Virtual reality apps are the applications of tomorrow, that master human sense without much ado. The motion sensing technology along with speech recognition software is changing the lives with the amazing digital experience wherein virtual life-sized 3D images and interactions with them completely immerse the people.
‘VR brings a completely new way to experience, interact and play with your friends, and we’ve only just scratched the surface,’ this is what most of the VR app developers believe.
It’s vivid the technology has a great potential, but its true power has not yet been unveiled completely. It seems it takes quite a while to disseminate and gain user acceptance. However, it ad made major in-roads for many industries with the use of some state-of-the-art technologies.
Let’s look back a few years ago:
The tech enthusiast Palmer Luckey, the founder of the Oculus Rift (Virtual reality headset) has turned the table upside with the creation of the brilliant device that enables anyone to step into a completely new world in milliseconds without moving anywhere.
Yes, at the age of 16, he built Oculus Rift and after six years the company sold to Facebook for staggering 2 billion USD. Thereafter, Facebook’s stance and experimentation towards VR made it extremely interesting that other companies started to look at VR as the next-gen technology and its market share begin to rise. Now, the Oculus Rift, Samsung gear, Google’s daydream view, Sony’s PlayStation VR, HTC’s Vive, and other VR headsets are vying for the user’s attention with engaging VR content.
Initially, the VR app development made their way into the market as a piece of entertainment and scored immense success till date, as the artful direction of the game play with fascinating lighting and sound effects wholly transmogrify the players. The VR game apps have really crossed the margins in enticing the gamers. That’s excellent.
In 2013, $2.4 million was raised in a crowd funding Kickstarter campaign, where the VR headset appeared as if VR was just meant for the video games. The world’s top mobile developers, console developers and PC developers are even working on the VR games and Playstation VR. Albeit! It’s not true to the core.
VR is not just about games, while it’s more than that:
At the Oculus Rift acquisition, Mark Zuckerberg announced that this is just the start and we are thinking beyond gaming to engineer remarkable experiences leveraging groundbreaking technology.
The potential use cases of the VR, from shopping to education, entertainment, travel, healthcare, music, sports and VR films are emerging wherein the students can find themselves studying in the classroom, individuals taking field-trip to the places of the real-world, face-to-face consultation with doctor, shopping in a mall, imagine enjoying the scene of a beach or watching a documentary is possible- all just by putting VR glasses on the head.
One thing is clear- in the gold rush, the new-school technology definitely is embraced by the entrepreneurs to add a new dimension to the business.
VR is not just about games, while it’s more than that:
A“VR won’t supplant all traditional methods but it will augment them, just like the internet did”, said Will Mason, Co-Founder & Editor-in-Chief, UploadVR.
It’s absolutely right! Decades back, the motion picture camera, the basic form of VR headset was invented and no one knew that it will take this form and make its way into every home with its economical range.
The VR headset makers have sold millions of VR devices in the market and the growth is expected to increase in next 5 to 6 years. YouTube also presses a play on virtual reality with VR video release where films can be watched with a sense of depth. It’s all due to the increasing accessibility of VR with the smartphone, which will bring the VR app development into the mainstream.
The first barrier that can either hinder or advance the VR success is getting VR hardware in the hands of people in the form of smartphones, headsets or PCs with the high-end graphics card.
The huge momentum around technology can be realized with the big investment that tech giants- Facebook, Google, Sony, Microsoft, and Samsung have made.
Market penetration:
In the year 2018, the incredible vote of confidence is seen in the industries when the promises of the virtual reality apps fulfilled. Instead, the critics that have stipulated that VR bubble will eventually burst are also stunned by the applications.
According to a research, “In the coming years, the growth of global virtual reality hardware and software market won’t show any sign to get ceased and VR is anticipated to generate 12.1 billion USD in revenue by 2018.”
It signals with customer awareness, the technology will reach meaningful levels and live up to its much-created hype. To meet the user’s needs and stay synced with the fashion trends, the founder of VR headset said that the present Oculus Rift is not in the ideal form and with time, the glasses will turn from bulky glasses to the slim pair of glasses, which will certainly push the people across the world to spend dollars on the VR device purchase.
“The 28 million people will get ready to pay for VR hardware and VR applications,” according to KZero research.
The Other Side of VR::
Controlling your users, which means opportunities are galore. However, following the VR herd blindly is not a good idea.
The significant challenge is not that technology will go into the mainstream or not, while its human bodies and mind’s capabilities to cope up with VR. The impressive technology has brought along motion sickness, nausea, eyestrain and a severe headache like health problems in the bucket.
Even, the CEO of magic leap criticized the VR headsets as a medium that may cause varying temporary or permanent neurological deficit. It’s true the technology leaves the foot print after its use. So, the social benefits and cost of the VR app development will decide what the future holds for Virtual Reality.
Till then, Good luck!
Author’s Bio: I’m currently working as a Software developer with Adreno Technologies. I have a great passion for Software Management Systems and understanding of analyzing MySQL queries for performance and writing queries that will scale well. Apart from Software Development, I have focused on investing my efforts on Software developers India, Specification, and Verification of Software Systems, Business Process Management, Case Management, Intelligent User Interfaces.
