Xiaomi's Hugo Barra to join Facebook to lead VR efforts

Hugo Barra, who recently quit Xiaomi as the Global Vice President, is all set to join Facebook.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the appointment in his post.

"I'm excited that Hugo Barra is joining Facebook to lead all of our virtual reality efforts, including our Oculus team. Hugo's in China right now, so here we are together in VR. It seems fitting," he wrote.

"I've known Hugo for a long time, starting when he helped develop the Android operating system, to the last few years he's worked at Xiaomi in Beijing bringing innovative devices to millions of people," he added.

Zuckerberg also said that Hugo shared his belief and that he looked forward to have him in his team.

He wrote, "Hugo shares my belief that virtual and augmented reality will be the next major computing platform. They'll enable us to experience completely new things and be more creative than ever before. Hugo is going to help build that future, and I'm looking forward to having him on our team."

Barra, in his reply, thanked Zuckerberg and said that he cannot wait to get started.

"It's been a dream of mine to work in virtual reality even back when AR/VR were just figments of science fiction; now we're taking selfies in virtual worlds :) I learned from Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun that there's no greater calling in our industry than taking breakthrough tech and making it available to the greatest number of people," he wrote.

Barra on January 23 had announced that he has quit Xiaomi citing a new adventure at the Silicon Valley.

"What I've realised is that the last few years of living in such a singular environment have taken a huge toll on my life and started affecting my health. My friends, what I consider to be my home, and my life are back in Silicon Valley, which is also much closer to my family. Seeing how much I've left behind these past few years, it is clear to me that the time has come to return," he wrote in a Facebook post.

During Barra's tenure, Xiaomi made great strides in business outside China too. It first launched in countries like Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia and then eventually in India.