Virtual Reality and Augmented reality have shot to one of the most popular forms of entertainment and gaming technology in the past. These devices are genuinely taking the gaming and entertainment world by storm, but it’s also been predicted that this technology will eventually integrate into our everyday lives as more of an assistance than a novelty.
The commercial potential for such technology has made the possibility for everyday assimilation even more of a possibility, which will remain on an incline for the foreseeable future, and despite any previous success that the technology has received, this is just baby steps compared to the potential.
The New Computing Platform – Virtual Reality
The main focus of VR technology has been gaming and entertainment, but in a recent interview, Mark Zuckerberg, the creator of Facebook, revealed that VR could, in fact, be the next platform for computing and business. This will surely surpass any of our existing parameters and conventions and, if successfully incorporated into the business world, could provide the resources for business meetings, interviews, and employee training.
Technology – On the Incline:
AR and VR are still taking baby steps in the commercial market and are used as more of an entertainment novelty rather than for everyday life. According to Zuckerberg’s predictions, it will be as long as a decade before people begin to assimilate VR and AR technology into daily life and mainstream society. Mobile app development needs to be developed with purposeful and interesting uses for this technology to become more necessary and useful in everyday situations. Tech companies are now integrating specialist teams of researchers, developers, and technicians to help to break through the noise and discover new uses for virtual reality. Everybody is open to making mistakes, and the process is still in the trial and error stage of the journey. Facebook is said to be in the process of shutting down 500 demo sites that haven’t piqued the public’s interest. This process can be long and meticulous, but in the end, technology will prevail.
A Whole New Perspective on the World:
There are countless different purposes for VR, one being the notion of exploring far-off, interesting destinations. People can immerse themselves in this virtual reality, exploring hostile and uninhabited destinations such as the Amazon Rainforest or outer space. This can be used for some different purposes, either as a form of escapism, help with mental illness or for educational purposes. VR and AR are currently limited to the visual and auditory senses, but as technology progresses, developers will seek to include other senses reminiscent of the 4D cinematic experience, where touch and smell are incorporated.
Taking the Product to Market:
It has been estimated that the VR market will reach as much as $22 billion by 2020; this is estimated by a combination of software (apps, programs) and hardware (devices) sales. Augmented reality is set to make the most headway in the technology, combined with VR, which is predicted to be worth $121 billion, and this estimate is only the beginning; this could go much further in years to come.
The investment potential for this technology is still extremely high, as it is only at the conception of the process. The potential for VR and AR is an ongoing and somewhat slow-burning process, but because of this, people can”jump on the bandwagon” and invest. As shown through the failures of Facebook, there are still some uncertainties in the VR and AR market, and finding the peak of consumer interest and assimilation of the technologies into everyday life will certainly prove to be a struggle, but will also come out triumphant. As the soft and hardware for virtual reality advances, then the commercial interest will begin to peak, and the integration into everyday life will begin to happen. VR and AR technology will gradually become more mainstream and used in everyday life.
