Facebook bets big on 360-degree audio for VR with new investment

When it comes to virtual reality the audio is almost as important as the visuals. Good audio can help guide you in a 360-degree environment and create a realistic experience. Now Facebook is betting big on the technology with its latest acquisition.

Scottish company Two Big Ears announced on Monday that it’s joining Facebook and the Oculus team. The startup’s main product is 3Dception, which offers a number of tools to create 360-degree audio for virtual and augmented reality environments. As part of the deal with Facebook, these services will now be available for free.

That’s great for smaller developers who need an easy way to add audio to their VR creations, and any existing Pro subscribers will get 12 more months of support. Two Big Ears also promises to remain open to all platforms and devices, meaning it won’t block developers from using its tools for competing headsets like the HTC Vive.

Over the weekend, an Oculus update killed Revive, a third-party app designed to make Oculus games work on the Vive. The news has some people worried that tensions between the two companies could be heating up, but at least when it comes to Two Big Ears that doesn’t seem to be the case.