Gabe Woerishofer
Economics
Mrs. Straub
3-20-15
Virtual Reality
We have all heard of virtual reality, the ability to place yourself in a virtual world. Virtual reality has been a dream only to appear in movies and shows. Until now, late 2012 the Oculus rift got funded on kickstarter. The Oculus Rift is a virtual reality headset that got everyone talking. While there have been other virtual reality devices like the google cardboard or Nintendo’s virtual boy. The Oculus was new and filled with tons of new technology making people realize that virtual reality may actually be possible. Facebook then spent $2 billion to buy out Oculus and help give them the funding to continue their research. After this happened many companies realized that virtual reality appealed to consumers taste. Microsoft, Sony, Samsung, and Valve in partnership with HTC all as of 2015 have of officially announced their products that are forms of virtual reality that they are developing . All this consumers saw that the consumers demanded this product with Oculus’s kickstarter raising 2.4 million from consumers. “KZero’s forecasts, the VR market could reach $7 billion by 2018, with room to grow.”(HEREsopchic) That is around 13,000% increase from its current state (which is almost nothing). 
By 2016 when most of the virtual reality usage is proposed to jumped up to 15 million units sold from the current about 2.7 million. Then by 2018 2 years later the growth is suppose to be almost doubled with close to 40 million units sold. If virtual reality does sell this fast as many say it will. It will have a growth 5 times greater than the iphone one of the leaders in sales growth. The reason for the demand of VR being so high, is that it isn’t just for gamers. Youtube has already let people start recording 360 degree videos that can be watch through VR headset. HTC & Valve advertised using the headset to connect with family they showed this with a man who watch his child be born through a VR headset while he was away on business. This is not the only only use, the headset could take to place you may never be able to visit or experience things you are too afraid or cannot experience. Skydiving, deep sea diving, or seeing earth from the international space station are all examples of things that could be experienced. Also from an educational standpoint students could see lectures without having to leave their home and business meeting could be conducted without everyone being in the same room. Virtual reality is thought to be the next step of technology opening a whole new world for us. With all this amazing stuff coming from virtual reality there are some drawbacks. Americans can sometimes be lazy and giving them a headset that could reduce the number of times they need to leave the house significantly may be harmful to them. Also with technology allowing so many of us to communicate with each from almost anywhere human interaction has decreased and VR may not help. If students never had to go to school and experience socializing in large groups and making friends it may be harmful for the future generations. Virtual Reality comes with both pros and cons it hard to know if the pros outweigh the cons or the cons outweigh the pros either way it is the new generation that is coming.
Works Cited
Conditt, Jessica. "Valve Is Making a VR Headset and Its Own Steam Machine." Engadget. Engadget, 23 Feb. 2015. Web. 24 Mar. 2015.
Griffith, Erin. "Facebook Buys Oculus VR, a Virtual Reality Gaming Company, for $2 billion."Fortune. Fortune, 25 Mar. 2014. Web. 24 Mar. 2015.
Maon, Will. "Virtual Reality Market Expected to Grow by Over 13,000% in Next 3 Years, Nearly 5 Times Faster than the IPhone." UPLOAD Inspiring Virtual Reality. Upload, 20 Nov. 2014. Web. 23 Mar.
2015.
Peasgood, Sean. "VIRTUAL REALITY: A VIRTUAL GOLDMINE FOR INVESTORS." Sophiccapital. Sophic Capital, 8 Nov. 2014. Web. 24 Mar. 2015.
Robertson, Adi. "Valve's Virtual Reality Headset Is Great, but Its Controllers Are the Real Story." The Verge. The Verge, 04 Mar. 2015. Web. 24 Mar. 2015.
It can be cool to live during a time where something revolutionary comes out. I remember when the Oculus was a kickstarter and was mocked. Then facebook bought it and it is a highly demanded product. The implementations for VR now seem limitless in a time where we keep having new ideas. It will be really cool to see what direction VR takes us and the gaming industry, or if it will just be a modern day Virtual boy (most likely not, but you never know).
ReplyDeleteAlthough VR is absolutely on its way, I feel like it might be more than a few years before we see a good product. As we have seen in the gaming industry over the past few years technology tends to get oversold and pushed to release well before it is ready. If this happens with Oculus and others like it, then it is very possible that consumers would be wary to purchase a similar product too soon. That being said, if the VR headsets we are seeing come out and work the way they are supposed to, then I absolutely would believe a jump like that graph shows within just a few years.
ReplyDeleteI like how you explained the graph and how after 2 years the sales would double. You said, " If virtual reality does sell this fast as many say it will. It will have a growth 5 times greater than the iphone one of the leaders in sales growth." I think that it is weird that anything could ever top the iPhone, people lining up 10 days before the new iPhone came out just to get one.
ReplyDeleteIt's astounding how rapidly virtual reality technology is being developed. Years ago, the closest thing we had to virtual reality was Nintendo's flop of a system, the Virtual Boy. When the Virtual Boy was first released in 1995, it was widely recognized as a commercial flop, being discontinued the next year. At that time, it appears that consumers just weren't interested enough in virtual reality. In the last few years however, it is evident that this has changed. The Rift and other headsets aren't the only virtual reality products being developed too. I've seen other products that track hand movements so you can interact with the game with your own hands. I'm looking forward to see how far virtual reality will go in the next few years.
ReplyDeleteMy friend actually has an Oculus and I don't think he uses it that much. I think consumers right now are just waiting to see what the technology can do and how it will advance before they buy it. While the possibilities of virtual reality are endless, the availability of these possibilities right now are limited. I think consumer interest is high right now, but demand will increase in the future as virtual reality devices become more easily accessible and usable. This marked will continue to grow in the future and as more money is invested into technology like this, new business will rise and begin to use this technology in new ways.
ReplyDeleteI feel like VR systems in the future will be huge. There a possibility they will push out our current gen-systems. The problem I see with systems like the Oculus, or any product in general is they assume everything will go according to plan. When most likely there will be set backs. Another thing that may just be my opinion, but I feel that Facebook funding a good majority of this project is going to be its down fall. I all ready have the annoying message to like it on Facebook or whatever, when I feel no need to do this. But the possibility of getting my own VR world is like getting a taste of the future.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like they are trying to revolutionize the media and technology industry by providing new innovations that few have. Facebook may have made a very good investment as this product could end up being a market with very few suppliers, developing into an oligopoly. This has the potential to a very profitable business.
ReplyDeleteThe catch is that many of the things an Oculus Rift will do are things that are already done through face-time and other programs that do not require virtual reality. The part that excites me the most, and the part that would make Virtual Reality become more used, would be the fact that movies could be made for Virtual Reality, similar to IMAX. This factor will make Virtual Reality more marketable, as a personal IMAX seems like something that can drastically change your experience. I think that the Virtual Reality system will have an impact in the future of gaming, but for it to become popular in multiple settings, it will need to draw consumers to feel as though they need this for not just a single use.
ReplyDeleteIf successful not only could this lead to a substantial positive effect on the economy, but also a positive effect on individuals as a whole. By simply allowing people to live out their dreams or a specific scenario of their desire could lay to rest the ever bearing question which plagues the consciences of many “What if I had done this?” or “What if I had done this differently?”. Yet to fully emulate a sense reality aside from sight, and hearing a device such as this would somehow have to achieve smell and taste in order to perfectly emulate this sense of reality. Given that it’s taken this long to create such a device, it may take even longer to appease the remaining senses if the creators chose to do so.
ReplyDeleteThe gaming industry has been a powerhouse in the past few decades, spurred along by new consoles, better graphics and physics, better stories, platforms, etc. But the addition of something like VR would be revolutionary. The whole industry would shift direction, and likely bring in even more business. But the gaming industry is not the only industry which could benefit from this technology. Surgeons can practice difficult cases, the military can train soldiers even more extensively without endangering anyone's life, and athletes can train by running or biking in virtual worlds that adjust to what they see in the headset. Not to mention, the creation of platforms that allow people to run in place in a virtual world could also mean more youth playing games that exercise them in the process. There are many possibilities with VR, all of which can bring positive effects to whatever industries they enter.
ReplyDeleteOne goal I have for the new blog is to support multi-media sharing among educators and others about ways they are successfully implementing new technologies into teaching and learning experiences.
ReplyDeleteVirtual reality museum