Facebook’s top VR executive quits ahead of smart glasses launch

Prior to his Facebook stint, Barra worked at the Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi as global VP for five years ending 2017. Before that, he was served as VP at Google.

Hugo Barra

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Facebook’s first vice president of virtual reality (VR) Hugo Barra, announced his departure from the company on Monday, culminating a four-year stint at the social network.

Barra co-led the Oculus team alongside Andrew Bosworth, another VP at Facebook’s VR unit, at a time when the company was speeding up its nascent virtual reality business.

The announcement comes ahead of the much-anticipated AR powered smart glass launch -- the company has partnered with luxury eyewear company Ray-Ban.

The company introduced wearable tech in September. According to a report by Bloomberg , smart glasses may be launched this year without the AR feature. However, users will be able to connect their glasses to a device.

Prior to his Facebook stint, Barra worked at the Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi as global VP for five years ending 2017. Before that, he served as VP at Google.

In a Facebook post, he shared that he looks forward to exploring healthcare technology, stating that the society is still poorly equipped to understand health and gain control over health outcomes. “I hope to be able to able to apply what I’ve learned from working in the consumer tech industry to help solve meaningful problems in the healthcare world,” he added.