Tech Talk: Virtual Reality

Originally published in the Indiana Minority Business Magazine.

In 1995, Indianapolis was described in the New York Times as a “conservative, supremely middle-American city with a financial and manufacturing center in a vast sea of corn and hogs.” With respect to the stereotype of fields and tractors, however, Indianapolis was also home to a growing business of computer-generated scenes, also known as virtual reality.

Since then, the advancement of computer technology has allowed virtual reality, which mimics the sensations of real-world environments, to be incorporated in videogames, health services, sports and military training modules. Thanks to smartphones, mainstream acceptance and lowering costs, businesses are seeing growth in the sector.

This past summer, Ball State University in Muncie, Ind. starting working with virtual reality programs at the Institute for Digital Media Arts, a lab on campus.

The primary item in use is called “the Vive,” a virtual reality headset developed by HTC, the Taiwanese electronics company. The headset retails at $800.

There are less expensive virtual reality headsets, like Samsung’s Oculus Rift which retailed for $99 in 2015, but the HTC Vive is superior because it allows users to have their hands interact with a more immersive program.

According to SuperData research published this year, the virtual reality industry has reached funding totals of $8.8 billion since 2012, but the industry as a whole is faced with the issue of how to reach the right consumers.

Hardware sales, in any chain of business, can be a tough sell, especially in an economy that functions with cloud computing applications, software and less devices. In order for virtual reality to become a viable market, experts say the industry must continue to introduce itself with videogames and entertainment before expanding to other markets.

One successful model is the current youvisit.com/iub website for Indiana University. The virtual reality site integrates with live Google Maps and allows users to browse the university’s campus as if they were on a real tour. It is aimed at current and prospective students, alumni, faculty and enthusiasts.

Another successful venture on Indiana University’s campus was Mark Cuban’s $5 million donation in 2015 to fund a state-of-the-art sports media center. Cuban, a university alumnus, billionaire and owner of several businesses, with the university’s technology departments, will build a program that allows users to experience sports games from a virtual reality perspective, according to the school’s website.

IU Bloomington is joined by the NBA’s new initiative to introduce virtual reality broadcasts, according to USA Today.

Although there have been advancements, tech industry leaders such as Apple CEO Tim Cook believe that an even newer form of virtual reality known as augmented reality will be the best way to reach customers.

On a Good Morning America broadcast interview, Cook said, “My own view is that augmented reality is the larger of the two, probably by far, because this gives the capability for both of us to sit and be very present talking to each other, but also have other things visually for both of us to see,” Cook said. “Maybe it’s something we’re talking about, maybe it’s someone else here that is not here, present, but could be made to appear to be present with us. So there’s a lot of really cool things there.”

This is likely a hint that Apple has interest in entering the industry, whether it’s virtual or augmented reality, in the next few years, according to the Verge, a technology publication. In addition, the Financial Times said Apple has hired hundreds of employees to develop applications for reality programs with headsets.

If the rumors are true, since Apple has a market cap at $400 billion, which is worth more than 5 years of the combined coffee industry, Apple can make virtual and augmented reality more popular than any single firm.

In the end, the next frontier of technology is on its way. New developments are made everyday. It is up to consumers to determine if it’s worth the hype.