadmap at this point, but I can say that Oculus Go continues to be a great way to enter VR and we see it as an accessible entry into VR for so many people. Go remains popular for immersive media and with its affordable price point, it’s a great option for people who are new to VR. Go was also our first product in the all-in-one category, and we’re continuing to build on this form factor with Oculus Quest because we know that all-in-one VR is something people want. But let’s take a step back from the headset itself for a moment and look more broadly at what Oculus Go does — it brings more people into VR. And we shouldn’t gloss over that.

How do you envision the future of virtual and augmented reality?

To me, this goes back to the first question you asked me about what I like most about the technology and that’s connection. We really do think AR and VR will be the next computing platform centered around people and their connections. Those in the industry today know this magic and connection that happens with the level of presence AR and VR offers, so the future we imagine is one in which we’re using these technologies to connect on a deeper, more meaningful level. 

If someone wants to do a job like yours, what would be your best piece of advice? What are the lessons that you’ve learned in these years at Oculus?

The best advice I’ve ever gotten was to go and tinker! We’ve got really great online classes for building your first applications in VR, and the community embraces people exploring new hardware ideas. It’s a new industry and ecosystem, so everyone in AR and VR is learning things for the first time.

How is it working with the god John Carmack? And how much do you understand of what he says? When he speaks too technically, I grasp like 40% of his words 😀 😀 😀

Of course, I feel really lucky to work with John — he and I have some friendly competition on the Beat Saber leaderboards. He’s had a really foundational influence on VR, especially on our work in the mobile and standalone products. But more than that, we have talent across the whole team. It really does take a village to build a product — I’m awed working with brilliant folks spanning design, engineering, operations, sales, marketing, and beyond.

What’s your favorite VR game? (Please tell HitMotion:Reloaded, that is our game… 😀 😀 :D)

Haha, I’m excited by all the games you and the community are building! I’m personally a big fan of Asgard’s Wrath on Rift S, and I love showing off the Vader Immortal experiences on Quest to friends and family.

Are you excited about your talk at VRX? What do you hope to obtain from this cool event?

Absolutely. One of the messages we shared at Oculus Connect 6 in the fall was how we see the industry being at an inflection point right now. So spending time with this community at this time is really a treat. I look forward to taking every opportunity to learn from others in this industry and just getting energized and excited about our work collectively. 

Open Question: tell my readers something that I have not asked you, but you would like to add to this interview…

We recently launched two big titles for Rift—Asgard’s Wrath and Stormland—that have been generating so much excitement for both the community. They’ve both received high praise and ratings from gaming sites, the response has been truly phenomenal. Vader Immortal just released the final chapter to the three-episode saga they launched along with Quest, and Star Wars fans have been calling the experience of coming face-to-face with Darth Vader in VR incredible. We’ve got developers exploring immersive entertainment and getting truly creative with The Under Presents, which launched this week as well. 

We’re really thrilled with the momentum we’ve got right now and we have more content, experiences, and features to launch next year!