Alphabet Inc's Google appoints its product management VP Clay Bavor as the head of its newly created virtual reality (VR) computing division.
Reuters reported that Google spokesperson Joshua Cruz officially announced Bavor's new role as the leader of the team. Bavor's Twitter profile shows that he is the vice president of Google's Virtual Reality arm. He headed Google's Gmail, Google Docs, and Google Drive when he was working as the company's vice president for product management.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Bavor has a good deal of experience in the field of VR. He developed the $20 cardboard-and-glass called Google Cardboard. This is a gadget that works as a VR headset when paired with most smartphones.
Re/Code, the first media outlet to report Bavor's appointment as the head of Google's new VR arm, wrote that Cardboard has seen success when it was launched. It struck a deal with the New York Times and saw a bump in operations. The device is currently making its way to schools this year with strategic distribution programs.
The Cardboard team also came up with a system that can function with GoPro to bring VR to YouTube, a concept that Bavor introduced in May.
Several workers from Google said that Bavor has spent more time working on Cardboard over his other responsibilities. His appointment as a full-time VR head only shows that Google is finally making aggressive moves to take on competitors in the VR industry.
Some analysts predict that VR will transform many industries, including entertainment, design, and gaming.
News on Bavor's appointment comes just a few days after Facebook's Oculus started taking orders for its $600 VR devices. Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion almost two years, and is now the leader in the VR industry. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg even stretches further claiming VR as the next major computing platform.
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