Do you believe VR is dying?

Deus Ex Machina

I live in an area rife with Insurance companies, and they all seem to be interested in Virtual Reality headsets, to the point where several of them have been dedicating some of their best programmers to making mood-altering simulations on it. I can imagine them thinking "Whoa, the millennials are gonna LOVE this, right? We are so cutting edge and creative!" which is ironic, because they are all only doing VR because everyone else is.

Of course, none of them have made a penny off of it yet, and I don't think they really know how they are going to actually profit off of it in the future.

I have a weird feeling in my gut that VR is a fad that will fade off like motion sensing technology and AR - the tech just isn't ready yet, and the cost pushes it out of mass market appeal. What do you guys think?

Moldygr33nb3an

John Carmack is helping lead the VR age and I have the utmost confidence in his passion and skills. It's not dying, it's just a huge delivery. When it finally hits; it's going to change everything. I'm talking the dot come era squared. You'll see. Be patient and let Moore's law run its course.

Node Man

VR isnt a fad, its just doesn't have staying power. Every decade or so, it gets revamped and pushed out to the consumers, but it doesnt stick. I think everyone that wants it, gets it. Like you said regarding motion sense ; people get excited but then lose interest.

cyberguypr

Sounds like my old college girlfriend.

shochan

I still haven't tried it yet, but some of these fails are classic!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ask3K_wiiKg

networker050184

I don't think it's even got off the ground yet much less dying. Technological strides are still to be made to make it a complete experience rather than basically a headset at this point.

xcrackerz16

I don't think it's already dying. They are many developers want to enter this kind of technology. Skype for instance.

Node Man

Maybe a better question is : what is the reasonable sales expectations for VR? It's probably not going to be in the ball park of smart phones, tablets, or microwave ovens. I think even desktop computer sales are declining.

Maybe a reasonable sales expectation is some percentage of entertainment system sales.

TechGromit

Node Man wrote: »

Maybe a better question is : what is the reasonable sales expectations for VR? It's probably not going to be in the ball park of smart phones, tablets, or microwave ovens. I think even desktop computer sales are declining.

Maybe a reasonable sales expectation is some percentage of entertainment system sales.

I think it's a nitch market, I do not think it will be the next big thing like smartphones where.

1. It consumes a considerable amount of computing power to render a realistic VR environment, this is going to push the cost of hardware required up.

2. So your wearing a helmet where you can look around your environment, maybe even gloves so you can see your own hands in the environment, but how are you going to "move" in your environment using you legs without bumping into the rooms of your apartment? I look at it as not the full VR experience.

Personally I rather use a computer for my gaming, the VR thing is neat, but I don't think it has staying power.

Priston

VR isn't a new thing, it's been around for years. VR in it's current form is somewhat new and I think it will continue to evolve and grow over time. Whether or not it will take off in it's current form is really the question. Right now I think GPU technology needs to improve. If each eye was a 4k or 8k display and ran at 80+ fps then I might actually consider it.

OctalDump

There was a VR fad in the early to mid 90s. I'm not sure what exactly killed that, it might just have been economics. 3D TV sort of came and went. Tablets had at least a couple of false starts. It's a curious thing to me, what it actually takes to become entrenched.

globalenjoi

My wife and I tried the Vive out a few weeks ago. I had to talk her out of buying one on the spot, because while the demo was fun, she was so excited about the potential for adventure games. I don't think VR is dying, but I do think it'll grow slowly just because of the high price of entry. Dropping $700-800 for the Vive is fine for me as a huge fan of the tech, but that's a steep price for video games.

I think part of the problem right now is there aren't enough focused games on VR as a platform. You have some hardcore titles like Elite Dangerous, but for every well-built game you'll have 35 gimmicky arcade games that are entertaining for 10 minutes. Personally, I think the most interesting/exciting experiences are from horror games. These seem truly terrifying, even if you're a fan of horror movies. Really looking forward to getting one and watching my wife try it out!

p@r0tuXus

Dropping $700-800 for the Vive is fine for me as a huge fan of the tech, but that's a steep price for video games.

According to this article, that's on par with the original Atari... considering inflation.

http://oyster.ignimgs.com/wordpress/stg.ign.com/2013/10/mostexpensiveconsoles.jpg

The Real Cost of Gaming: Inflation, Time, and Purchasing Power - IGN

globalenjoi

I mean, the PS3 released at an insane price and ended up doing well, but both of those were a little bit more accessible. For me, the biggest barrier isn't the price, it's the fact that the floor plan of my 3-story townhouse (it's not huge, just more vertical than most apartments) isn't the best fit for a VR experience involving a comfortable play space. If I had a house and an actual room for an office or gaming, I'd be all over it. But if I commit, I want to be able to experience it to the max, with the larger play space free of shin-murdering objects.

p@r0tuXus

So you want to integrate the digital and physical space? I think it'd be easier to have sensors watch the eye that respond to it's activity and in game move you in a direction you indicate you want to go. That way you're not falling over railings and running into traffic. Unless you just really want to kick it up a notch with your pokemon-go. :}

TechGromit

p@r0tuXus wrote: »

According to this article, that's on par with the original Atari... considering inflation.

http://oyster.ignimgs.com/wordpress/stg.ign.com/2013/10/mostexpensiveconsoles.jpg

The Real Cost of Gaming: Inflation, Time, and Purchasing Power - IGN

I really don't consider "video gaming" systems real VR systems, my video card in my PC cost more than most of these Video Gaming systems listed in these articles. To truly experience a VR environment that doesn't look cartoonish, your going to have to have a high end PC, and that costs $.