Consumers prepare for virtual reality showcase
Oculus, HTC, Sony all have major presence
NEW YORK Virtual reality can transport you to the summit of Mount Everest or the bottom of the ocean. In early January, the place to be for companies that hope to make virtual reality more of a reality for consumers is Las Vegas, home to the CES.
Oculus, HTC and Sony all will have a major presence at CES, where they will showcase the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and PlayStation VR virtual reality systems slated for release by mid-2016.
Samsung, which teamed with Facebook-owned Oculus on the $99 Gear VR system that went on sale in 2015, will be at the tech- fest, pushing VR in full force.
The Consumer Technology Association, the organization that runs CES, says more than 40 exhibitors will display the next wave of immersive multimedia for virtual reality systems and environments, gaming hardware, software and accessories designed for mobile, PCs and consoles. In total, the Gaming & Virtual Reality Marketplace will expand by 77% over its footprint at the 2015 CES, CTA reports.
What’s more, the CTA projects smart eyewear will reach 1.2 million units sold in 2016, a six-fold increase over 2015. Total revenues are projected to reach $540 million, an increase of more than five times.
“The smoke signals are definitely there,” says David Cole, cofounder of NextVR, which has streamed such live events as an NBA game and U.S. Open golf in virtual reality.
Cole expects we’ll see more phones that will work with VR headsets in 2016. For now, Samsung ’s Gear VR is only compatible with four premium Samsung model phones.
You will also see 360 3D video cameras at CES that allow consumers to capture their own VR content. For example, Ricoh will be showing off the $350 previously launched Theta S 360 camera that can be used to create material for Google’s low-cost Cardboard VR viewer or Gear VR.
But much of VR spotlight will focus on Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and Sony PlayStation VR. Sony will demo some “first-person” game titles for PlayStation VR, which used to be known by its codename Project Morpheus. It works with the PlayStation 4 console machine. Oculus Rift and HTC Vive will require robust PC setups, backed up by graphics from companies such as Nvidia. The HTC Vive headset is powered by Valve’s SteamVR 360-degree experience.
Phil McKinney, CEO of the CableLabs research and development consortium of cable operators, says, “I think we’re beyond the goggles. I think this year at CES what we’re going to see is content.
“The real breakthrough is when some movie studio goes all in on 360 and really works to figure out how to change the storytelling mechanism of a film in such a way that it really creates an entire new form of entertainment. When someone cracks that code ... I think that becomes the tipping point for virtual reality.”
A company called Marxent will be at CES showing off a virtual reality platform for retailers CEO Beck Besecker has said is “like Minecraft for shoppers.”
The Consumer Technology Association projects smart eyewear will reach 1.2 million units sold in 2016, a six-fold increase over 2015.