When it comes to emerging technologies, a lot of companies have been focusing on virtual reality as the technology that can transform lives forever. While the technology has existed for many years in one form or the other, it was only capable of offering nothing but slight functionality for consumers.
The virtual reality technology of today has come a long way after evolving considerably, and the industry is definitely charging towards a VR race.
Technology leaders such as Samsung, Oculus, and Google have associated themselves with virtual reality for social & mobile platforms as well as gaming, and all of them are creeping towards getting their products released into the market. But the question is: will their products be fully realized?
Let us take a quick glance at some of the VR products available to get an idea what the future holds for this industry.
Samsung Gear VR
The Samsung Gear VR takes a few ideas from Oculus Rift, being made in partnership with the company. However, unlike Facebook’s promise of virtual reality goggles, the Samsung’s Gear VR is actually available to the public for around 200 bucks. It is capable of running a few demo applications, panoramic photos, videos, and games, providing an amazing experience to say the least.As of now, the Gear VR can only be used with Samsung’s Galaxy Note 4.
Oculus VR and Facebook
Oculus VR, an American technology company that was founded in 2012 is still working on bringing their first product – the Oculus Rift – into reality. Back in March 2004, Facebook acquired the firm for $2 billion cash and Facebook stock.
With this acquisition, Facebook has also hopped onto the virtual reality bandwagon with the promise of unleashing a device that can give people a mind-blowing experience from watching videos, and gaming.
Is Virtual Reality Actually Becoming a Reality?
There are other companies too that are the part of the leading pack. A number of head-mounting displays are under prototype testing, including Facebook’s Oculus, Sony, and Samsung as the industry leaders. Nevertheless, Samsung has set the record for introducing an affordable virtual reality headset. While there are certain limitations to the product, there is no doubt that Samsung will bring an improved version into the market pretty soon.
Gamers have high hopes as virtual reality gadgets are bound to transform gaming like never before. Mobile gaming is also increasing rapidly, and if Samsung keeps its Gear VR wireless, nothing could stop it from dominating the mobile gaming area; keeping in mind as many as 1.2 billion gamers are mobile!
With such promising developments on the table, the technology industry is now focusing on virtual reality public companies to invest – further fueling the research development in the industry.
Even though the concept of virtual reality has been under the lamp for many years, the past few years have been truly promising, and the year 2015 appears to bring more drastic growth of this technology sector for sure, taking virtual reality to a whole new level for gaming and simulation purposes.