Virtual Reality | April 11, 2016
With big help from Samsung, Google and Oculus, mobile virtual reality (VR) revenues are set to hit over $850 million in the 2016 alone. Oculus have been integral to market growth as they have played a part in both Samsung’s Gear VR and Google’s Cardboard casings. The two large companies are keen to be regarded as market leaders and more importantly, originators in this ever-growing market. According to Goldman Sachs, investment bank, digital reality (which includes augmented reality space) is set to grow to over $100 billion in the next four years. With this is mind, Google and Samsung clearly see a money-making opportunity and Google have already published a number of VR apps to be found on Google Play.
Google Cardboard GIF
Samsung is not standing still either though as the well-known mobile phone company has recently announced that they will be bundling free Gear VR headsets with all pre-orders for their new Galaxy S7 smartphone. Whilst Google are currently operating in the lower end of the market with Google Cardboard, they are said to be working on a product that will rival the Gear VR. In terms of the market, the planned product from Google is thought to fit somewhere between the Gear VR, Oculus Rift and Microsoft’s AR HoloLens. It is believed that they are planning to use smartphone components but specifically for VR. In addition to this, the product will also not need to be connected to a PC as it is an all in one device, similar to the HoloLens.
The only worry with such a product would be the cost; however, it should be able to fit in a bigger battery and more sensors (plus the fact that it doesn’t need a PC to run). Mobile seems to be the most cost-effective and affordable way of reaching VR technology out to consumers and so there is exciting news to come for sure with this in mind!
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We write about the use of Virtual Reality for non-gaming applications.