Twitter added one more member to its VR division this week with the hiring of former Apple designer who helped to create the company’s iTunes music visualizer.
Alessandro Sabatelli will serve as the Director of AR (augmented reality) and VR (virtual reality) within the Twitter Cortex, the company’s machine learning division.
Sabatelli also worked with VR and AR at his previous company, IXOMOXI, which aims works to enhance customers’ visual perception of the world. This announcement comes shortly after Twitter’s acquisition of the machine learning company Magic Pony.
Of particular interest to a company looking to build out its VR division are Magic Pony’s video compression patents, especially around livestreaming and 360 degree video. Since joining Twitter, Magic Pony has also transitioned into the company’s Cortex division.
Coupled with Sabatelli’s experience in user interface design and data visualization were likely the driving forces behind Twitter’s decision to bring him on.
Twitter is not the only company taking steps towards VR. Facebook, Apple, Google and several other tech companies have made strives in VR over this past year.
While Twitter has been relatively quiet on the topic of VR up to this point, these consecutive moves indicate a clear path towards directly competing with other companies in the social media space in the future.
Related reading: Twitter to acquire machine learning company Magic Pony Technology
[source]UploadVR[/source]
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