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Facebook’s social VR Spaces is now compatible with HTC Vive

Facebook’s social VR Spaces is now compatible with HTC Vive

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The first expansion from Oculus Rift

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Facebook’s VR hangout app Spaces just got cross-platform functionality. Now, in addition to Facebook’s own Oculus Rift headset, you can use the HTC Vive to access all the same features in Spaces, from making Messenger video calls to creating your own avatar and playing games.

According to Facebook, there are plans to eventually make other platforms compatible with Spaces as well. “This is our first expansion onto a new platform,” the company says in the announcement, “but it’s only the beginning: We’re working to bring Facebook Spaces to even more VR platforms and devices in the future, so stay tuned.”

Spaces debuted earlier this year as a way to blend the social aspects of Facebook with the immersive parts of VR, creating a place where friends can “hang out” in a virtual space the way they might in real life. “It’s not about meeting up with strangers to get to know each other,” Spaces developer Rachel Franklin told The Verge in October. “We’re starting from a place of friends and family. That was an interesting launch point. How do we take that existing relationship and enhance it.”

Over the past few months, Spaces has expanded to include things like 3D Posts, which are interactive 3D objects that can be designed in Spaces and then posted to Facebook, and the ability to share photos and videos within Spaces itself. Spaces is distinct from Oculus’ own social tools, including a similar hangout system in Oculus Home, which is supposed to launch in the next year.