What Virtual Reality Requires to Succeed

Virtual Reality needs no introduction. Whilst the technology is far older than its core user base, the resurgence within the past few years has transformed it’s perceived usefulness. No longer just a means to heighten the gaming sensation, VR offers a completely immersive experience throughout a number of industries.

It is clear that Silicon Valley is hard at work to ensure mass adoption. For instance, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, recently stated that he expects to spend $3 billion over the next decade to make VR more accessible — and that comes after his company bought Oculus for more than $2 billion in 2013.

The journey hasn’t been easy and although technology companies and futurists have long argued the impending arrival of VR, the offerings have had their shortcomings. One of the major complaints by users were the inaccessible, expensive and low quality headsets required to experience VR in its glory. Head mounted units (HMD) require a powerful and costly computer to run, they must also remain tethered to that computer when in use which drastically restricts the mobility of the user.

Fortunately, the relentless research and development by the tech companies to solve this problem is fully underway. Among the potential solutions: A technology called “inside-out tracking”.

An inside-out tracked standalone headset allows you to freely move around your space, no cables or powerful host computer required. All you need to do is put on a headset and experience tetherless VR, often with minimal setup. This lowers the barrier of entry for consumers who may not be technically astute. The inbuilt computer powering the headset removes the need for a mobile phone or computer to be attached. The outcome consequently of combining inside-tracking with a standalone mobile processor dramatically increases mobility of VR and the experiences the user is immersed in.

Despite the efforts made thus far in relation to improving the hardware technology, the impending showdown between success and failure will be the attainment of mass adoption. Here lies the closing problem; what will users be able to do with the hardware? Without content, that is, creative, high quality innovative content where the promised immersive experience can be brought into existence and reality (no pun intended).

Whilst notable VR content has been created from time to time, the general consensus is that the overall quality produced thus far has been underwhelming. The lack of captivating VR experiences has been the biggest downfall in enticing users to return for more, especially considering the perceived potential of the technology.

A research carried out in 2017 by VRtualise showed that for participants that had the opportunity to experience virtual reality, one of the most attractive features was its ability to completely revolutionise the manner in which a story is told. The Cannes film festival last year showcased a VR film created by Oscar-winning director Alejandro G.Iñárritu, “Carne y Arena”, a six-minute piece about a group of Latino immigrants crossing the border through the Arizona desert, where they are then caught by the U.S. authorities. The audience experienced the film in a sand-strewn area the size of a few basketball courts, in order to simulate a desert, accompanied by an Oculus headset.

Unlike any previous medium, VR has the potential to dramatically enrich the cinematic experience for audiences everywhere, thrusting them directly into the midst of the action and allowing them to exist outside of their personal realities. For instance, changing their persona or even their gender. VR enables viewers to “live” the story from the perspective of a character within the film, instead of simply feeling like an observer in a dark theatre or room.

As an art form, virtual reality storytelling is still considered to be in its infancy, with a tremendous amount of untapped potential waiting to be unleashed. In order to drive the technology forward in the years to come, virtual reality content creators must be given a designated space to continuously develop and innovate. Though there are currently multiple platforms that support VR, they are generally dominated by 180/2D content creators, which does little to encourage and stimulate the growth and development of VR content.

In order to encourage the growth of VR content, creators must be appropriately incentivised for their efforts and contributions, ideally in the form of payment. ImmVRse, a decentralised content sharing platform provides a smart and sophisticated approach to progressing the industry as a whole. The platform will allow content creators, brands, viewers and advertisers around the world to inspire, collaborate, and produce some of the highest-quality VR content available online.

ImmVRse aims to provide an autonomous environment where VR content creators can effectively showcase their skills and talent online, potentially leading to payment via direct employment opportunities with businesses and companies, regardless of geographical restrictions.

ImmVRse has also designed a tiered ranking system within the platform that will further incentivize content creators to constantly innovate and hone their skills. The more accolades they acquire through exceptional VR content, the quicker they progress through the bronze, silver, gold, platinum and finally diamond tiered statuses, allowing them to increase both their exposure to companies and businesses, as well as their minimum asking price to produce content for them.

Certainly a very pressing issue is one of creating a rationalised job creation process in the industry. VR content creation requires a substantial effort in comparison to 2D contents and therefore, monetisation of content creation at these early stages of technology is very significant. ImmVRse aims to provide such opportunities to creators around the world. This scope will be expanded further by developing cross-compatible versions, e.g. support for Gear VR, Daydream including high-end VR headsets.

Limon Rahman, COO, ImmVRse, is of the opinion — “When VR standalone headsets finally enter the retail and commercial markets later this year, the hardware shortcomings may soon be a thing of the past. That being said, the natural progression is to develop high quality immersive VR content to accompany these headsets. This combination could potentially form the catalyst for a technological revolution”.

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