VR Dead - Sony: VR market growth "below expectation"

I'm an old man too and I'm pretty sure that shit got my blood pressure went up lol

Hehe, yeah. RE7 in VR is some pretty startling stuff. Madhouse Mia alone made me scream so freaking loud...so...many...times.

? Nowhere in that article does it mention that VR or PSVR is dead, Sony is trying to temper expectations of VR for their investors that are hoping for an immediate run away success like the PS4. VR like any new frontier in technology is a slow burn. Lems doing some hard reaching hoping that VR can join them in the losers' pit with the FlopBone. I'm looking forward to new and exciting games Sony is going to announce this E3 and I've already read Sony is making plans for PSVR 2.0.

? If PSVR is dead and it's getting a steady stream of games what is the FlopBone then, a fossil? Here's a game Sony announced yesterday, a full version of the Robo Rescue game that comes for free with PSVR....

Astro Bot looks like a ton of fun. 3rd person games in VR work wonderfully which is something many people don't realize. VR isn't just for 1st person experiences.

Agreed. That Robo Rescue demo is still one of my favorite VR games to this date.

Yeah, Astro Bot looks awesome. Robo Rescue was great. There have been a few PSVR game announcements recently that look really good. Evasion is one of them (with Aim support!). Also, they announced that Dreams will have PSVR support day one! Can't wait for that one.

@reduc_ab_: Dreams getting VR support is huge. It made the game instantly shoot up to one of my most anticipated games.

Wow, I didn't even hear about Evasion, it looks very promising.

On the PC side, Beat Saber just released and sold well. That game alone has generated insane hype for VR which shows the interest is there in the many millions. And The Forest VR support just dropped, Budget Cuts releases in a week, and Echo Combat is getting it's closed beta shortly after: This is one to really look out for. Should be one of the most revolutionary FPS games of the generation.

Oculus announced another AA game, Defector to release later this year, with more new announcements on the way. Respawn Entertainment's AAA FPS is releasing next year. Valve has 3 VR true AAA VR games on the way, and there are still many AAA developers who want to make a VR game. (Kojima, Quantic Dream, Ninja Theory who aren't AAA but have AAA standards)

The software lineup will only get a lot better.

Heck, Ninja Theory believes VR will absolutely dominate gaming, so it's clear they'll be a mostly VR developer sometime next gen. https://www.vrfocus.com/2017/08/ninja-theory-co-founder-confident-in-the-future-of-vr/

"VR is most certainly going to be the dominant form of gaming. It’s just hard to see right now due to the bulky headsets, power and battery requirements. Every criticism against VR right now will be smashed by the time we get to 3rd generation headsets.”

Budget cuts is finally close to release?

Been waiting for that for over 2 years now, i will believe it when i see it :P

It releases exactly one week from now, on the 31st. It'll last 7-8 hours which is pretty good. https://store.steampowered.com/app/400940/Budget_Cuts/

Well thanks for the heads up, this was originally my most anticipated VR game, but i ended up forgetting about it after giving up following it, just seemed like it was never going to be completed.

The industry (including the Military) is already phasing out VR in favor of Augmented Reality (AR). Thats where all the investments are.

It has more practical applications than VR simply because VR obscures your view.

Augmented Reality is the future of games, medicine, training, teaching, etc.

Not quite. VR will be preferred in gaming and most companies realize this. VR will is also be used in medicine, training, and teaching.

AR and VR are best when used together. That's the true future here that every large tech company is working towards.

Google, HTC & Valve, Oculus & Facebook, Samsung, Microsoft, Nvidia, LG, Apple, Qualcomm and Intel are fully aware of this, and many of them have said this several times over now.

lol, you again?

Keeping towing this line, see how it works out.

Meanwhile, the industry..........as proved by the OP and the market in general.............disagree with you.

I dont understand why you keep saying this and keep being proven wrong.

As i said before, I am in the Navy, I advise the military on this stuff for a living.

Am i supposed to listen to you because you are personally invested in VR?

All of the companies you named..........ALL OF THEM..............have cut their investments in VR and increased in AR of the last 2 years.

What does that tell you?

The OP has proven nothing in this aspect. Sony are still investing in VR as they state it's an area of challenge but a pillar of new tech they are working on. An industry moving a little slower than expected does not automatically mean investment stops or dramatically drops off.

Looks like I need to prove you wrong so I can prove myself right:

Google:

https://uploadvr.com/google-clay-bavor-vr-ar-long-term/ "We're Making Investments For The Long Term"

https://youtu.be/IlADpD1fvuA?t=232 "Now this is important. It's not AR vs VR. Kind of which will win, which is better. They're not two separate and distinct things, but rather two lables for points on a spectrum. I call it the immersive computing spectrum"

Facebook:

https://youtu.be/5Y-f45DsKmA?t=170 20 or 30 years from now, I predict that instead of carrying stylish smartphones everywhere, we will wear stylish glasses. Those glasses will offer VR, AR, and everything inbetween"

Samsung:

https://next.reality.news/news/samsung-microsoft-join-forces-take-apple-with-combo-ar-vr-headset-0184629/

Microsoft:

https://www.designnews.com/design-hardware-software/microsoft-says-mixed-reality-future-not-vr-and-ar/148821410256869 "“We see HoloLens and the MR HMDs as part of the same broader platform – the mixed reality platform"

https://youtu.be/KYph4FCz8AE?t=749

Jeff: "It seems like eventually we'll get clear glasses that can black out VR"

Phil Spencer: "That's exactly right"

HTC:

https://www.androidheadlines.com/2018/02/htcs-vr-ar-focus-strengthens-with-vive-reality-strategy-mwc-2018.html

Lenovo:

https://www.gadgetmatch.com/lenovo-gaming-vr-ar-big-part-future/“We see gaming as a critical part of our growth. AR and VR are going to be a big part of our future.”

HTC, Samsung, and Tobii together

https://www.engadget.com/2018/01/10/vr-ar-future-of-entertainment/

Samsung: "I think there's fundamentally going to be a point of convergeance", "Ultimately it's going to be a case of the consumer choosing how much or how little of the real world they want to occlude depending on the level of immersion they need"

HTC: "There will be this spectrum"

And to quote Palmer Luckey: "It's all the same thing, and all these people who say AR will kill VR completely miss the point."

It doesn't matter though. That's a small bubble; just one part of where AR / VR gets it's usage.

You need to listen to facts at least.

You haven't shown anything to suggest this. Meanwhile I've shown the exact opposite. That also wouldn't mean anything regards to phasing out VR. The companies know the future is not one, but both.

It tells me and also everyone else in this thread that you are incorrect as shown with the above links. It should be obvious to anyone now that investment is still happening and that companies are pushing for AR and VR for a future where they both thrive together.

I also never got around to showing you the big moves companies have been making in the past few months, like Google / LG's massive advancements in panel resolution and foveated rendering + foveated transmission, Facebook's breakthroughs in VR tracking and displays, Samsung's new high resolution panels, Sony's new high resolution panels, Qualcomm's new AR / VR dedicated chip and so on.

One last quote from Palmer Luckey on AR vs VR: "You so don't get it"

Majority of people said the same thing from the beginning. VR isn't growing much because there's very little use case that appeals to people or companies.

Mixed Reality and Augmented Reality are the way to go at this point, there's much more potential there than say VR.

TBH there's very little use case for AR/VR/MR in general. However in the enterprise, commercial and professional sector, there's much more potential there. There lies the problem, companies should be chasing the enterprise market and NOT the consumer.

Mixed Reality is literally AR and VR smashed into one device; it's a natural evolution that only makes sense. There are already plenty of use cases for VR that appeals to people and companies; however since the tech is still costly and in need of improvements, most of that is untapped for consumers.

I'll list the use cases here:

• Socialization: Predicted as the biggest use case of consumer VR, but still very early days because we need eye, face, hand, body tracking and photorealistic avatars all in a standalone headset.
• Tourism and Telepresence: Another big use case of consumer VR, but also early days because 180/360 content needs higher capture quality, we need more volumetric captures, and screen-door needs reducing.
• Education: Starting to be rolled out in schools and Google are a good driving force for this. Long distance virtual classrooms need a bit more work.
• Training: Being used today in the industry in various fields for employee training.
• Architecture and Product Visualization: It's being used today. Good example is Ford and Nvidia's HoloDeck app.
• Remote manipulation of robotics: Being used today in combination with speciality hardware like the HaptX Gloves.
• Treating disorders and pain relief: Being used today, a big use case for the medical sector.
• Virtual workspaces, meetings, and virtual computing: A massive use case for enterprise and for some consumers. Still too early because it requires environment mapping and virtual humans that feel quite real.
• Self expression and self improvement: Improving your public speaking skills, learning tasks with guidance, or just expressing yourself with 3D art will be useful for consumers.

As you can see, there are many enterprise uses out there today. The consumer usage will take longer to roll out.

Some companies are chasing both enterprise and consumers. Facebook has it's own enterprise solution for Oculus Rift, HTC as well, including the Vive Pro which is focused on enterprise. Microsoft has Windows MR and HoloLens, the former is focused on both consumers and enterprise, and the latter is focused on enterprise.

Sorry, but those uses can already be done with MR like Hololens and at a much better implementation. Like I said that's the professional/enterprise/commercial and education market and not the consumer market.

In the consumer market there's only gaming and yet that's still a crap solution.

Sony I fear won't be able to compete to create an MR device. They simply don't have the engineers patents that Microsoft and others have. Oculus, Sony, HTC, Valve etc are very behind in getting to MR level. Samsung is working with MS to create a standalone devices that does AR/VR and Hololens 2 (likely can do AR/VR) is coming out in early 2019.

The point is its at least twice the price of the console. If it were the same price that maybe different especially when its on console.

You can't say all of them, we know that's not true.

• Socialization works best in VR: Today AR is not able to provide anything close to today's social VR for consumers. But even if it could, VR gives you a virtual environment that you can use as a playground with friends. This means movies, board games, co-op video games, theme parks, dance clubs, concerts and more.
• Tourism and Telepresenceis only truly possible in VR: The only way to get a tour true to real life or teleport yourself somewhere else to maximum capacity is by encompassing your vision entirely which is only for VR.
• Treating disorders is mostly reserved for VR: It's harder to convey a sense of height with AR because you can't put yourself on top of a mountain and VR can help depression because it takes you out of the real world. Those are some examples.
• Virtual Workspaces make more sense in VR: It would be easier to setup a dedicated virtual space with all the tools needed in one place than have people virtually teleport to you via AR.
• Remote manipulation of robotics makes more sense in VR: You need to see as much of the environment at the other end as possible.
• Architecture visualization of buildings is only truly feasible in VR: You can't walk around a building 1:1 in AR unless you have an enormous open space.
• Self expression has more use cases in VR: You can roleplay as a different species, act out in front of people in an actual theater, swap genders, etc.

It's pretty clear that most of those listed use cases are either supposed to be just for VR or work best in VR. Now if you say those work best in a AR / VR hybrid, you would be onto something. Because that gives you AR and VR seamlessly. But to say all or even most of those points are better suited for AR is just plain silly.

So in the consumer market, we have VR for gaming and entertainment, socialization, and self expression. There are other uses as well.

Motions controls only really failed because they weren't accurate enough to use for actual precision gaming. Even if everyone figured out you only need to move your wrist and don't need to be standing up there was still the hurdle of not actually being able to play with it even if you tried.

VR is another attempt to invent something no-one wants or needs. In the end, your eyes will get tired, your neck will get tired and you will not want to be looking around all over the place for more than a few minutes.

It was an idea that just wasn't thought through.

The only real use for VR is in piloting a mech.

VR is something people have been wanting for decades. VR is only here again because developers and consumers want to immersive themselves in new worlds. Beat Saber has generated many tens of millions of views and loads of consumer interest in VR, so that debunks your point about people not wanting VR.

https://www.facebook.com/GameSpot/videos/10160313123845436/ There's another video with 4x the views, but I think this shows it quite well.

Your eyes may potentially get tired today, but over time it will be far less tiring than staring at a monitor or TV. Oculus has a working varifocal display headset prototype that looks to be set for gen 2, and it stops eye strain. https://youtu.be/FM7aviAhxG4

You simply don't understand VR in any capacity if you think the only use is piloting a mech. I'd say you probably haven't used it either, at least nothing at the high-end.

I've laid out many uses for VR in a a post above. It would do you good to read it instead of saying something comparable to "PCs only use is for spreadsheets", a statement that we all know is absurd.

The amount of people with little or no knowledge on VR is certainly showing in this thread. Seems like I've debunked just about every misconception brought up so far, and have been partly doing it with actual links and information which everyone else has failed to provide.

@blueberry_bandit: Meanwhile I'll play my daily dose of VR and wait for these same critics to join me.

PS VR borders on amazing. Lems, sheep and a couple of rogue cows who haven't played more than 30 minutes would have you believe otherwise.

Yes, it does have some faults, but it still borders on amazing. I remember my first experience with it and my first words were, "holy shit" when trying it the first time.

Gran Turismo Sport keeps getting better with system updates and it looks pretty tolerable now, convertible cars are the best imo.

Wipeout Omega Collection and Loading Human are also good. Can't wait to try Job Simulator and Skyrim VR. Ace Combat also looks interesting.

Keep fighting the good fight

@Pedro: I like you. Add me. You don't let others sway our thought process.

I appreciate your enthusiasm about this. I sure wish for more and better support in the long term.

The people who said VR would die said it was going to happen 1-2 years ago. VR is still going on, ever since the Kickstarter campaign for Oculus Rift back in 2012, where there were naysayers back then. Every year they say it will die a swift death, and it doesn't happen. I can bet you VR games and headsets will be made in 2020, and these people will still say "VR is going to die soon."

That developer in the article was also trying to temper expectations and tell people VR development profits will not be like traditional games. And ironically, it's the PC side that is selling slower than expected (naysayers said it would sell the most) and slowing things down due to current high costs costs of hardware. It is difficult to have mass adoption when one major requirement is an upgraded video card. That is why Oculus Go and more portable headsets are now being made, as a middle ground option that has some power but also a modest price.

These VR naysayers the same ones who said God of War or Horizon would flop, and yet they end up getting 10/10 scores and GOTY nominations.

@ni6htmare01: I couldn’t finish it. It was honestly too much for me.

This. I've seen a few people say "VR will die soon" back in 2015/2016 and I've seen comments from those same people this year say the same thing. I mean, how soon is soon for them? Clearly their concept of time works differently to us. Every year, the chances of VR dying becomes less and less as the market grows more.

Star Trek Bridge Crew just added the best DLC they possibly could. That's one of my favorite VR games.

PlayStation VR is actually the best selling VR headset.

@KBFloYd: " batman arkham knight...oh look im batman for 10min. "

Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha

I'm still a believer and always will be in VR it's the ultimate immersion in gaming we are in the early years of VR of course the games aren't going to be all that great but they are some good ones like Lone Echo, Superhot VR and Robo Recall. I highly doubt VR is going anywhere the next Oculus is already being developed. I say VR in 20 years will make looking at a screen feel primal don't get me wrong I love PC and PS4 gaming. But for me the best gaming experience will be full immersion in a game where you can barely tell VR from real life just imagine what GTA could be like.