Regina Dugan is leaving her position as the head of Facebook's fledgling consumer-hardware lab, Building 8, raising questions about the company's plans for ambitious initiatives like brain-reading technology and augmented-reality glasses.
Dugan said in a Facebook post on Tuesday that she was leaving to "focus on building and leading a new endeavor," though she didn't specify further.
Dugan joined Facebook 18 months ago from Google's advanced-projects division, which she famously described as a "band of pirates trying to do epic sh--." The move was celebrated at the time as a major coup for Facebook and a sign that the social network was getting serious about building hardware that would compete with Google, Amazon, and Apple.
Building 8 has yet to release a product, but the division is working on an unannounced video-chat device for the home code-named "Aloha" and expected to be released in May, Business Insider previously reported.
Building 8 has also teased more-futuristic work on brain-scanning technology that would allow people to type with their thoughts.
A Facebook spokesperson told BI that Bosworth would continue to lead Oculus and Building 8 but declined to say whether the company would seek a replacement for Dugan.
Dugan's time at the helm of Building 8 has not been smooth.
The group has seen several key departures in its short history, including its COO, Richard Wooldridge, its head of consumer experience, Donald Hicks, and its head of product management, Olivier Bartholot, according to people familiar with the matter.
Hardware is never soft nor easy , even when you have enormous ambitions and firepower #HardwareIsNotDead