Former Xiaomi and Android CEO to lead Facebook’s VR division

Hugo Barra, who recently left as the international head of Xiaomi, will become the head of the virtual reality division at Facebook. He is also at the helm of Oculus, which is owned by the social network.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Hugo Barra announced the news themselves in messages on Facebook. Zuckerberg says Barra will be in charge of all things virtual reality within the company. That means he will also be the head of Oculus. According to Zuckerberg, Barra shares his view that virtual and augmented reality are the future.

In December last year, Oculus was split into two companies: a division for desktop VR and a division for mobile VR applications. In addition, former CEO Brendan Iribie resigned from his position; he continued as CEO of the PC-VR division. At the time, Oculus announced that it was looking for a new CEO together with parent company Facebook. With Hugo Barra, that position now seems to have been filled.

Hugo Barra has been working at the Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi since 2013 as head of its international division. The brand has grown considerably since then, but especially in Asia. The Chinese brand still has the ambition to sell more smartphones in Europe and the US. On Monday, Barra announced his retirement from Xiaomi. Before Barra started working at Xiaomi, the Brazilian worked at Google for about five years. There he eventually became vice president of the Android division.