SAN FRANCIS CO Virtual and augmented reality promises to get interesting this year, with gear rolling out that respectively blocks out the real world (VR) or layers virtual images on top of it (AR).
Most of these high-tech gadgets are expected to be of most interest first to developers, who will create content, and businesses whose use cases will at first trump consumer use.
“Enterprise adoption will outpace consumer adoption for some time,” says Bill Briggs, chief technology officer for Deloitte Consulting, whose Tech Trends 2016 report puts a spotlight on VR/AR.
Here’s a quick look at what’s out there and what’s still to come:
EPSON
MARTIN E. KLIMEK, USA TODAY
Meron Gribetz, founder of augmented-reality company Meta, is releasing the latest version of the Meta headset, called the Meta 2. Still, AR has hurdles to overcome, some say.
ERIC RISBERG, AP
OCULUS RIFTuCategory: VR uStatus: Available for preorder; shipping March 28uPrice: $599 or $1,499 bundled with compatible PCuPowered by: Windows 7 or newer OS with 8 GB or more of RAM and an NVIDIA GTX 970 equivalent or greater graphics card
JUSTIN SULLIVAN, GETTY IMAGES
GOOGLE CARDBOARDuCategory: VR uStatus: Available now on the Google Store, $15; also Mattel View-Master VR Starter Pack, $30; and the Goggle Tech C1-Glass Viewer $15.uPrice: Most often free, as are many other alternatives that are being given away by companies pushing VR contentuPowered by: Android or Applesmartphones
ALEX WONG, GETTY IMAGES
SONY PLAYSTATION VR (FORMERLY SONY MORPHEUS)uCategory: VR uStatus: Sony promises an update March 15uPrice: TBDuPowered by: Sony PlayStation 4
RITCHIE B. TONGO, EPA
HTC VIVEuCategory: VR uStatus: Available for preorder, shipping by MayuPrice: $799 with two motiontracking sensors and handtracking devicesuPowered by: You must own a computer running Windows 7 or newer, more than 4 GB of RAM and an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 / AMD Radeon R9 290 equivalent or greater graphics card.
ODG
OSTERHOUT DESIGN GROUP (ODG) R-7uCategory: AR uStatus: Available; orders placed now will be delivered in Q2 uPrice: $2,750 uPowered by: Hardware insidethe R-7
ALBERTO ESTEVEZ, EPA
SAMSUNG GEAR VR POWERED BY OCULUSuCategory: VR uStatus: Available now uPrice: $99uPowered by: Android smartphones
ZEISS
ZEISS VR ONEuCategory: VR uStatus: Order via website uPrice: $120uPowered by: Android smartphone
ANDREW BURTON, GETTY IMAGES
MICROSOFT HOLOLENSuCategory: AR uStatus: Available for preorder; shipping March 30 uPrice: $3,000uPowered by: Hardware builtinto HoloLens
EPSON
EPSON MOVERIO BT-300uCategory: AR uStatus: Available for preorder uPrice: Around $800uPowered by: Tech built intothe device