Palmer Luckey—Created Oculus Rift VR headset that raised 974% of Kickstarter goal, reviving the VR industry
In 2012, at age 19, Palmer Luckey designed the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset and launched a Kickstarter campaign that raised $2.4 million, or 974% of its original target. The Oculus Rift is widely credited with reviving the virtual reality industry after decades of dormancy. Mark Zuckerberg called it 'one of the coolest things I've ever seen' and Facebook acquired the company for $2 billion in 2014. Luckey's innovation democratized VR technology and made it accessible to consumers.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Source | +toward | secondary | +0.50 |
| Overall incident score = | +0.429 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (high ×1.5) × confidence (0.57)
Evidence (1 signal)
Smithsonian profiled how Luckey created the Oculus Rift that revived VR
The Smithsonian Magazine profiled how Palmer Luckey, at age 19, designed the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset in his parents' garage, launched a Kickstarter that raised $2.4 million (974% of goal), and is widely credited with reviving the virtual reality industry. Facebook acquired the company for $2 billion in 2014.