Those of us who are deeply involved in the virtual reality (VR) area might already be aware of just how far the technology has managed to spread, but this isn’t something that is always visible to the public at large. That might be changing, however, as writer and journalist David Ewalt has noted.
David Ewalt is a writer whose focus is on new technology, and is the author of a book called Defying Reality, which was published in 17th July, 2018.
Ewalt believes that VR has now embedded itself and is here to stay, according to an interview the writer had with Futurism. “VR isn’t where I want it to be, but this current generation of products — I think it’s proved that VR is real,” he said.
“It’s not hype anymore,” he added. “It needs to get much better, but I think we reached that tipping point where you can try the products we have now and say, ‘damn, that really works. VR is real.’”
Of course, as with any developing technology, there are still obstacles to overcome. The currently available generation of headsets can suffer from the so-called ‘screen door effect’, and the motion tracking technology still needs further development, but as we have seen, these are areas several companies are working on.
“The headsets are great right now, but they’re not perfect. Resolution needs to keep getting better,” Ewalt says. “The headsets need to keep getting lighter and more comfortable. People don’t want to do VR for a half hour or an hour or two because they’ve got this big thing on their face.”
The player base for VR remains relatively small, so there are few publishers and developers who are going all-in with the technology, though Ewalt thinks that will also change over time.
“We’re not there yet, it’s still early,” says Ewalt about a more centralized and less restrictive VR store. “The number of people who have VR headsets who are buying software is still so small, we haven’t reached critical mass yet. It wouldn’t be good business.”
For future coverage on new developments in the VR industry, keep checking back with VRFocus.