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posted by Fnord666 on Sunday April 14 2019, @02:54PM   Printer-friendly
from the conspiracies-everywhere dept.

Creepy Messages Will be Found in Facebook's Oculus Touch VR Controllers

Facebook has revealed that hidden messages were inadvertently printed inside VR controllers that will be shipped to customers soon:

Facebook said it accidentally hid bizarre and "inappropriate" messages inside "tens of thousands" of virtual-reality controllers, including "Big Brother is Watching" and "The Masons Were Here." Nate Mitchell, the cofounder of Oculus, the Facebook-owned VR company, said on Twitter on Friday that the company inadvertently printed some unusual messages in its Touch controllers, handheld devices for playing games and navigating VR environments.

These messages were intended only for prototypes, but a mistake meant they were included in regular production devices, he said. Some messages were included in developer kits for people building software for the product, while others made their way into consumer devices in significantly larger numbers. While there should have been no internal messages of any kind in any of the devices, a Facebook representative told Business Insider that the company would not recall them.

"Unfortunately, some 'easter egg' labels meant for prototypes accidentally made it onto the internal hardware for tens of thousands of Touch controllers," Mitchell wrote. "The messages on final production hardware say 'This Space For Rent' & 'The Masons Were Here.' A few dev kits shipped with 'Big Brother is Watching' and 'Hi iFixit! We See You!' but those were limited to non-consumer units," he said. iFixit is a tech repair company known for publicly deconstructing new gadgets and posting photos of their innards online.

Also at Road to VR.

Related: Facebook Announces a New Standalone VR Headset: Oculus Quest; HTC Releases Vive Wireless Adapter
(nobody made a submission about Rift S because it is boring)


Original Submission #1Original Submission #2

 
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  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 14 2019, @04:55PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 14 2019, @04:55PM (#829418)

    Yeah. These seem rather 'meh' you have to basically crack the thing open to see it which most people do not do.

    This new outrage culture we have is no fun.

    This also strikes me as publicity stunt. 3d is not the homerun everyone thought it would be. It is more of a niche market that is sinking a huge amount of capital. It is not going away. But it is miles away from one in every home...

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  • (Score: 2) by looorg on Sunday April 14 2019, @05:13PM (1 child)

    by looorg (578) on Sunday April 14 2019, @05:13PM (#829420)

    It's a trap! You have to crack open the device to see which message you got, if any. By opening the device you are voiding your warranty so they can now make a subpar product that breaks more often and not having to replace it! Or is that to much of a conspiracy?

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 14 2019, @05:32PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 14 2019, @05:32PM (#829425)

      By opening the device you are voiding your warranty

      That nonsense has been illegal since the '70s.