Re: Life - Business & Technology

Chapter 83 - Oculus

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A few weeks later, two hundred miles north of Austin, a Caucasian man in his early 40s wearing glasses was busy testing a competitor's product at the id Software headquarters in Richardson, Texas. 

John Carmack, a living legend in the gaming industry as a pioneer in 3D Video Game programming, was comparing the newly released Hypervisor with his Oculus Rift Dev Kit. 

[The performance isn't even close. How did Future Tech fit such intricate mini-led screens across the visor? The size is so compact that the user barely notices it.] John pondered deeply. 

A young Caucasian man in his early 20s was on speakerphone from the Oculus offices in LA. 

"Our small crowdfunded company won't be able to compete with a behemoth like Future Tech. But, unfortunately, that's the reality of things right now." So Palmer Luckey stated while John immersed himself in the Hypervisor. 

"When we met each other for the first time last year, I thought the VR industry was but a small kindling, but little did I know it was already a massive forest fire," John replied. 

"How long have Future Tech been developing their cutting-edge Mixed Reality HMD?" Palmer asked curiously as a young leading expert in head-mounted displays. 

"Based on my research, the earliest evidence of Future Tech's HMD was the MVR Visor trialed and tested in Afghanistan. That information came from US soldiers training with Future Education, which should be reliable." John replied. 

"It's crazy they developed the Hypervisor without even focusing on the video gaming aspect. That's probably why all three VR, AR, and the standard modes work perfectly." Palmer stated in a depressed tone. 

"Don't get too down on yourself. This type of HMD was our dream, and it's a bit unfortunate that we weren't the ones to introduce it, but the Hypervisor is here now. I recommended we take this chance to collaborate with Future Tech and improve their VR capabilities." John suggested. 

[Making money from VR headsets was only secondary. Creating more fulfilling experiences for gamers and general users was and still is the goal.] So John Carmack pondered while enjoying the environment demo bundle with the Hypervisor. 

"Alright. My secretary will book a meeting with either Future Studios or Future Tech to pitch our partnership on Monday. We should get ready over the weekend." Palmer replied. 

"Understood, Palmer. I'll be testing and exploring the AI assistant feature in the meantime. I've always been intrigued with general artificial intelligence." John stated before Palmer ended the call. 

At the Future Tech Headquarters in Austin the next week, Vince was still busy upholding his end of the bargain in the Afghanistan prospecting partnership with President Karzai. 

[I'm lucky that Elon and his team had enough foresight to have started the development of a mining drone meant for the moon mission. So Heidi's engineers are in good hands at SpaceX for now.] Vince pondered while he immersed himself in the Hypervisor desktop environment. 

He received a Comlink request from Aiya through the visor. 

"Vince, I would like to remind you of a scheduled meeting with John Carmack and Palmer Luckey from id Software and Oculus in five minutes," Aiya stated politely. 

"Thanks, Aiya. Would you please serve them some refreshments in the living room while they wait?" Vince replied. 

A very human-looking butler bot took the penthouse elevator down to the main lobby. 

Aiya found both John and Palmer speaking with each other and touring around the lobby as they waited for the meeting to begin. 

"Good day, gentlemen. Vince would like to invite you both to his penthouse. Please follow me." Aiya instructed courteously. 

[Amazing! She's an android, yet it's pretty hard to tell she's not an actual human. And I thought Infi AI was already marvelous. This level of AI can change the world!] John Carmack pondered fervently. 

At the Future Studios offices, Kyle was notified by his secretary regarding Vince's meeting with a legend in the video game industry comparable to Tim Sweeney. 

Kyle immediately took the private elevator and made his way towards the penthouse. 

The three people arrived at the penthouse living room almost simultaneously. Kyle initiated a conversation as they waited for the big boss of Future Tech. 

"Mr. Carmack, welcome to our Austin headquarters. My name is Kyle, from Future Studios. I've heard so much about you and John Romero at id Software from my mentor all the time. I'm lucky to meet you in person finally." Kyle stated sincerely. 

"Thank you for the kind words, young man. May I know who you're mentor is supposed to be?" John inquired. 

"Tim Sweeney, from Epic Games. Vince recently acquired his company, and Tim is now the senior director of Future Studios, though he and his team are still based in North Carolina." Kyle explained. 

"You're fortunate to have such a magnificent mentor in Tim. I hadn't talked to him since the Nvidia Montreal expo last year, but I hope he's doing well." John said truthfully. 

"Nice to meet you, too, Mr. Luckey. My secretary told me you scheduled a meeting with Vince. May I join you, gentlemen? I'm curious about what you might discuss." Kyle asked. 

"Call me, Palmer. Referring to me as Mr. Luckey makes me sound old. I'm only 21 years old. And of course, we'd love to have the junior director of Future Studios attend the meeting." Palmer replied. 

While they were getting to know each other, Aiya served refreshments and snacks for the guests. 

"If you don't mind me asking. Is Aiya a common sight around Future Tech? I never imagined such an advanced artificial intelligence already in use." John inquired passionately. 

"She's the one and only. Patel and Vince spent hundreds of millions developing the android butler as proof of concept. Are you interested in AI technology?" Kyle replied. 

"Am I interested?! Of course! General artificial intelligence has too many potential applications that could change our way of life!" John explained passionately. 

"How about you, Palmer. Is AI tech of interest to you as well?" Kyle inquired. 

"My expertise lay in head-mounted displays and mixed reality. However, artificial intelligence is more John's thing. We started developing the Oculus Dev Kit a year ago and never noticed Future Tech advancing and innovating HMD technology. After testing the Hypervisor, I feel like we wasted time and effort in Oculus." Palmer stated honestly. 

"Don't be too down on yourself. The Hypervisor is a culmination of various Future Tech programs in plenty of divisions and subdivisions, which enjoy billions of dollars worth of funding each. But, unfortunately, based on our market research, Oculus only raised $2.5 million, frankly not enough capital to improve HMD technology." Kyle replied truthfully. 

Vince finished up his work and left the office to meet with John and Palmer during the allotted meeting time. 

He introduced himself to John and Palmer after greeting his old friend and colleague, Kyle.

"Mr. Carmack, may I preface our meeting by saying how much I admire your work. Carmack's reverse algorithm and id Software's innovation of FPS and mouse-look functionality is legendary!" Vince stated reverently.

[Even though I wasn't a video game programmer primarily in my past life, I consider people like John and Tim to be up there with Bill Gates and Linus Torvalds with respect.] Vince pondered.

"I appreciate it, Vince. And feel free to call me John. Palmer and I wanted to discuss the future of mixed reality head-mounted displays with you. As you know, we started producing Oculus Rift Dev Kits for our Kickstarter backers last year, but Future Tech's Hypervisor is the best choice in the market, though it's pretty expensive." John Carmack explained.

"With all due respect, John. I don't wish to monopolize the HMD market, and customers would feel better knowing cheaper alternatives were available to them. So I'm prepared to offer Oculus a partnership deal to produce more affordable VR products with fewer features." Vince replied.

[Wow! That was easy. I thought we'd never be able to profit from Oculus ever again. Good thing Mr. Dalton is a John Carmack fan.] Palmer pondered in excitement.

"Thanks for the gracious proposition, Vince. But I wanted to offer my services to Future Tech to improve and innovate your existing technologies, mixed reality, and general artificial intelligence. If you know my work, you understand I'm not in this industry for the money. Advancing entertainment and practical media is my life's goal." John explained passionately.

[How could I say no to someone like John Carmack. The guy is adamant about learning and improving, but he doesn't even have a college degree.] Vince thought.

"How about you, Palmer? What made you fly here from LA?" Vince inquired.

"Honestly, I've always been interested in HMDs. I believed Oculus would be the big break for my young career. So I accept the partnership offer to deliver economical options for mixed reality products. My company will aim to sell HMDs costing half or a third the $1,499 price of the Hypervisor." Palmer replied confidently.

"Alright, Kyle and Jessica will provide Oculus limited access to the Infinity API and free training in exchange for annual licensing fees, of course." 

[Future Tech can't sell too many different variations of our products. So if customers want the best, they can only buy from us. Having competition is excellent for the growth of the industry too.] Vince thought.

Stats last time checked: 

Future Tech current valuation - $300 billion 

15 million BTC (currently trades at $25,000) 

$16 Billion cash in Future Tech 

105,000+ employees (FT AI, Future Studios, Hive Mind Manufacturing, FT Micro Devices, BitCash, FT VR, Future Tech F1, FT Investments, Future Arms, Future Med, Future Tech Robotics, Future Education, Epic Games, 60% of SpaceX, 10% of Tesla, 10% of Koenigsegg) 

20,000+ operators under Future Security 

Personal Vehicles: Klassen Phantom, Agera R, Agera SFV, Boeing Luxury 787 Dreamliner, The Longhorn 

Five company collaborators (Epic, Koenegisegg, SpaceX, Tesla, Hyundai C&E) 

Dozens of investments under Future Tech Holdings (i..e., Instagram, Twitch)