Inside Google's Plan to Make VR Amazing for Absolutely, Positively Everyone

In late 2013, Clay Bavor began experimenting with teleportation. He paired an Oculus Rift headset to a robotic arm, upon which he mounted a couple of GoPro cameras. When he moved his head, the thinking went, the cameras would mimic the movement, acting as a second pair of eyes. If it worked, he'd be able to "teleport" himself (or his eyes, at least) a few feet away. He still has a video of the first time he ever got it running: There's Bavor, tall and thin in a t-shirt and jeans, standing among the contraptions with the Rift on his face. He reaches out his arm, waving his hand in front of the cameras at his side while simultaneously seeing it in front of his face. "Whoaaa," he says to himself. This is like the craziest thing I've ever experienced." The so-called Teleportation Robot was just one of Bavor's many side hustles at Google. Technically, his job was to lead the company's apps teams--the folks who make Gmail and Drive and Docs. But he'd been enthralled by VR ever since he ...