Hugo Barra leaves Xiaomi to lead Facebook's Virtual Reality efforts

Days after Hugo Barra announced he is stepping down as the Global VP at Xiaomi and moving back to Silicon Valley, a Facebook post from Mark Zuckerberg tells us where he is headed. Xiaomi's loss is Facebook's gain as Barra will join the latter and help 'lead' all of its virtual reality efforts, including Oculus.

Barra was the face of Xiaomi in India. The company pretty much helped shed off the stereotype image that comes with Chinese vendors, at least in India. It aimed at offering superior phones at affordable prices, and made heads turn with the flash sale concept.

The company also ventured into several other product categories. However, Xiaomi hasn't been meeting targets and is facing stiff competition from Vivo, Huawei and others. Barra's exit will be another setback. He will be replaced by Xiang Wang, Xiaomi’s current Senior Vice President for strategic co-operation.

Now, Barra heading back to lead VR speaks volumes about Facebook's big plans for Oculus. So, Oculus hasn't been a smooth sailing ship, and VR hasn't really taken off. Oculus is fairly popular compared to competition but nowhere close to a mainstream product. Moreover, the Oculus chief stepped down in December.

In fact,  Zuckerberg has revealed to have spent a lot more in investment into Oculus then what's visible. The figure is roughly $3 billion ($1 billion more than the price revealed) for the acquisition and let’s not forget the amount doesn't involve all the money spent on developing the technology.

Barra has been roped in to steer the ship, and his mission is simple - making VR mainstream. Despite the race between Google and Facebook in the VR world, it still seems like a long way to go. But, Zuckerberg is ready to throw in billions so that it can become a steady source of revenue in the future. Facebook recently bought The Eye Tribe in a move to use the startup’s eye tracking technology to improve the virtual reality experience through Oculus.

• Hugo Barra
• facebook
• Mark Zuckerberg