Ever since Facebook acquired virtual reality headset maker Oculus, the company seems to be taking more brands under its umbrella. Recently, Facebook owned Oculus acquired Israel-based startup Pebbles, which specializes in hand tracking.

According to NDTV, Oculus has confirmed the acquisition of Pebbles that specializes in technology that can track hand movements. Oculus has also said that it expects the acquisition to speeden up its work on virtual reality technologies. Explaining what the company is involved with, Oculus Chief Nadav Grossinger said that the experts used the concept of micro optics and computer vision to extract data from optical sensors. He also said that these processes were a part of the virtual reality technology development.

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Meanwhile, Oculus did not reveal the financial details of the deal; however, a report on Wall Street Journal, points out that the company is expected to shell out $60 million for the deal.

Next year, Oculus plans to introduce its virtual reality headsets in the market and will primarily target the product towards gamers. Just last month, at a premiere video game show, Oculus revealed its Half Moon controllers that are operated through Touch. These controllers will work like extended hands for people who are using the virtual reality headset. Pebbles is expected to join the hardware and computer engineering firms at Oculus.

Pebbles has also integrated its technology into the the virtual reality headset by Oculus, which will allow people to operate the device through hand gestures. Pebbles claims that its technology is capable of showing clothing, scars or items held in one's hand as well as other unique features.

Of late, Israel has become home to many 3D gesture control companies, apart from Pebbles. Even PrimeSense Ltd, the company that helped realize Microsoft Corp's Kinect gesture-control and 3D-sensing capabilities is based in Israel, which later on acquired by Apple. Other firms in this region include 3DV Systems and Omek Interactive Ltd. that were recently acquired by Microsoft.

TagsFacebook Oculus