Sketchfab have released the results of a survey conducted over the platform to obtain a review of the virtual reality (VR) industry as of Q2 2017. The Sketchfab platform has over 800,000 contributors who all had the opportunity to contribute to the survey.
The report details trends related to the content, hardware and future of the VR industry. Firstly data was obtained regarding what VR hardware was most commonly used: 45% of respondents said they had tried both mobile VR and tethered VR. 26% said they had tried only a mobile VR headset, while only 11% said their only experience of VR was through tethered headsets. This means that 83% of those surveyed had tried VR of some description, a figure up by 3.6% for the Q1 2017 survey
A significant figure is that 56.6% of those surveyed believed that VR has potential, though not for everything a 3% increase from the previous survey. 37% said that VR was the future, which is a decrease of 6.1%. Some comments provided along with the ‘other’ category included answers such as: “VR has potential, but creates too much isolation for the individual.” and “The current headsets are still primitive and need to be improved.”
When asked which they considered to have more potential for advancement, augmented reality (AR) or VR, most responded that VR was the area with the higher potential, with 60.9% of those surveyed being more interested in VR’s potential.
Asked about ownership of VR headsets, 61% of respondents said they owned a VR headset. Among those who did not, 72.6% said it was due to the expense of the hardware, with only 29% believing that the technology needed further development.
Out of the available VR headsets, most respondents said they owned the Google Cardboard with 41% of respondents claiming to own the mobile VR headset. The most popular tethered headset was the HTC Vive, with 20.6% saying they owned one. The HTC Vive also proved to be the most favoured headset, with 42.3% of people surveyed saying they preferred it over other headsets.
The full results of the survey can be found on the Sketchfab website.
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