VR For Everyone

Virtual headsets are making real headway with the first lineup of full VR headsets being available by next year. But with all the fanfare, I have to say that I have my doubts that VR will do as well as people imagine. We have been here before- a new technology comes to market that fills the world with wonder and the potential for revolutionizing everything, and then suddenly…nothing. Are we seeing this again with the VR headsets?

I think so. My reasons are simple. I believe that when it comes to consumer technology, your hardware is only as good as your software. Also, your hardware has to be widespread enough to prompt developers to create said hardware. The general idea is everyone has a computer so everyone is a potential customer for VR are sets. The problem with this thinking is that, yes everyone may have a computer, but they definitely do not have a computer that can run a VR headset. It is kind of like PC gaming. PC gaming has a great deal of fans but for a long time the market was relegated to enthusiast who were willing to shell out quite the amount of funds to buy graphic cards or prebuilt gaming rigs to enjoy their favorite games. Times have not changed since it still takes a powerful machine to run any new PC game with insane graphics on max settings. Now, to pull off that feat, you probably need two 1 gig video cards, 16 gigs of Ram, dual core with micro core units, a great cooling system and the internet connection to allow you to multiplay with your buddies. When you add up all these cost you are talking about a sizable chuck of money to play a game. Now, what sorts of computing power will you need to run Oculus without any lagging or framebreaks? Ok, now imagine how many people have computer systems that can do this or are willing to pay for a computer system that can do this? Yeah, I think you get the point.

Maybe the manufactures of VR headsets like Facebook are comfortable with this situation and are willing to wait until computing power and internet service catches up. I know that back in the nineties, few would have thought that a company like alienware who specialized in creating gaming computers would be much of a business, but it thrived enough to be bought out by Dell. This is because there were enough developers creating games that could run on these systems. Will VR headsets enjoy the same kind of interest? Why would a developer spend so much money on a developing a game that will be played by only a handful of people? I tend to think that it will probably be another five years before VR is really main stream. Until then, hobbyist will definitely get themselves headsets and do what they always have done, spend lavishly on a fringe hobby that they and only their fellow hobbyist would understand.