Virtual reality needs to overcome key challenges to become a success, says Vicon

Industry survey highlights need for affordable consumer headsets and high-quality, interactive content

Vicon, the motion capture technology specialist for the entertainment, engineering and life sciences industries, has revealed that virtual reality will need to overcome key challenges including the production of affordable consumer devices, in order for it to become a success. The results, based on a survey conducted by Vicon, gauged the opinion of 390 industry professionals. It highlighted that alongside cost, other factors such as content and realism stand in the way of virtual reality becoming an overnight success. In fact Vicon estimates that virtual reality will take off in the next two – three years.

Although 94% of industry professionals agreed that VR headsets will have an impact on the industry, the survey showed that an emphasis must be placed on ensuring that high quality content is available alongside a fast interactive experience. With the introduction of more affordable and simpler tools, it’s easier now than ever for individuals and small companies to create VR content. To drive the adoption of VR the industry will need to offer a higher quality of content in order to attract consumers.

The research also found that:

• Most respondents believe that VR will be the biggest hit in the games industry (68%), followed by design and engineering (15%). Interestingly, more people think VR will be a hit in health or medical applications than in the film or TV industries.
• Just 2% of those surveyed think that VR will be a complete flop.

“There’s a lot of buzz around virtual reality at the moment— especially at shows like CES — and consumer expectations are high,” said Warren Lester, engineering product manager at Vicon. “However, for VR to succeed, the industry needs to address challenges like the cost of consumer devices, and accelerate the development of high quality content. As an industry, we must also focus on realistic environments and fast, interactive experiences to help drive VR adoption.”