If like us, you’ve had enough of reading about that doom and gloom in the news and you’d much rather hear about the latest VR updates, then this blog post is just the ticket.
The world of VR moves fast; from new platforms, to headsets and investments, we’ve got you covered.
Jumping of a New Platform
Virtual Reality is becoming a popular medium. With applications in education, journalism, and advertising to name just a few, unsurprisingly, VR platforms are popping up everywhere.
CNN have recently launched CNNVR, a channel dedicated to reporting news in a virtual reality format. Hailing it to be a dynamic way of storytelling, they are no stranger to this tech, with previous endeavours into VR for this outlet generating more than 30 million views on Facebook alone.
Virtual frill seekers are also rejoicing all over the tech-o-sphere. Red Bull VR is alive and kicking and it’s not for the faint hearted.
Strap on your headset and dive off a cliff, do a handstand atop a city bridge or race down a ski slope. Whatever your preferred heart-stopping trip, Red Bull will let you do it. For this new platform it’s opening up a whole new world of extreme action for fans and those new to the format. Throw caution to the wind, from the safety of your sofa. Gnarly dude.
Breaking the Virtual Mould
As it stands, Oculus, Vive and Samsung Gear have a monopoly on the headset market. This however, isn’t deterring others from trying to break through.
LG Electronics are planning to unveil their first VR head-mounted display prototype at this year’s GDC in San Francisco and the rumour mills are still running with whispers of an Apple VR headset. Hold off on the excitement, these mills have been turning for a few years now; it might be a while before Apple take their piece of this virtual pie.
Top Tier Headgear
The big dogs though, aren’t sitting back and resting on their laurels. In fact, it appears that Oculus Rift and HTC Vive are very aware of how competitive this market is set to become. Maybe it’s a slow reaction to cheaper tech like Google Cardboard but Oculus are seeking to boost sales by cutting the price of their headsets this year.
HTC have announced a new interest free financing plan, making it more accessible than ever to own some top of the range tech. Adding to their market appeal, HTC are also releasing a new upgrade kit for their Vive headset. This upgrade will allow their headsets to become wireless; so forget being tied to one spot, it’s time to roam free.
Self-tracking or inside-out tracking headsets are another trend heading for the mainstream in 2017. The industry leaders have shown interest but still currently use external cameras or sensors to let people move around in VR.
Inside-Out tracking means that the sensors will instead be attached to the headgear itself. Eventually, the need for VR camera and sensor laden rooms will be no more. There is hope that the take up of this tracking tech will reduce the levels of motion sickness and dizziness occasionally associated with VR.
Show me the money
With all these new advancements in headgear, it makes sense that Virtual Reality is an industry seeing some heavy investments. Social media maestro and Oculus Overlord Mark Zuckerberg recently stated that Facebook will likely invest more than $3 million in VR over the next decade.
“I don’t think that good VR is fully there yet…It’s going to take 5 to 10 more years of development before we get to where we want to go” – Mark Zuckerberg.
If the investments keep on coming, there’s a big chance they will hit their virtual target.
IMAX on the other hand, seem to think that the current state of Virtual Reality is in pretty good shape. So good in fact, that they’ve set up a $50 million media investment fund. The fund will focus on VR media projects like films and video games – aiming to create exciting VR content in a market lacking any ‘must-see’ hype, hoping to draw regular film buffs to the virtual realm.
Partnering with the likes of Google to produce the best cinema-grade VR camera out there; IMAX aren’t messing around.
Not afraid to lean on existing relationships, these exciting new VR cameras will be put to use with help from the Hollywood heavy weights, Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. Lions have promised to package up Keanu Reeves with a pretty bow to become John Wick once more, but this time virtually – a welcome addition for any fans out there.
The old adage goes; no news is good news but this doesn’t ring true with us here at Pebble. We think all VR news is good news and there’s plenty of it about at the moment.
It’s clear from this round up that VR isn’t a market set to slow down and with the tech constantly developing, the news presses printing and the rumour mills turning, we are sure there will be plenty more to tell you about in the near future. In the meantime have a read of one of our latest blogs about VR in advertising to see how you could be making the most of this wonderful tech.