Will virtual reality become mainstream?
Virtual reality has seen a very high rise in popularity throughout 2016. With the release of the HTC Vive, Google cardboard, and Oculus Rift consumers still don’t have a lot of cheap or budget options when they want to get a good VR experience.
If you manage to get your hands on the top-notch VR gear, (Which are all still in beta) it will normally cost you $600 - $700 US. There are budget options such as Samsung’s Gear VR, and Google Cardboard, but the drawback of these two options is that it will require a phone, which really doesn’t cut it for people who are looking for VR in 4k or even 1080p, which is still not mainstream.
For some people, the Google Cardboard will definitely be enough to satisfy them, but real VR enthusiasts and hopefuls will have to wait. Even very influential people such as Mark Zuckerberg believe that VR really just hasn’t taken hold to the market yet; they still believe that it will be the future.
Not only for entertainment purposes, but with Microsoft’s introduction of the Hololens, VR may change the future of communication and business solutions. There is also the issue of VR compatibility. Fewer than 1% of PC’s on the market today are VR ready. This includes prebuilt PC’s, but custom built multi-thousand dollar PC’s can easily handle the HTC Vive and Oculus rift. Nvidia also released the 980ti VR edition earlier this year, which had the ports needed to connect the Oculus Rift to your PC easily. Mass adoption of VR will take a decent amount of time, but it will happen eventually.
When the average person goes to buy a VR headset, they will most definitely run into the problem of limited content. There are a very limited number of games playable by everyone for the Vive and Rift. Games that are currently mainstream will most likely release VR versions when it becomes compatible with more devices. The only reason people buy something is for enjoyment, or just for social importance.
Though VR hasn’t made it to a mainstream level yet, it is definite that VR will gain ground and become an everyday thing in the future. This will most likely happen in the next couple of years or so, with a huge jump in the development of VR devices. Games such as Star Wars: Battlefront and Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 will be some of the games I expect to receive VR development kits. Both of these games are FPS, which will most likely be a big contributor to the market for VR games.
Other big brands like YouTube have got in on the act, with things like Snoopa version of YouTube emerging, a VR version of YouTube from the perspective of a person in a movie theatre. Most people do not have access to high-end VR yet. That will change in the future, though.
VR will soon become mainstream, and everyone will be able to get their hands on some form of virtual reality, whether it is by Google or HTC or any other manufacturer. There are not many options for VR in 2016, so like most things in the tech world, we’ll just have to wait another year. What do you think of the future of virtual reality? Make sure you leave a comment below and connect with us on any of our social media pages today!
Via: | Venture Beat |
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