We’re thrilled to introduce Atman Binstock, Oculus’ new Chief Architect!

Atman was one of the lead engineers and driving forces behind Valve’s VR project, creating the ‘VR Room’ demo that garnered so much excitement at Steam Dev Days. Prior to Valve, Atman led several projects at top companies in the industry, including RAD, DICE, and Intel.

Atman and the Valve VR team helped prove simulator sickness could be overcome and a true sense of "presence" could be delivered. He helped set the bar for consumer virtual reality and is dedicated to making sure Oculus delivers the highest quality VR experience.

Atman wanted to share his start in VR with the community:

“Just over two years ago, Michael Abrash and I were sitting in a coffee shop in Kirkland. He was trying to convince me to come work on AR and VR with him at Valve.

At the time, I was trying to wrap my head around two questions: ‘Why me?’ and ‘Why now?’ Michael did a good job of explaining that a confluence of technologies was developing that could make compelling virtual experiences possible, but I still wrestled with ‘Why me?’ After all, if the technology was really ready, surely people more capable than me would figure it out.

But Michael convinced me that this was basically the myth of technological inevitability: the idea that because technologies were possible, they would just naturally happen. Instead, the way technological revolutions actually happen involve smart people working hard on the right problems at the right time. And if I wanted a revolution, and I thought I was capable of contributing, I should be actively pushing it forward.

I signed up.

Two years later, we’ve solved some of the basic problems, proven great VR is not only possible but truly magical, and now I want to bring it to the world. I’m incredibly excited and humbled by the opportunity — We’re just scratching the surface of what’s possible, and I can’t wait to discover what’s next!”



Image courtesy Image courtesy Serenity Forge.

Atman will be spearheading the new Oculus R&D team based in the Seattle area. We’re looking for exceptional engineers to help research and develop the future of virtual reality. If you’re interested in working with us, please visit oculus.com/careers or email careers+seattle@oculusvr.com.

End of Rift Development Kit Sales

We’re quickly running out of stock for the Rift development kit, so we’ve shut down sales in most regions. A handful of the hardware components are no longer being manufactured, and as a result, we’re ramping down production and distribution of the original kits.

We never expected to sell so many Rift development kits and the fact that we’re close to being sold out after 60,000 kits is nothing short of incredible — Thank you for your support!

We’ll have more news on this soon, so stay tuned!

GDC, PAX East, and E3

We just wrapped up SXSW in Austin where we did a live Q&A panel and the first public demo of the Crystal Cove prototype since CES:

CNN – “SXSW: Demo of 'Game of Thrones' on Oculus Rift wows virtual reality fans”

Wired – “How It Felt to Experience Game of Thrones Through an Oculus Rift”

Palmer, Ryan and Nate on the SXSW panel, “Exploring the Future of Virtual Reality with Oculus”:

The team is heads-down in the run up to GDC 2014 next week. We’re giving two talks at the show, along with hosting a booth on the expo floor (with 20 demo stations!):

Working with the Latest Oculus Rift Hardware and Software

Michael Antonov and Nate Mitchell – Wednesday, March 19th @ 11am – 12pm

Developing Virtual Reality Games and Experiences

Tom Forsyth – Thursday, March 20th @ 2:30pm – 3:30pm

If you’re at the show, make sure to stop by and say Hello! And just in case you missed it, here’s Palmer’s talk from Steam Dev Days in January:

We’ll see you at GDC!

— The Oculus Team