OXFORD, UK – Motion capture technology specialist Vicon (www.vicon.com) is revealing some of the key challenges that virtual reality will need to overcome in order for it to become a success. According to the company, this includes the production of affordable consumer devices.
Results from the company’s report are based on a survey conducted by Vicon, gauging the opinion of 390 industry professionals. It highlights that alongside cost, other factors, such as content and realism, stand in the way of virtual reality becoming an overnight success. In fact, Vicon estimates that virtual reality will take off in the next two to three years.
Although 94 percent of industry professionals agreed that VR headsets will have an impact on the industry, the survey showed that an emphasis must be placed on ensuring that high quality content is available alongside a fast interactive experience. With the introduction of more affordable and simpler tools, it’s easier now than ever for individuals and small companies to create VR content. To drive the adoption of VR the industry will need to offer a higher quality of content in order to attract consumers.
The research also found that:
- Most respondents believe that VR will be the biggest hit in the games industry (68 percent), followed by design and engineering (15 percent). Interestingly, more people think VR will be a hit in health or medical applications than in the film or TV industries.
- Just 2 percent of those surveyed think that VR will be a complete flop.
“There’s a lot of buzz around virtual reality at the moment, especially at shows like CES — and consumer expectations are high,” says Warren Lester, engineering product manager at Vicon. “However, for VR to succeed, the industry needs to address challenges like the cost of consumer devices, and accelerate the development of high quality content. As an industry, we must also focus on realistic environments and fast, interactive experiences to help drive VR adoption.”