What's the Deal with Virtual Reality?
"Have you seen this virtual reality stuff?" Jerry asks, while the audience giggles into their wine glasses. "I don't believe it. I thought my one reality was bad enough!" The crowd erupts into scattered laughter. "Now they want me to live two realities? No, thank you!" The opening credits begin as the bass slaps punctuate Seinfeld's remarks. "I tried playing Virtual Reality Minecraft. I spent three hours building a house before I realized I was paying someone to do virtual gardening! I don't even own a real garden! I have an apartment!" The crowd applauds. Fade to black.
Like Augmented Reality (AR) and always-on mobile chat-bots, VR is a technology that marketing bloggers just can't get enough of. And, as anyone who has tried it can testify, the tech is legitimately awesome. Even those of us that are a bit prone to motion sickness can appreciate the brain-bending experience of a virtual reality presentation, for the novelty of it, if nothing else.
Unlike it's innovative technological relatives, though, Virtual Reality is in a weird place. More similar to the early internet than anything else, VR is currently an amazing piece of technology in need of an audience. Though the commercial and industrial applications for the technology are clear, the consumer market is looking at a few big question marks.
Industry coverage of Virtual Reality products at the consumer level have ranged from "Terrible" to "Great," with most outlets putting reviews somewhere in the middle. In this Giant Bomb coverage, reviewers are plagued with questionable design choices and nauseating technical issues.
For the latter half of 2016, VR systems for the consumer market have been prohibitively expensive, shockingly difficult to find, and riddled with experience-ruining bugs. The technology is so reliant on incredibly specific and controlled environments that most home consumers will never be able to achieve a flawless experience. Much like the motion-controlled video game trend of 2010, it's an impressive and unique experience 10% of the time, and a frustrating waste of money the remaining 90% of the time.
Perhaps more importantly, right now, there's no strong reason for consumers to make that investment. The struggle of setting up your living room for optimum VR viewing would be worthwhile if the content was there, but it isn't. According to a Fortune Magazine survey, the biggest obstacle facing consumer-grade VR is that few companies are willing to invest in that content in the first place. "One survey respondent wrote 'There is always interest, but getting companies to fully fund projects is a different story.'”
...the VR industry is still six to eight years away from hypergrowth or a tipping point in adoption of the medium. - FastCompany
There is, of course, much more to the success story of VR than video games and home movies. As I mentioned above, the tech has already been adopted at surprising rates in commercial and industrial markets. Trade Shows and Conferences have proven to be breeding grounds for VR experiences, with more and more brands electing to spend less on a physical booth and more on virtual showrooms. After all, who needs a 10' X 20' chunk of a conference floor when you can just plop fifteen VR headsets into a 5' X 5' closet with a few folding chairs?
So, yes, VR is a powerful piece of tech. Some companies are doing incredible things with it. But is this tech ready to revolutionize the world and change how consumers interact with brands, or with each other? I'm not so sure. VR is going to be a slow burn. It's an advancement that will - eventually - be as ubiquitous as television. When that flip happens, smart brands will be ready to leap into the virtual space. Hopefully, in a non-intrusive way. For now, leave it to the trade shows.
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These comments reflect the opinions of Tim Howell alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of his employers, partners, peers, or family members. Opinions or advice in this blog should not be taken as direct recommendations or suggestions. Any statistics, information, or metrics provided are linked to referenced source material, and are not sourced from any current or past clients, customers, or related brands.