In recent years we have seen how VR devices have been considered as the next step in electronic entertainment. Devices such as Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and PlayStation VR promise experiences never seen before and succeed where 3D could not do it a few years ago. However, time passes and virtual reality does not end by taking off as it was originally intended. It is for this reason that John Riccitiello, CEO of Unity and formerly of Electronic Arts, set out his vision for the future under the VRLA 2017 convention.
According to Riccitiello, the first step is already given and is to consider that virtual reality will be something huge but before this happens, companies must analyze well their way of work, their investments and times to advance along with this industry: “I’m not here to do today is to convince you that AR and VR is going to be a big thing. I’m going to assume we agree on that. What I want to talk to you about is when it’s gonna happen, how it’s gonna happen, and what the ingredients are. The point being: I want to try to lay out a framework that I think will actually help the industry, but beyond that, figure out—when you’re putting resources into this marketplace, when you’re investing your time and hard-earned money—when you can expect a return on investment and what that might look like. I think it’s important that we have that so that we [the industry] don’t get too far ahead of ourselves, and maybe running out of that cash or going bankrupt before we really get a chance to get started.”
After this introduction, Unity’s CEO focused on the projections that exist regarding numbers that, at any given moment, will register virtual reality as a business, where it is predicted that in 3 years will be a $164 billion industry. From this number, Riccitiello showed his projection and estimated that from 2019 until 2022 – after going through a period of disappointment on the part of users – virtual reality will be as big as the Internet and will be worth trillions of dollars.
On the other hand, the director stressed the importance of placing the largest number of VR devices in the market to attract large industries, such as film, and thus ensure that large companies will be committed to virtual reality: “What needs to change for our market to get to a place that makes any sense at all for you to get the return on investment you want, is we’re gonna need to see the promise of that first 100 million [devices], and then the promise of the second 100 million.”
Finally, John Riccitiello guaranteed that the VR will have the expected success, although it will not happen in the times and conditions that the analysts mention.
Recently Oculus announced that it will not participate in E3 2017, and a few months ago Gabe Newell, who participated with HTC Vive, was positive about the future of this industry, but also considered that it may be a failure.
What do you think about the present and future of VR devices? Will they become a great technological benchmark? Let us know in the comments below.
