Commentary

56% Have Heard Of Virtual Reality, Only 23% Can Explain It

The latest forecast for the growth of virtual reality earlier this week may be a bit misleading, with the road to mass consumer adoption not a clear path.

Shipments of VR headsets are projected to grow 47% annually, reaching 38 million devices shipped in 2023, according to IDC.

Another bullish estimate by Reportlinker estimates the market will be worth more than five times its current value within five years, projecting annual market growth of 35% with the value increasing from $8 billion to more than $44 billion by 2024.

However, some other research by Reportlinker indicates the consumer future may not be so rosy for virtual reality. The firm has been tracking VR consumer sentiment annually and the latest surveys highlight some market concerns.

It turns out that people in the U.S. are less familiar with virtual reality now than they were in 2016 or 2017.

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While most (56%) people have heard about virtual reality, they’re not able to explain it. More significantly, fewer than a quarter (23%) of people are familiar with it and could explain it to someone else. That’s down 13% from 2017, when more than a third (36%) of people were very familiar with it and could even explain it to a friend.

Brands take a hit here as well. Just over a quarter (28%) of people can name a VR industry leader, which is 17% fewer than in 2017.

The good news is that the majority (62%) of consumers have a positive attitude about virtual reality.

I noticed at CES in January that there was substantially less buzz and fewer VR demonstrations, most notably missing in the Eureka Park innovation arena, unlike the previous year.

VR remains strong in gaming, for sure. It’s also finding its way into training by companies including Walmart. But that’s not mass enough.

VR needs some PR.

1 comment about "56% Have Heard Of Virtual Reality, Only 23% Can Explain It".
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  1. John Grono from GAP Research, April 3, 2019 at 5:42 p.m.

    Ummm.

    So 36% of people had heard about VR in 2017, but now only 23% have.

    So that means that around one-third of people who had heard about VR (and 13% of the population) in 2017 have somehow 'un-heard' of VR in 2019.

    just as weird is that 62% of consumers have a positive attitude to VR even though only 23% have heard of it.   Put another way, and assuming that the 23% who have heard of VR have a positive attitude, that roughly TWICE as many people who haven't even heard of VR are positive to it, than those that know about it.

    I'm tossing up whether the report is poorly written, or the questionnaire was poorly written, or whether the research was poorly conducted.   I suspect all three.

    My advice to readers, simply forget these data.

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About the Author

Chuck Martin is Editor of the AI & IoT Daily at MediaPost and writes the daily Connected Thinking column. He is a NY Times Business bestselling author and his latest book is “Digital Transformation 3.0” (The New Business-to-Consumer Connections of The Internet of Things.) He is CEO of Net Future Institute and a frequent keynote speaker internationally. Follow him on Twitter @chuckmartin and contact him at Chuck@MediaPost.com.