Facebook snaps up Xiaomi's Hugo Barra Published duration 26 January 2017

image copyright Reuters image caption Mr Barra is a prominent technology executive

Facebook has hired Hugo Barra to lead its development of virtual reality products, following his departure from Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi.

Mr Barra announced his decision to leave China on Monday.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said the pair agreed that "virtual and augmented reality will be the next major computing platform".

Mr Barra will replace Brendan Iribe, who stepped down as chief executive of the Oculus VR division in December.

He previously worked at Google between 2010 to 2013, before helping develop Xiaomi's global strategy.

Google is developing its own virtual reality experiences and has announced that Claude Zellweger will be joining the company to develop its Daydream VR products.

Mr Zellweger was the vice-president of design at Taiwan's HTC, which manufactures its own Vive VR kit.