Wednesday, September 28, 2016

PlayStation VR – Virtual Reality’s Best Chance at Mainstream Adoption?

Sony’s PlayStation VR has two major advantages over the likes of Oculus Rift and HTC Vive: an installed base of 40 million PS4s (no need to buy a high-end VR-ready PC) and a lower price (around $400).

Forbes is asking [1] what will happen if PlayStation VR will not succeed in bringing VR to the mainstream (Oculus Rift and HTC Vive have neither succeeded in doing so).

One could imagine a few alternative scenarios:

  • A killer application will eventually emerge after a slow start, taking VR to the mainstream
  • VR will not go truly mainstream, gaining adoption only among hardcore gamers and specific use cases in industries (e.g., PC VR for design in manufacturing)
  • PC VR will not go mainstream but light-weight mobile VR (e.g., Samsung Gear VR etc.) will find adoption in specific use cases (e.g., consumption of short VR clips) since it is affordable and easy to access
  • The real opportunity turns out to be Augmented Reality (e.g., Microsoft’s HoloLens) or Mixed Reality (e.g., Intel’s Project Alloy)

[1] If Sony's PlayStation VR Doesn't Make Virtual Reality Mainstream, What Then? http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2016/09/22/if-sonys-playstation-vr-doesnt-make-virtual-reality-mainstream-what-then/

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