Facebook, owners of top virtual reality firm Oculus VR, has said it intends to develop apps for viewing Facebook in virtual reality.

It didn't exactly say how this can be done without jamming one of those clunky Oculus Rift VR headsets onto your face but the mere fact that Facebook did so is more than intriguing.

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Facebook has just revealed it's developing versions of its apps for use in a VR environment that promise a "fuller picture" for users that might use new headsets developed for the Facebook VR apps.

"I mean, virtual reality is pretty cool. We're working on apps for VR," said Chris Cox, Facebook's chief product officer to Recode.

Cox talked at length about the promise held by VR in social media but revealed few details about the upcoming VR apps. Missing from his answers were how the VR apps would work, on what device and when they might hit the marketplace.

"You realize, when you're in it that you're looking at the future, and it's going to be awesome", Cox noted. "When you're in Facebook, you're just sending around these bits of experience -- a photo, a video, a thought".

But with Facebook in VR, users could be "sending a fuller picture", whatever that means.

Cox cautioned, however, Facebook is "a long way away from everyone having those headsets".

Facebook could leverage the expertise of its new subsidiary, Oculus Story Studio, to develop the VR apps. Story Studio's job is to produce VR movies. The Facebook app could also benefit from Oculus Cinema, a video-watching program for Rift that places users in a virtual movie theater.

Facebook bought Oculus in July 2014 for US$ 2 billion.