Commentary

When Will VR Become Useful?

A quick Google search of the best virtual reality (VR) apps available on the market right now returns a series that can be broadly sorted into two camps: games and tours. Games show off the entertainment value of the new tech, and tours show how engaging and lively the visual components of VR can be.

Neither of those two types of apps offers anything that you can’t get somewhere else, though. Right now, the biggest barrier to mass adoption of VR is the development of content beyond the stuff that is really just a showcase, or that panders to early adopters.

I recently saw an example of one direction such apps might take: an announcement from Rukkus that highlighted its new ticket-buying marketplace for sporting events. The company plans to get 360degree views from every seat in every ballpark, stadium, and large concert venue in the near future. Essentially, it’s Google Street View for stadiums.

Ostensibly the tech is there to help people find out if the tickets they’re purchasing are actually good or not.

GoPro also recently announced the release of a 360-degree camera kit for users to develop their own VR content. It’s a great start, but the $5,000 sticker price of the camera puts it solely in the range of those with deep pockets and deeper curiosity.

As users start to develop VR photo and video content, the market will start to pick up, but for now, the examples of VR that people will actually use seem few and far between.

1 comment about "When Will VR Become Useful?".
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  1. Jeff Martin from IMF, April 22, 2016 at 9:48 a.m.

    One example of several:
    Lowe's has a Holo Room for providing VR representations of someone's kitchen and what paint colors, countertops, cabinets etc. will look like in their kitchen.

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