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`4/26/22, 11:26 AM
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`The Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/web/20220426144335/https://www.dmagazine.com/publications/d-ceo/2015/september/virtual-reality-of-john-carmack/
`Apr 26, 2022
`Dallas, TX
`50° F
`
`Let’s Make Dallas
`Even Better
`
`Business
`
`The Virtual Reality of John Carmack
`
`The Dallas video game genius behind “Doom” and “Quake” is back, this time in the nascent VR space. In this
`exclusive interview, he tells why.
`
`By David Marlett
`
`|
`
` August 20, 2015 |
`
`12:00 am
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`https://web.archive.org/web/20220426144335/https://www.dmagazine.com/publications/d-ceo/2015/september/virtual-reality-of-john-carmack/
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`1/10
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`2/10
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`
`From the storyteller on a Greek stage to the latest in curved-screen tvs and
`IMAX theaters, the holy grail of entertainment has always been immersion:
`putting the audience “inside” the drama, transporting them to another time
`and place. To date, that has been an “over there” experience, leaving a
`physical gap that reminds our senses that we’re not truly immersed. But
`that’s beginning to change, thanks to the advent of modern Virtual Reality
`(VR) technology.
`
`Just within the last two years, there has been a great leap forward in
`immersion techniques. Along the way we’ve discovered that VR is not just for
`entertainment—gaming and movies, for example—but that it also has broad
`commercial applications for the likes of virtual travel, real estate evaluation,
`and remote training. While companies ranging from Google to Sony are
`jumping into the space, the undisputed leader in this new technology is 3-
`year-old Oculus VR, a California-based virtual reality firm that was acquired
`by Facebook last year for $2 billion. The company produces the Oculus Rift,
`the leading VR headgear, whose first consumer version is slated to arrive in
`early 2016. And the technology leader for Oculus is North Texas video game
`pioneer John Carmack.
`
`Feeling intimidated in conversation with Carmack is understandable. He’s a
`brilliant tech innovator whom you might imagine has the answer to many of
`our most burning questions: Where will science lead us? What’s next for
`humanity? It’s more likely, though, that you will get a clipped reply to such
`questions, like this: “That is not something I have developed a specific
`opinion on yet.” But, wait for it—then Carmack will take your question and
`turn it around, allowing himself the runway to expound on whatever is on his
`mind.
`
`In scientific detail garnished with a sharp, fleeting smile, he will lay out an
`analytic yet buoyant vision of the future … the future of what interests him,
`that is: aerospace, and immersive experiences, punctuated with a good dose
`of libertarian philosophy. One way or another you will come away enthused
`and a little less intimidated by this man—a cultural icon who has, defiantly,
`made Dallas his home.
`
`Yes, defiantly. After Carmack accepted the job as chief technology officer at
`Oculus, he turned down an undisclosed (yet no doubt extraordinary) offer to
`move his family to the company headquarters in California’s Silicon Valley.
`No, he would not leave Texas, he said. In fact, as a condition of his
`acceptance, he said Oculus would have to open an office in Dallas—which it
`has since done. In a glass tower near NorthPark Center, with a team of 15 or
`so Oculus employees, Carmack now does what he does best: quietly invent,
`innovate, and solve. And he does so with an attitude that all things are not
`only possible, but he is the man to do them. “I am such an optimist about
`
`https://web.archive.org/web/20220426144335/https://www.dmagazine.com/publications/d-ceo/2015/september/virtual-reality-of-john-carmack/
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`3/10
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`4/26/22, 11:26 AM
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`everything that we have today and where we are going,” he says. “I am happy
`to be part of the technological wave pushing things.”
`
`∗∗∗
`
`[inline_image id=”1″ align=”r” crop=”tall”]First things first, though, for the
`uninitiated: Who, exactly, is John Carmack? If you are over 35 and have ever
`played “Doom,” you are mildly confused at how others might be unaware of
`the tech genius in our midst. Moreover, if you still play “Wolfenstein 3D,” you
`are downright annoyed at the ignorant civilians for whom the Carmack name
`doesn’t immediately engender awe.
`
`For everyone else, picture a socially awkward, 45-year-old Kansas native who
`is unremarkable in build and height. Envision a college dropout with unruly
`blonde hair and a sharp-pitched voice whose big wardrobe change from
`summer to winter is t-shirt/shorts/tennis shoes to t-shirt/pants/tennis shoes.
`Add in amassed wealth, a dry wit, a teaching spirit matched by a family-
`devoted heart, and an almost annoying heap of enthusiasm. Finally, layer in
`the fact that he is one of the pioneers of the largest entertainment industry in
`the history of mankind, bigger than movies and music combined: the
`modern video game.
`
`Carmack’s employer, Oculus, produces the head-mounted displays in which
`players or audience members are immersed 360 degrees in a game or movie.
`Just before taking the CTO position there, Carmack was wrapping up his long
`career with his Dallas-based game development company, id Software, where
`he led the creation of many iconic video games and, along the way, invented
`much of the industry.
`
`A D V E R T I S E M E N T
`
`As usual with Carmack, the decision to join Oculus came from inspiration for
`its technological challenges. He recalls: “Oculus showed me a mock-up” of
`what would eventually become the Gear VR—a mobile-phone-based head-
`mounted display made now by Oculus with Samsung Telecommunications
`—“and I said, ‘I can do something really good with this.’ So I decided to take
`the CTO position.”
`
`Prior to joining Oculus, and simultaneous with his work at id, Carmack was
`pursuing another of his interests—building rockets for space travel through
`his company Armadillo AeroSpace, looking to get into the “low orbit” world
`alongside the likes of Elon Musk. Though it didn’t work out, he is optimistic
`
`https://web.archive.org/web/20220426144335/https://www.dmagazine.com/publications/d-ceo/2015/september/virtual-reality-of-john-carmack/
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`4/10
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`about someday returning to that work, which he readily admits to missing.
`“There is that ache of something left undone there,” he says. “I spent 10 years
`and $8 million and, in the end, it didn’t succeed.”
`
`“Facebook has turned out to be a phenomenal
`company… The leadership are really earnest people.”
`
`John Carmack
`
`The casualness with which he uses the phrase “didn’t succeed” is conspicuous
`for Carmack, but he quickly follows with an explanation. “It was a binary
`thing,” he says matter-of-factly. “We didn’t get into suborbital space within
`the 10 years; thus it was not a success.” So, what did he get from the work? “I
`have an integrated set in my brain of all the lessons I’ve learned over time,”
`he explains. “But I am a remarkably unsentimental person. I really don’t
`spend much time looking backwards.”
`
`Asked about the similarity of his VR work and the space venture, he says,
`“We probably are heading more on the path of The Matrix than we are to
`Mars. But betting on the future has always been a tough thing to do. I do
`think there are reasons for wanting to have offshoots of humanity that are
`more segmented by great distances like that. There is a safety-net argument
`to be made that, as the world gets more and more interconnected, there are
`hazards to our cultures that you could imagine applying to a worldwide
`civilization as things homogenize and get more interconnected and
`interdependent.”
`
`Carmack is abruptly long-winded, if that makes sense. He continues: “There
`is a subset of the population that wants a frontier, that wants to go off away
`from everyone else, that doesn’t want to just lay back in their bed, even with
`perfect virtual reality. That is the nature of man. You don’t have to have a
`rational reason [to go to Mars. You] have to simply accept that there are a
`bunch of people who want to go.”
`
`Eventually in our conversation we return to VR technology and
`Oculus/Facebook. There is a prickled awareness in his tone as he divulges
`that some of his fans have labeled him a sellout to the mega-corporation. But
`then he beams. “Facebook has turned out to be a phenomenal company,”
`Carmack says. “Of course people will say I am a shill for them now, but the
`leadership are really earnest people. But, yeah, a lot of people went, ‘What
`the hell?’”
`
`I attempt to lead him further in that direction, to perhaps get more scoop on
`Facebook, but he is not quite done talking about space travel. “I miss the
`physicality of building things, and the raw rumbling power of rocket ships,”
`he says. “But I am so ‘overflowingly buzzy’ about so many things. Some
`people look at the Internet and see a cesspool of all the degenerate stuff that
`is wrong with humanity. I look and see millions of brilliant, hard-working
`people that are adding all this value.
`
`https://web.archive.org/web/20220426144335/https://www.dmagazine.com/publications/d-ceo/2015/september/virtual-reality-of-john-carmack/
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`5/10
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`
`“The smartest human being who ever lived is alive right now … by the nature
`of the fraction of the number of people here, the information assets, the
`health facilities,” Carmack goes on. “The world is full of brilliant people—and
`is getting better day by day.”
`
`∗∗∗
`
`I pull Carmack back to virtual reality, and he adjusts without the slightest
`intermission of his upbeat tempo. “I think there is a moral aspect to [virtual
`reality technology], to take some slice of all of the experiences money can
`buy and replicate them digitally for everyone to experience,” he says. “I want
`to see a world where there are a billion people in VR who are experiencing
`that wealth multiplier. If it can do one percent of the experiences of life, and
`we multiply that times a billion, that is a huge thing.”
`
`He drives his point home with the analogy of a private island, explaining that
`although in “reality” few can have their own island, everyone can experience
`having their own in “virtual reality.” He likes this point … that VR can avail
`the experiences of the 1 percent to the 99 percent. The redistribution of
`wealth is certainly not in his libertarian mindset, but the open distribution of
`virtual experiences? This is important to him.
`
`[inline_image id=”2″ align=”” crop=”full”]Although that will mean
`inexpensive VR gear—right now a Rift “development kit” is available for
`$350, but it takes a PC costing at least $1,000 to operate—he is undeterred. In
`a public speech after our talk, Carmack envisioned a day in the not-too-
`distant future when VR headgear “may approach the ubiquity and expense of
`protective cellphone cases.”
`
`Wait, though: a billion people will enjoy VR? “That is one of the reasons I am
`aligned with Facebook; it reaches billions of people and brings them
`together,” Carmack says. “I want to do that with virtual reality, and the
`‘connectibility’ that VR brings is aligned with Facebook. In VR, people will
`have experiences with far more people with kindred spirits than they would
`from the random inhabitants near their locality.” By “near their locality” he
`is referring to the “real” world—I think.
`
`Carmack’s high opinion of VR technology goes well beyond the scattering of
`experiential wealth. In fact, as he continues he leans forward and seems on
`the verge of standing up. “There are all these magical moments … like putting
`[a virtual reality display] on a senior citizen’s head and letting them go back
`and see panoramic photos, like, ‘Here was Europe when you visited 50 years
`ago.’ It is not about the technology or to experience the cutting edge. Though
`
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`6/10
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`sure, some of our early backers are definitely about that—they are
`technologists and want to see what the hot new thing is. But VR has the
`ability to put people in places where they actually aren’t, with extremely
`minimal cost. It is amazing.”
`
`“I try to be as efficient and effective as possible. But I do
`know, deep down, that I can’t accomplish everything.”
`
`John Carmack
`
`Thirty minutes later, our conversation returns to the subject of Dallas, the
`adopted home where Carmack and his wife, Katherine, feel they belong.
`(Mainly for its independent-minded people and low taxes.) “My wife is from
`L.A., by way of Brazil and other places,” he says. “It took her almost a decade
`to decide she liked Dallas.”
`
`Carmack explains that although Katherine initially missed all sorts of things
`from Los Angeles, the North Texas culture eventually won her over.
`“California has an achingly nice climate, and you love it when you are out
`there, but Dallas suits us better,” he says. “It is more business-friendly. The
`people are more aligned with our way of thinking.
`
`A D V E R T I S E M E N T
`
`“When Facebook bought Oculus, I had my little team here,” Carmack
`continues. “They offered everyone very generous compensation packages to
`move to California. I think they expected most of the team to pick up and go,
`because it was a nice offer, and they were pretty disappointed when only one
`did.”
`
`Not surprisingly, he is ready with a list of “practical reasons” for staying in
`Dallas: “We have our support network. Our kids are in good schools. Good
`doctors, financial people. I had Armadillo AeroSpace here, which was an
`anchor … even though that is in hiatus right now. I like Texas. The
`independent Texas spirit, the libertarian-leaning bits of it are things I feel
`better about.
`
`“A lot of people, especially from California, say, ‘Texas? Why the hell are you
`in Texas?’ But I am generally happy to wave the flag and say, ‘No, I am not
`here under duress.’ I actually like it here. And we appreciate the sense of the
`Southern hospitality. You don’t get the sense that everyone needs to be
`coddled and taken care of. You get the sense of gumption.”
`
`Asked to talk about leadership, his style, and how that works in a creative
`environment, Carmack takes the cue and begins his next oration: “For most
`of my career, I was about removing the limitations on the content creators.
`
`https://web.archive.org/web/20220426144335/https://www.dmagazine.com/publications/d-ceo/2015/september/virtual-reality-of-john-carmack/
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`7/10
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`From the beginning with ‘Wolfenstein,’ ‘Doom,’ ‘Quake’—there were better
`and better graphics technologies that let games have more freedom.”
`
`(He says this humbly, as he is the one who invented many of those “better
`and better” graphics technologies.)
`
`“But I only realized in the last five years or so the important part that
`limitations play in the creative process. I had removed and removed and
`removed [the limitations], and we ended up with a whole lot of creative
`types that were almost aimless; there were no walls for them to bounce off of
`to focus things. It was a mistake.”
`
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`One might suspect this modesty and self-awareness is an act. But then you
`realize Carmack is too focused to bother with the triviality of airs or conceits.
`He simply does not care what you think. He will enjoy talking with you, but
`you sure aren’t going to influence his mood.
`
`“All sorts of things may make other people stress out or sulk, but I just try to
`not be bothered,” he says. “When things don’t work, that doesn’t crush me. I
`don’t carry the weight of the previous failures. Many people just add more
`on, burdened by their previous failures, and their previous successes. But you
`run out of mental energy if you keep paying attention to everything you’ve
`done in the past.”
`
`A self-proclaimed “technological triumphalist,” Carmack has no shortage of
`faith in humanity. “I have faith in progress, faith that we are building better
`things and the world is getting better. I do believe that most of the good that
`has come to humanity is a result of technological progress. You could put the
`most egalitarian society imaginable in ancient Athens and it would not be
`nearly as good as the more flawed societies of today. Thus I don’t concern
`myself much with arguments about natural rights, etc., but just focus on
`making things better.”
`
`And focused he is. Though a visionary by any measure, he prides himself on
`not letting those visions trip him up. “It’s easy to have a grand vision of the
`‘Big Payoff’ at the end while leaving everything between here and there as a
`fuzzy blur,” Carmack says. “But details matter, and if you can’t see clearly
`what steps two and three are, it doesn’t really matter what your vision for
`step 20 is. I embrace the mundane work and find insights while exploring it.”
`
`A D V E R T I S E M E N T
`
`As our conversation approaches its end, I ask if there is any standout lesson
`Carmack has learned over the course of his career thus far. He launches in: “I
`
`https://web.archive.org/web/20220426144335/https://www.dmagazine.com/publications/d-ceo/2015/september/virtual-reality-of-john-carmack/
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`8/10
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`am comfortable being wired somewhat differently than other people. I tend
`toward this hermit mode. Early on, working constantly by myself, I got the
`sense that I could get anything done if I worked hard enough.
`
`“But eventually, during the making of ‘Quake,’ I discovered that there are
`some things that I just will not be able to do, no matter how hard I work.
`That was a really important lesson for me. You may choose to work as hard
`as humanly possible, and not get it done, but that is not necessarily a failure.
`I try to be as efficient and effective as possible. But I do know, deep down,
`that I can’t accomplish everything.”
`
`I ask how he has applied that pivotal lesson to his leadership at Oculus. I’m
`expecting another pop-ready answer, but instead, a defusing silence follows.
`Of course he’s not stumped, so what is this? Carmack inhales, flashes a quick
`smile, then replies: “We say we’re going to accomplish a whole heck of a lot
`this year, and others will say there is no way we can. Well, maybe. But I know
`we’re going to get more done than people think is possible.”
`
`There’s no doubt about that. No doubt at all.
`
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`https://web.archive.org/web/20220426144335/https://www.dmagazine.com/publications/d-ceo/2015/september/virtual-reality-of-john-carmack/
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`9/10
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`4/26/22, 11:26 AM
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`The Virtual Reality of John Carmack - D Magazine
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`https://web.archive.org/web/20220426144335/https://www.dmagazine.com/publications/d-ceo/2015/september/virtual-reality-of-john-carmack/
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