Google Officially Creates Virtual Reality

Google has created a virtual computing division, aptly named Virtual Reality, and appointed Clay Bavor as head of the department. Google wants to started into developing its own virtual reality (VR) technology mainly because it is a promising platform that is expected to boom in terms of marketability and functionality.

Virtual reality replicates a setting that simulates physical presence in the real or virtual world. Displayed either on a computer screen or on special stereoscopic displays, VR also creates a full sensory experience which includes sight, touch, hearing as well as smell.

According to Android Authority, Bavor was previously the vice president in charge of the Google Cardboard. He primarly oversaw the overall operations at the Google Cardboard division since its inception in 2014.

Additionally, Bavor was also in charge of the development of various Google apps such as Gmail, Drive and Google Docs.  

Senior vice president Diana Greene will take over Bavor's previous post. 

Joshua Cruz, Google's spokesman, confirmed the new roles assigned to Bravor on Tuesday but declined to comment any further.

According to CNBC, Bravor also confirmed his new role as the vice president of Virtual Reality at Google via his Twitter account.

The new shift illustrates how serious Google is about setting up its VR capabilities.

Reuters reported that Google has long been playing with virtual reality but was never committed to it until now. Early in 2015, Google announced that it would partner with action camera maker GoPro to enable a 360-degree viewing feature for a virtual reality video device. The 16-camera rig is referred to as the Jump and is sold at $15,000.

In November last year, the company announced that its video-sharing site YouTube would support virtual reality videos. As reported by The Voice of America, users could now view VR videos using their smartphones and Google Cardboard viewer.