360 Video is Weekend Entertainment

Since the major consumer VR devices were released last year, there’s been speculation about how this technology will fit into the lives of average users. Is it something they will use every day? What will it’s primary purpose be: education, relaxation, gaming, entertainment?

One way to answer these questions is to examine when people are using their VR devices. We looked at the habits of several thousand users watching 360 videos in VR to see which days had a higher percentage of views:

There’s a distinct “U” shape as the week progresses, indicating that more users watch 360 video in VR on the weekends than during the week. This is consistent with long-form entertainment consumption patterns like watching movies or reading books, which happen mostly at night or during the weekends.

This behavior is somewhat unsurprising since most VR users today are early adopters who are using the technology for fun and exploration, not as something to do during a quick break at work. But there are also pragmatic reasons for the low use of VR during work hours:

• VR devices usually stay at home. Tethered headsets like the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and Sony PlayStation VR have multiple components and are generally part of a fixed setup in the living room or office. Mobile headsets like the Samsung Gear VR or Google Daydream View are more portable, but still too bulky to be carried around easily in anything but a large bag or backpack, so they are often left at home.
• VR is hard to use in spare moments. Even if a user has a mobile VR headset with them or a tethered headset at their workplace, it’s not the kind of thing they would pop on two watch a thirty-second cat video. The setup process — putting on the headset and starting software — would take longer than the length of the video.
• VR makes you unaware of your surroundings. Unlike augmented or mixed reality, VR doesn’t let you see what’s going on around you when you’re using it, so users may feel uncomfortable wearing what is essentially a digital blindfold in public.

These limitations don’t mean that VR won’t be useful outside the home, just that the non-home uses will require some accommodation. A good example is teleconferencing in VR. The standard conference room comes equipped with a table, chairs, a door and a speakerphone. Add a VR device, and it’s now a socially acceptable place to use VR. There will be more spaces like this.

These problems will also be solved with improved hardware and software that let users “boot up” their VR experience faster, as well as evolving social conventions that make it less awkward to have a headset on in mixed company. But in the meantime, VR use is mostly relegated to nights and weekends.