A New Reality
The vr industry in China experiences explosive growth as the uses of this technology permeate all walks of life
in a virtual laboratory at the First Affiliated Middle School of the Central China Normal University in Hubei Province, Fang Jing and her classmates are excited about science and technology. They can now preview particular experiments and accurately master experimental procedures before carrying them out in a real laboratory, by simply using a pair of virtual reality (VR) glasses.
What impressed the students most is not only the fresh experience, but also other benefits VR has to offer, like not suffering from collateral damage, waste and dangerous gases produced from real classroom experiments.
“In carrying out an experiment, I may not have time to notice it if the correct steps are not followed. When experimenting with VR glasses, only if the steps are correct can we continue,” said Fang. She added that VR technology also allows the students to carry out experiments previously regarded as dangerous, in the knowledge that apparatus would not literally blow up in their faces.
In recent years, VR technology has been applied in various fields in China, including online gaming, education, e-commerce and rehabilitation. It comes as no surprise given China’s insatiable appetite for technology that the country’s VR market is taking a big leap.
According to Wang Peng, deputy head of China Center for Information Industry Development under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), China’s VR market will exceed $13.1 billion by 2020, with an annual compound growth rate of over 120 percent.
Expansive growth
VR is an interactive computer-generated experience using computer-based technology to simulate a virtual 3D environment that resembles reality. With the help of equipment such as helmets and glasses, users feel that they are really experiencing virtual scenes.
Statistics released by MIIT reveal that China’s VR market expanded 164 percent year on year to reach $2.4 billion in 2017.
According to the 2018-22 Report on Virtual Reality Product Industry Market and Investment Prospects released by the newsijie.com, a professional information website based in Beijing, the scale of China’s VR users is expanding rapidly. In 2014, the total number of active VR users in China reached 200,000; the number increased to 90 million in 2017; and in 2018, it’s expected to increase significantly to 170 million.