Virtual Reality in 2020: From Gaming to Immersed 3D Worlds
Virtual Reality (VR) is one of those technologies which has increased exponentially in just a few years and has impeccable signs of future growth. From Nintendo Virtual Boy innovations like the Ready Player One that provides lifelike experience, the development in VR is overwhelming.
According to Statista, augmented reality headsets will go from generating $200 million in revenue to a seismic $48.7 billion industry in the coming 5 years. Meanwhile, in a fresh report issued by Futuresource Consulting, the worldwide VR market is expected to touch 98.4 million sales by 2023, generating an installed base of 168 million units with a global penetration of 2%. Growth is inevitable in every country while China leading the way.
2018 was a challenging year for VR but 2019 refurbished the lost faith when Oculus Quest, Facebook’s standalone headset, launched and gained lots of momentum. Other prominent VR achievements were HTC Vive that roams around while wearing it along with the established 3D, motion-sensing controllers, Oculus Go featuring 1,280 x 1,440-pixel resolution with the LCD screen for each eye, together with a 60 Hz refresh rate, and Google Daydream View. Road to VR stated that the monthly-connected VR headsets on Steam have beaten 1 million for the first time. Talking on the same topic, Ben Lang, the founder of the company said “After correcting for Steam’s changing population, we find that May 2019 was the first month on record to see more than 1 million monthly-connected headsets on the platform. Year over year, monthly-connected headsets on Steam are up 80%.”
Read More: Stats You Should Know About Virtual Reality ‘19
What 2020 Holds for Immersive Developments?
Valve Confirms Half-Life VR Game
After years of rumors, the company is all set to launch a virtual Half-Life reality game. The excitement of audiences can be seen when its trailer achieved more than 10 million views across YouTube and Twitter and tens of thousands of social media in just 24 hours. Its impeccable graphics, realistic gameplay, and seamless narrative have already won over fifty PC “Game of the Year” awards and is still ranked the list of greatest games of all time. Alas! We know nothing about the game features till March 2020 but the mind-blowing immersive experience is definite.
Facebook Enters the Fray- The Horizon
Facebook in September 2020 confirmed the launching of its own Ready Player One Oasis; a virtual reality sandbox universe- Horizon where an individual creates its own gaming environment to play and socialize while exploring user-generated landscapes. While discussing in the same arena, Founder & Chief Analyst at ARtillery Intelligence Michael Boland says that “The advent of standalone VR headsets like Oculus Quest — along with Facebook’s investment in the technology and price competition — will make high-end VR accessible to larger audiences. That exposure will push the movement forward for VR as a consumer product and as an industry in 2020.”
Snapdragon XR2 5G Chip and 5G MR Devices
Qualcomm has announced its new extended reality platform Snapdragon XR2 platform. The company believes that it’s the first-ever 5G-supported platforms that perform augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and mixed reality (MR). It can double the CPU and GPU performance, 4 times video bandwidth, six times better resolution, and eleven times AI-enhanced features. As the first product chip was unveiled in December, therefore it is legitimate to hope the 5G integrated experiences in 2020. Not only this, but the team is also dedicating on a project with Niantic Labs- a reference design for smart glasses.
World-first Mixed Reality Auction
Apart from fascinating VR glasses and screens, 2020 has never-had auctions in its store. Serbian performance artist, Marina Abramovic, commenced a The Life — a 19-minute performance of volumetric captures and presented in Mixed Reality. It’s the world’s first large-scale public exhibition of anything done via this medium. The team used 32 cameras connected by an algorithmic system within a green screen tent. It’s not only the first-ever Mixed Reality performance art, it’s also the first foray captured performance which feels like happening in real-time. In 2020, the art will be auctioning and forecasts the price of $775,000 (£600,000) for each of the three editions of the video.
“A hundred years beyond when anybody who ever knew [Marina] was alive, there will be people who will see her walk into the room and will feel that sense of connection, of human experience.”
-Todd Eckert, the founder of Tin Drum, the Mixed Reality production team behind The Life.
The year 2019 has already changed the way we used to see virtual reality: from gaming and films to wireless VR headsets, the future of “defying distance”. As Oculus says ‘the era is finally here.’ And with the beginning of the new year, we will see an impressive increase in such audiences that will receive content in their life by transporting themselves into it. While extending its perpetual features, social VR will be commenced from this year onwards. Thanks to Oculus apps like Oculus Venues, RecRoom, Bigscreen VR, Altspace, and Rummi VR, businessmen will experience high-end and flawless meetings and conferences for their businesses. Apart from business potential, people can also immerse themselves in social media by using VR backed apps such as Facebook Spaces. Unquestionably, 2020 will be a watershed year for Virtual Reality and if folks can get the grip the benefits of the technology will be limitless.
Also Read: The Evolution of Virtual Reality
