1. What is VR?
The website Whatis.com defines Virtual reality as an artificial environment that is created with software and presented to the user in such a way that the user suspends belief and accepts it as a real environment. To do this VR technology makes use of typically a wraparound headset called a head-mounted display, clamping stereo headphones over your ears, and touching or feeling your way around your imaginary home using data-gloves (gloves with built-in sensors). Nevertheless, apparatus will vary depending on the application.
Basically what VR does is it allows the user to immerse himself in a virtual world constructed to simulate the real one or it could be an entirely fantastic reality.
What gives VR it's appeal is the very fact that there are no limits to what the virtual environment can or should constitute. Whether it's an interstellar war in 2098 or world war 2 in 1945 with VR users can experience those events (historic or imaginary) as if they were happening right then.
2. The most Happening applications of vr
Gaming
There is no debate that Gaming is a billion dollar industry. It is therefore not inconceivable that Vr gaming would be amongst the most prominent applications of vr. A lot of the VR headsets manufactured today are either intended for vr games or are versatile enough to be able to be used for gaming.
Healthcare and Psychotherapy
A recent report by Goldman Sachs suggested that Healthcare could be the next area where VR technology could prove disruptive. Remote surgery or Telesurgery which is the ability for a doctor to perform surgery on a patient even though they are not physically in the same location is an example of a disruptive application of VR in medicine. With VR, a surgeon on one side of the globe could perform surgery on a patient on another side making distance virtually immaterial.
VR also provides risk-free training platform of health care professionals. In a 3 dimensional computer-generated environment, healthcare specialists have an opportunity to hone their skills on virtual patients with none of risk that comes with real world surgery.
In the case of therapy a procedure known as Virtual Reality Exposure Treatment (VRET) has been found effective in treating anxiety disorders like Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and phobias. People with phobias for examples can confront their fears by stepping into a virtual environment and being faced with a virtual version of their anxiety stimulus.
Education and Training
VR has the potential to greatly enhance the educational experience for both the teacher and the pupil. Instead of straining the eyes to see a cell though a microscope in biology class for instance, students could explore and examine an enhanced 3-dimensional virtual cell in far greater detail in a virtual environment.
VR also comes in handy as regards military training. Airborne training can be prohibitively expensive. As a cost effective alternative to actual aircrafts, flight simulators are a particularly useful method of training pilots.
Heritage and tourism
Imagine being able to explore the full expanse of all the 7 wonders of the world all from the comfort of your living room. Such is the beauty of Virtual Reality. Their are a whole host of reasons that may make it impossible for one to visit certain places in the world or take on certain challenges so why not go for the second best option; Virtual Reality. Already with VR you can scale the heights of mount Everest or descend to the very depths of the Grand canyon. Oculus VR founder Palmer Luckey had this to say “People could say: ‘But visiting France virtually will never be the same as visiting Paris in the real world.’ Well, it might not be the same. What matters a lot more is that everybody is able to experience it.”
3. The biggest players in VR
Facebook
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| Oculus |
Through it's subsidiary Oculus, Facebook has already spent over $2bn since 2013. Most if that cash was spent acquiring no less than 11 AR/VR companies. At present it's flagship device is the Oculus Rift a VR headset with an introductory pricetag of $599.
Google
Google's had a lot of success with it's VR headsets Google Cardboard and Google Daydream view. Google Cardboard headsets are built out of simple, low-cost components. By march 2017 over 160 million Google cardboard app downloads had been made and over 10 million cardboard viewers had been shipped. The flagship daydream viewer second-gen is set to be released on the 27th of October at a price of only $99.
HTC Valve
HTC and Valve's 'Vive' VR headset is perhaps the most sophisticated VR headset out there. The headset comes in a box with 16 different components including two handheld devices hosting over 70 infrared sensors, an internal gyroscope and accelerometer. The device can track the user's movement with sub-millimeter precision allowing the the user to immerse himself in a roomscale VR game.
Microsoft
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| Microsoft Hololens |
Microsoft HoloLens is a pair of mixed reality smart glasses developed by Microsoft. Though still in development the Microsoft Hololens is among the most disruptive headsets out there. It makes use of 'Windows mixed reality' a platform that works by enabling applications in which the live presentation of physical real-world elements is incorporated with that of virtual elements (referred to as "holograms" by Microsoft).
Samsung
Samsung Gear VR are VR headsets developed by Samsung in collaboration with Oculus. How do they work? A compatible Samsung Galaxy device is placed inside the headset holder where it acts as the display. Compatible devices are limited to flagship Samsung Galaxy smartphones from the Galaxy S6 onwards. The consumer edition of the headsets was first released in 2015 at an introductory price of $99.99. Around $5million units have been sold since.
Sony Computer Entertainment
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| Sony HMD |
The playstation VR code name project Morpheus is a VR headset developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The headset was designed to complement the PS4 gaming console. It had it's release in 2016 at a launch price of $399 and selling over 1 million units up to date.
4. The future of VR
VR tech is still in it's early stages but It's safe to say that hype around it has reached a fever pitch. The big MNC's are already all over the technology investing billions of dollars trying to turn a profit.
So what does the future holds for VR? The virtual reality market was worth about $1.9 billion in 2016, but that's expected exceed $22.4 billion by 2020. One thing remains clear, VR is no passing trend.
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