Facebook building operating system and silicon to support augmented reality and mind-reading technology push

Operating system development led by Windows NT co-author Mark Lucovsky will share space with Facebook's virtual reality hardware devs

Facebook is working on its own operating system in order to better support its virtual reality and other hardware developments. At the same time, the aim is to free the company from dependence upon third-party operating systems, particularly Google Android.

The operating system development is being masterminded by Windows NT co-author Mark Lucovsky, who is now general manager of operating systems at Facebook.

That's all according to The Information, which claims that Facebook is planning to make a series of big investments in developing its own hardware, including virtual reality headsets, supported by its own in-house developed software technology.

"We really want to make sure the next generation has space for us... We don't think we can trust the marketplace or competitors to ensure that's the case. And so we're going to do it ourselves," Facebook vice president of hardware Andrew Bosworth told The Information.

Facebook acquired Oculus for $2 billion in March 2014 - before becoming embroiled in an intellectual property infringement dispute with Bethesda holding company Zenimax. Facebook was ordered to pay the company $500 million after the court found that Kickstarter-funded Oculus had misappropriated Bethesda's VR intellectual property.

Nevertheless, Oculus is now the most popular VR headset used by gamers on Steam, with the HTC Vive, the first to market, now second. However, following an initial flurry of excitement, virtual reality remains a tiny subset of the overall gaming market, while Microsoft has struggled to sell its high-end HoloLens augmented reality technology into organisations in any great volume.

Facebook is also dabbling in mind-reading technology with the acquisition of CTRL-labs for $1 billion earlier this year. Furthermore, it has shown an interest in following Apple and Google into silicon development, having reportedly held talks over a potential acquisition with semiconductor firm Cirrus Logic.

And Lucovsky is a highly regarded software engineer. When he resigned from Microsoft to join Google in November 2004, its then CEO Steve Ballmer reportedly threw a chair across his office.

In a legal filing, Lucovsky claimed: "Prior to joining Google, I set up a meeting on or about November 11, 2004 with Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer to discuss my planned departure….At some point in the conversation Mr. Ballmer said: ‘Just tell me it's not Google.' I told him it was Google.

"At that point, Mr. Ballmer picked up a chair and threw it across the room hitting a table in his office. Mr. Ballmer then said: ‘Fucking Eric Schmidt is a fucking pussy. I'm going to fucking bury that guy, I have done it before, and I will do it again. I'm going to fucking kill Google.' ….

"Thereafter, Mr. Ballmer resumed trying to persuade me to stay….Among other things, Mr. Ballmer told me that ‘Google's not a real company. It's a house of cards.'

Ballmer has described the incident, as relayed in the legal document, as a "gross exaggeration".