Former Google And Xiaomi Executive Joins Facebook

By Tiffany Armstrong | Jan 27, 2017 08:54 PM EST

TEXT SIZE    

It did not take Hugo Barra too long to find another company to work for. Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg proudly announced that Barra will be under his wings.

Barra, who served as an executive at tech company Google and smartphone company Xiaomi, became a vice president of virtual reality at Facebook, CNET reported. The CEO of the popular social media app Facebook said he and Barra go way back from the time that the former Google executive was working on the Android operating system.

Barra left Xiaomi after almost four years in the company due to health reasons, as previously reported by Jobs & Hire. It appears that the environment in Beijing, which is known for its smog, did not agree well with Barra's body, prompting his return to Silicon Valley in the United States.

Facebook has been trying to further develop its virtual reality technology, believing that the future lies in it. The social media company has further expanded into the tech industry with its acquisition of Oculus VR for about $3 billion. The acquisition did little to boost Facebook's topline and bottomline as customers are slow to adopt the technology.

Adding Barra on its management team is expected to boost its augmented reality project. Zuckerberg said that he and Barra share the same believe that virtual and augmented reality will become more ubiquitous in the near future, PCMag reported.

Barra said his job will not start until a few months later. As vice president of virtual reality, Barra will have to handle all of Facebook's initiative in connection with the development of the technology.

Barra, a Brazilian computer scientist, has spent years as vice president of product management for Android at Google. He left the tech giant in 2013 to pursue a career in China as an executive within the Chinese mobile company Xiaomi.

pre post  |  next post
More Sections