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<\/a>A \u2018VR Amended\u2019 Gartner Hype Cycle punctuated by a Chasm of the Unknown
\nTechnological Impatience<\/p>\nVR\u2019s extraordinary ambition to penetrate into all human activities appears to be held back by a kind of technological impatience. To many of us working within the industry, XR is taking an appropriate amount of time to work out the kinks of this completely transformative new medium, bringing both hardware and software to a place which matches consumer expectations. But mainstream consumers, while very impressed with VR, remain skeptical due to critical points of friction (comfort, isolation, software ecosystem, utility, cost). I have often compared modern VR to putting on your shoes to go outside, in order to do X activity for 30 minutes. Humans have a tendency to opt for the lowest energy requirement possible, especially when it comes to their entertainment. So the simple act of donning a headset is often an additive point of friction, which in some ways is keeping current XR tech and form factors in limbo. This has profound relevance to our future approach to XR technologies.<\/p>\n
So instead of the world-dominating technology we all thought it might be at this time, VR resonates most deeply with a market of core gamers, enthusiasts, and a growing youth segment, all of them willing to endure VR\u2019s growing pains for the raw experience. And while that market is significant, it is in some ways antithetical to a broader mission where VR dominates at smart phone adoption levels. And more recent attempts to capture the market segments of Productivity, or even Media Consumption, are a challenge due to social isolation, long-term wearability, and mostly barren ecosystem choices.<\/p>\n
All of this in turn has softened investment prospects and left a lingering question mark over XR\u2019s future for those that are unable to see where this is all headed. Stay with me here!<\/p>\n
Into the Chasm<\/p>\n
The greater frustration for modern VR studios (of which there are fewer every year) lay between where we are now, and that \u2018Chasm of the Unknown,\u2019 which we must leap past in order to see VR\u2019s true rebirth. The thing is, VR will become profoundly relevant when consumers are opting to wear a device which is comfortable for long periods, fashionable, and does \u2018everything\u2019 (no small order). A device that is your supreme portal to other realities, entertainment, work, education, and everything in between. Something you live with, and within.<\/p>\n
But where does VR fit when we usher in this new age of malleable realities, and will there be enough VR studios around to meet the moment?<\/p>\n
There has been a significant refocus around Augmented Reality, but this is just one complementary aspect required for a true \u2018metaverse\u2019 future. MR\/AR is more narrowly focused on anchoring information spatially, as opposed to deeply exploring new realities, which is to say it\u2019s part of a constellation of complementary \u2018modes\u2019 that will comprise future XR tech (Modal switching between Virtual Reality & Augmented Reality). MR\/AR is great, emulating functions of your phone on your head is interesting, it\u2019s just not that \u2018sexy,\u2019 and in isolation it is not a complete picture of our XR future.<\/p>\n
So what, then, is the primary draw to XR? In some ways it might be better to think of Mixed Reality as a \u2018gateway drug\u2019 to VR. We can say one thing fairly confidently here with respect to how consumers interact with current XR tech: true awe generally doesn\u2019t come from spatial widgets, it comes from spatial experiences that draw users into whole new realities which play into deep areas of wish fulfillment. So while our future certainly includes MR based applications, XR\u2019s true \u2018killer app\u2019 is spatially aware, adaptive, replacive reality.<\/p>\n
A Modal VR Future<\/p>\n
Let me double down on that statement a little bit. I have always looked at the technologies evolving out of AR as a solution for VR locomotion and discomfort. When consumers are finally living with \u2018all-day XR glasses,\u2019 which can map their living or working spaces in real-time and allow them to dip in and out of VR and MR modally, users will begin to actively reskin their real-world environments (spaces, objects, people, etc.) to look and behave however they want. It won\u2019t be enough to look at anchored apps against the backdrop of a dirty laundry bin or a sink full of dishes; consumers will customize their living rooms to be castles, resorts, Minecraft landscapes, etc. They will dine in the halls of gods and have meetings at the bottom of the ocean. Some may think it dystopian, but I believe the true Metaverse levels the playing field between the haves and have nots, allowing for a landscape of human activities in fantastic environments custom tailored to the user, or a consensual experience tailored to a group. It will eventually be done completely on the fly, and will likely be the true \u2018killer app\u2019 of future XR devices.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Lifeskin\u2019 video by Reddit user Jesser722<\/p>\n
But when users come down from their slightly hollow (but very cool), potentially \u2018auto-generated\u2019 fever dream, they will also crave high-quality, hand-architected VR experiences. Expertly crafted stories, games, Virtual Reality entertainment, from a human perspective which guides them on a journey of play and discovery.<\/p>\n
Not-So-Hidden Opportunities<\/p>\n
This is why it is so vitally important that the VR studios of today are supported and invested in over the next 5-10 years. Critical domain knowledge and unique skillsets have been mastered over the last decade, and yet the landscape of remaining VR studios face an existential risk. Building for VR is VERY different from building for traditional mediums, and we\u2019ve cracked the code on many things that still aren\u2019t universally adopted as best practices. A future without that domain knowledge, infrastructure, and experience will guarantee a poorly timed reinvention of the wheel, which could jeopardize the stability of the moment and longevity of future XR technologies. And that moment requires powered-up studios, content, technology, and investments, which can cover the entire spectrum of how users will want to interact with the technology. It will be a wide and deep breadth of augmentation dipping in and out of an increasingly malleable reality, where new experiences are just a click away. VR does not live outside of that future, it IS that future.<\/p>\n
If you are on the edge of XR, directly invested in it, or frustrated by how long it\u2019s taking, I don\u2019t want you to miss out on potentially one of the biggest booms mankind will experience: an incoming cultural shift into unfathomable augmentation and customization of how we live our lives. The right device, the right software, the right investments, the right balance, all takes time. And at the risk of sounding like an entrepreneur\u2026it won\u2019t be long now.<\/p>\n
Why VR?<\/p>\n
I founded Cloudhead Games in 2013 because I saw pure magic and unlimited potential in VR. This was a technology which could literally take you anywhere, let you be anyone, could evoke powerful emotions, perspectives, and knowledge that was simply not possible in any other medium. VR was going to change the world, transform the entire media landscape, entertainment, training, education, and in many ways it already has (for those looking at the right places). I still very much believe in VR\u2019s raw power, giving the average person limitless possibilities and potential. That\u2019s how big it is and despite all reports to the contrary, it\u2019s on its way.<\/p>\n
Over a decade later, I for one can firmly say that VR is not dead, it\u2019s just getting started!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Big tech players like Meta and Apple see the ultimate destiny of XR as a replacement for the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":155617,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3162],"tags":[53,16,15,3243,3244],"class_list":{"0":"post-155616","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-virtual-reality","8":"tag-technology","9":"tag-uk","10":"tag-united-kingdom","11":"tag-virtual-reality","12":"tag-vr"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114621166707191427","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155616","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=155616"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155616\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/155617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=155616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=155616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=155616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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<\/a>Guest Article by Denny Unger<\/strong><\/p>\n