VR’s perception problem
A lot of great things are being said about VR, problem is, when you haven’t tried it yourself, the first image that comes to mind or on Google image, is the face of bearded guy with an oculus on an oculus on his head and a gigantic stupidly open mouth >
It doesn’t stop here, the GUY chosen as the poster boy of Oculus too, better shaved, but mouth still wide open, certainly translating the sense of ‘AWE’ of a VR experience
It’s true that it’s usually your face the first time you experience high end VR, you’re really seeing and living amazing stuff in there !
But there’s a big 🐘 in the room that we really need to tackle : while being in VR is an amazing experience and makes you feel totally awesome, you do look awfully stupid in the eyes of the external world
and the images being produced by the key players really don’t help either
But that’s not even the worst VR perception related image out there, the palm of giving a bad rap for VR goes to Marc Zuckerberg and his perfectly well staged Orwellian moment (kind of a shame when he’s the one that triggered mass media interest in the tech with his surprising Oculus acquisition) that gave birth to this image, and countless articles bleak future related articles
This is a problem, because it portrays one of the most interesting medium, with tremendous potential for new ways to create, dream, feel and interact with others look like a dangerous geeky isolating dumb machine.
Perception is key for any kind of new product / habit adoption. We all remember the ‘Glassholes’ effect and his chief captain Robert Scoble :
Who now is of course 1000% dedicated on VR and AR, with a new gig at Upload VR
The fact that VR is mostly a geek passion so far is a problem, and will be a major problem for its adoption. While I love geeks and I’m proud to be considered one myself, it’s a problem because external world consideration usually gets beaten by passion when you’re a geek. And that’s great, but it’s also a problem.
It’s a problem for a mass audience to seriously consider VR because at the moment, the image of VR is being determined by the very group of people who are passionate about a niche technology. For us, VR start-ups dealing with big corporate groups from different industries, it’s even a bigger problem.
Most specifically with more Senior management members, who sometimes simply ‘don’t want to wear that’. Or luxury brands, for whom experience and perception is such an important factor and core aspect of their identity.
The Big PC, Wires and geek imagery just won’t cut it.
That’s why, when doing IVR’s brand ID, we tried to portray VR as a soft technology, allowing to sit down and relax, teleport anywhere and explore different places and experiences
as well as imagine what a VR Room would be like in the future, partnering with product designers with different sensibilities, thinking of how a VR room could be for a luxury brand experience :
or a design brand with a dedicated social watching space
Things are already in motion on some other sides, most noticeably with the great VR green-screen videos, perfect to give a sense of what VR is for someone who haven’t tried it.
But this is just a start too, the road to mass adoption is going to be long and rough, and perception is only one barrier to overcome.
