Free VR Still Wouldn’t Sell
“NO EXISTING OR IMMINENT VR HARDWARE is good enough to go truly mainstream, even at a price of $0.00.” A stinging criticism of VR delivered by a cynical critic? No, this is from the blog of Palmer Luckey, the founder of Oculus VR.
“You could give a Rift and PC to every single person in the developed world for free, and the vast majority would cease to use it in a matter of weeks or months,” he goes on to say. “Hardcore gamers and technology enthusiasts are entranced by the VR of today, as am I, but stickiness drops off steeply outside of that core demographic. Free is still not cheap enough for most people, because cost is not what holds them back….”
Barriers to adoption have previously been cited as high prices and inadequate technology, but both have been largely addressed—it’s cheaper and better than ever. There are other more fundamental problems that can’t be fixed so easily, though. The headsets can be cumbersome, and require your undivided attention. Configuration can be difficult, and no amount of marketing can build a tolerance to motion sickness.
No matter how impressive it becomes, some technology just won’t be adopted by the masses. Witness the death of 3D TV, and the rise and fall of Microsoft’s Kinect. Oculus’s owner, Facebook, has recently moved the focus of the company to more mainstream models, which may be a bad move. Nobody is selling VR in big numbers.
Are Luckey’s pronouncements a refreshing piece of realism? Possibly. VR has been “the next big thing” for so long, it’s laughable. High-end VR is awesome, as Luckey says: “I hope and pray I am wrong, but most people are not like you and me.”