Amazon virtual reality plans revealed by new job posting for VR developers

Amazon is hiring virtual reality experts to help create VR content for its on-demand video platform, Amazon Video. The company is set to join fellow video companies Netflix and Hulu, who are both already investing in the production of VR content.

A job advert posted to a UK employment website on 6 March reveals Amazon is looking for a 'Senior Software Development Manager' to lead the company's "virtual reality team", which will "be responsible for building the virtual reality experience within Amazon Video." The company wants this new team to create a platform and interface for "immersive storytelling".

Published on GlassDoor.co.uk, the advert is looking for a software expert with at least 15 years of relevant engineering experience, at least seven years of software development experience, and someone who has spent at least five years as a software development manager. They will also need experience working with both front-end user interfaces and back-end computer systems "and all points in between."

Amazon states in the advert: "Entertainment is evolving rapidly. The future will not be limited to passive 2D experiences. The virtual reality tea, will explore and create the platform and interface for immersive storytelling. This will include an ingestion and playback platform for virtual reality experiences."

Such experiences will be produced for VR headsets like the affordable Samsung Gear VR and Google Cardboard, as well as the high-end Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, the latter of which goes on sale soon for almost £700. Amazon will likely face immediate competition from Netflix, whose vice president of product innovation, Todd Yellin, said: "We're very interested in where [VR] could go in storytelling...we're tracking where that goes."