Facebook plans to build a 'teleporter'

Social network giant, Facebook, has its sights set on entering the world of virtual reality after it unveiled its plans to build a 'teleporter'.

Although Facebook has had its sights set on the possibilities of virtual reality for some time, it remains a somewhat theoretical technology for the average consumer.

The company plans to "effectively build a teleporter", the company's chief technical officer, Mike Schroepfer was quoted as saying by Business Insider.

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"Facebook wants to build a device that allows you to be anywhere you want, with anyone, regardless of geographic boundaries," he added.

Although teleportation will not be introduced in its traditional sense, Facebook aims to improve upon the virtual reality experience by adding physical feedback, tricking your senses into thinking you're somewhere you're not.

The social network’s efforts of creating this experience using virtual reality for now, remains a somewhat theoretical technology for many.

Last year, after acquiring Oculus VR, an American virtual reality technology company, Facebook plans to release the Oculus Rift VR headset next year. In June, Oculus revealed the Oculus Touch that will be available in stores in the middle of 2016. It involves mimicking a user's natural movements in VR and the Touch controllers that allow you to see your hands make experience more real-life like.



The Touch is to be sold with a tool called Medium. Oculus calls it "digital clay", as it enables users to sculpt 3D objects using the controllers. You can see it in action in the video below.

In May, Oculus teamed up with Surreal Vision, a computer vision company focused on real-time 3D scene reconstruction. The two companies are trying to build a technology that will be able to live stream your actual environment into virtual reality. The concept behind the technology is that the advantages of VR, like manipulating objects that aren't there could be added into your real world.

Oculus' launch of Touch and Surreal Vision form the basis of Facebook's idea of introducing advanced VR, but the technology still has quite a ways to go.

This article originally appeared on Mashable