Alphabet’s Google seems to have recently gained its own vice president of virtual reality, longtime employee Clay Bavor, who Re/code reports will now lead the tech giant’s new division focused on VR experience development.
Bavor’s new job as VR czar suggests that Google is getting more serious about promoting its VR efforts during a year in which multiple prominent VR headsets, including the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, are slated to make their commercial debut.
Google’s most significant (known) VR investments to date include a significant stake in the still-mysterious Magic Leap VR/AR startup, as well as its acqusition last year of 3D sound startup Thrive Audio and the ex-Double Fine devs behind VR art app TiltBrush.
The company is also continuing to support its inexpensive, smartphone-driven Google Cardboard (pictured) headset, updating the Cardboard SDK today to afford Unity and Android developers access to new tools for creating spatial audio effects in games and apps. It’s worth noting that Bavor’s career at Google includes a prominent role on the Google Cardboard development team.