Instagram made headlines in our digital media world late last week when CTO Mike Krieger marveled at the possibilities of bringing its users visual content into the VR world of Oculus to, among other things, transport them immersively all around the world.
That's smart. Rather obvious. And will happen sooner than you think.
Think about it. While Facebook -- owner of both Instagram and Oculus of course -- is primarily a communications medium, Instagram is first and foremost a visual medium. Both complement each other (and more kids use Facebook -- and vice versa -- than you think). And, Facebook's natural progression always has been its evolution first from text, then to still images, then to video, then to 360 video (just this past year), and then ultimately deeply immersive into VR. While Facebook publicly keeps our expectations low -- saying that the mass marketing of Oculus VR will take 10 years -- don't believe it. Consumer Oculuses (Oculi?) soon hit the market at a price point familiar to gamers and their consoles. They will be snatched up. And, all the other major players hit the market with millions of premium headsets soon, very soon (I just saw another Samsung Gear VR commercial last night). Make no mistake, those VR buyers too are Instagram users.
VR's "travel around the world" possibilities (and soon-to-be realities) are a natural immersive fit for Instagram. And, they will connect us and immerse our kids (and us too) into other cultures -- which could be a very good thing.
Amidst all the divisive hatred and tragedies around the world, VR's "empathy machine" capabilities (about which I wrote previously) may be exactly what we need.
Oculus -- in the hands (and on the faces) of Instagram users -- has that kind of power and potential.
Facebook ... unleash it!