Meta Collaborates with Former Oculus Founder’s Company to Develop “Top AR and VR Systems for the US Military”

Man, where do I even start? So, Palmer Luckey, that guy who kicked off Oculus back in the day, well, his company Anduril is now teaming up with Meta to cook up some gnarly AR and VR gear for the military. I mean, sounds like they’re making a play for some James Bond-level tech here.

But wait, back up a sec. Oculus, if you remember—probably taking up space in your mental archive next to your old high school locker combo—got snapped up by Facebook in 2014 for a cool two billion bucks. Yeah, billion with a “b.” Wild, right? Anyway, Luckey was kinda hanging out under the Meta (formerly known as Facebook—surprise!) umbrella until some political drama nudged him out the door. Next thing you know, he’s building Anduril into this beastly defense startup. Go figure.

Anyway—oops, I keep saying that—Anduril’s been playing around with XR stuff alongside the usual military toys like drones. Not too long ago, they snagged Microsoft’s IVAS gig, which is basically all about creating these futuristic AR helmets for the Army. Think Iron Man, but like, not.

Now they’re saying, with Meta on board, they’re all in to craft “the world’s best” AR and VR systems—it’s like a techie dream team tackling military tech. About as serious as a cat on a hot roof if you ask me. And according to them, no tax dollars are being burned in the process. Just private cash, which apparently is cheaper. Go figure.

Palmer’s buzzing about it, saying it’s dual-use tech or something? I’m just imagining soldiers now being tech wizards on the battlefield. Luckey and Zuckerberg seem to be back on talking terms, though. Odd considering the earlier beef, but hey, business is business, I guess.

Oh! And they’re not just talking about it; there are already plans to use it with the IVAS project—a $20 billion AR helmet deal for soldiers. Big bucks, huh? And it seems Anduril has the reins now. What a twist!