Virtual Reality: The rush to wait
2016 A Watershed Year for VR
Last year I consulted on a project about viability for a virtual reality product. While I am very excited by the prospects of consumer VR, you have to be a certain kind of business or individual to chase the bleeding edge of technologies which are largely untested in a consumer market.
So realizing that VR will be huge, and there are innumerable applications for this technology over time, the best business advice I could offer was to be present, but maybe not center stage. You should be tinkering, designing, understanding the parameters of the medium, and also the emerging marketplace. Taking small, meaningful steps today, will allow you to pivot over the next eighteen months, as the situation manifests.
Listen, your idea might require jumping in right now, before it settles, but for most, the wait time from hardware release to a viable product will give developers the chance to gauge consumer response and user experience demands, rather than basing new offerings on a range of guesswork, and opinion research.
There is no doubt that 2016 is a watershed year for consumer virtual reality, driven by headset offerings, and an initial round of introductory experiences, games, and so forth. When the dust settles there will be a dynamic new form that will be from our wildest imaginations.
Ken is the Founder and CEO of Sage Immersive Realities Inc. He is a visionary interactive designer working with an international team of serious gaming professionals who are defining the leading edge of virtual reality and meaningful gaming experiences.