The current state of VR technology, as told by a video production company
The VR landscape and the hardware that goes with it are both constantly evolving, and like most things in the tech industry, the latest and greatest is always on the horizon. We’ve talked before about the buzz surrounding virtual reality, and after taking a closer look at the stats, we can confirm that the future of VR is looking brighter than ever. As one of the few video production companies that focuses on VR, here’s what we think you should know as of now.
A brief rundown of the current VR landscape
Facebook is leading the charge in virtual reality.
Facebook has long been considered the tech industry’s pioneer of virtual reality. It all started in 2014 when Mark Zuckerberg acquired Oculus for a cool $3 billion, a bold move by anyone’s standards. But so far this year, sales of the infamous Oculus Rift headset have fallen short. This could be due to a number of factors, like the spike in competition as more and more brands launch products. If there’s one thing we know about Facebook’s CEO, it’s that he’s not phased by a challenge, and he’s good at surrounding himself with very smart people. We’re looking at you, Michael Hillman and Hugo Bara.
Facebook becomes Meta
If you haven’t heard the news, the Facebook name has been changed to Meta. Mark Zuckerberg made an announcement in October 2021 letting the public know, Meta brings together all of the companies apps and technologies under one umbrella. It is said to be a metaverse, and provide a hybrid of online social experiences sometimes event projected into physical reality. We will see what this all means, but with Zuckerberg spearheading it coupled with the new age of virtual reality, we are heading toward a new way of thinking, engaging and immersing ourselves into technology.
More and more technology brands have skin in the game.
We’re no strangers to VR hardware, and we know first-hand what it’s like to lose an afternoon of productivity to test driving new gear. There has been an uptick in companies releasing virtual reality hardware this year, the big players being Oculus Rift (Facebook), Google Daydream, Samsung Gear VR, HTC Vive and Sony Playstation VR. We pulled some numbers from market research firm SuperData, and were surprised to see that Samsung smoked the competition with 782,000 headset sales worldwide during Q1 of 2017. That leaves a lot of room for increased market share.
For once, a market that isn’t completely saturated.
A study released in early 2017 reported that only 8% of marketers are using VR as part of their advertising efforts currently. Considering that stat, while there is a lot of opportunity in the VR space, the truth is that it has yet to be widely adopted as part of a widespread marketing strategy for many businesses…yet. We view this as an enormous chance to standout in a new medium, without a lot of competition. Check out a few brands who are embracing virtual reality ahead of the curve: Mercedes, National Geographic, and Patron.
Keep in mind though, in 2020, there were more than 57 million VR users in the US; so interest is growing.
According to TechCrunch, the virtual reality market could be worth $25 billion by 2021, and KZero estimates that as many as 28 million people could be paying for VR hardware and content by 2018. That said, the forecast for people like you who are interested in getting in early is looking good.
Here we are, with Meta forging ahead with new ideas, and an expectation that twenty-five percentage of internet users will be using VR in the US by 2023, which amounts to about 70.2 million people. Are you ready to be ahead of the curve? Inching ahead with innovative marketing and storytelling tools?
From video production services, motion graphics services, or event video production, we love video and can talk about it all day long. Start your project and continue your company vision with creative storytelling.