The Future of Virtual Reality and Games, and How It Connects To Education

We won’t call virtual reality a niche any longer. VR applications are experiencing a very fast evolution, and they are penetrating many sectors of different industries. This ranges from the automotive, to the healthcare industry, bringing about changes in the way things are done, with a lot expected from it in the future. This type of situation is witnessed in the video games sector. For more information, see here to find out how VR has impacted online gaming in ways you wouldn’t have imagined.

So, how high up there are these expectations? According to the predictions of the IDC, the augmented and virtual reality market will witness a dramatic expansion that will take its total value or worth to a whopping $215 billion in 2021. Through the amazing 118% annual compound growth rate, VR will become one of the fastest growing industries in the world.

As we move towards the first half of the year, there are still a lot of questions about the gaming industry and VR. Although there were a lot of predictions that did not come through in 2020, a lot has been learned about the VR gaming industry and it has witnessed a lot of changes from what it was in 2017. As different brands continue to conduct different experiments within the realm of VR, they continue to dole out the best products, and therefore the best experience to the consumers.

What Are the Expectations from the Video Games In Terms Of VR?

Headsets adjustment in the past few years

As blue chip firms like Facebook, PlayStation, Google, HTC and Samsung delve fully into the VR arena, some customers are still not optimistic about purchasing the headsets because of some factors. The price of the equipment is still the biggest factor that is deterring customers from buying.

While Sony witnessed early success with their PSVR system, which sold up to 2 million copies in 2017 alone, the other companies worked hard to reduce the price of their headsets. As many other headsets enter the market, the price war that will happen because of companies trying to undercut each other as they search for more sales would be very fierce.

They do not just understand that it is a saturated and price elastic sector, they are also realizing that what the consumers are looking for is portability and the ease of use. This will spur standalone headsets to come to the fore.

Through the standalone headsets, consumers will be able to simply wear the headset and make use of it without other installations that further complicates things. They will come without wires, needing only the device that works with the headset, like the mobile phone. Through products like the Oculus Go, players will be able to download apps, games, and enjoy other experiences from the phone, and sync them to the headset directly. You won’t have the need to connect to a VR ready computer any longer, as it is with products like the Oculus Rift.

In The Video Games Sector, VR Arcades Are a New Old Development

Changes and evolution continues to be witnessed in the video games industry’s target demographic. However, something never changes, and that is because gamers are in search of the best possible gaming experience. As VR continues to push further into the gaming industry, players are eager to experience this new type of play and in an affordable manner too.

In the gaming community, VR arcades are now common. Through them, players are now experiencing VR gaming without the need to buy their own headset. As a service, the VR gaming industry made $286.7 in 2018 according to information from super data, and was expected to make up to $2.3 billion in 2020. Though VR arcades are not rampant, they still serve a growing target community.

Arcades like Yokey Pokey that opened in Brooklyn in 2017 started with 42 headsets from Samsung Gear, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, and PlayStation VR. At that time, the cost was $25 per 30 minutes. The arcades can serve various customers and take care of different events and parties at the same time. VR reality games accommodate different types of people and gamers, so far as they are looking for a good experience according to George Casseus who headed the Yokey Pokey’s business development unit.

Educational Uses of VR

When you think about video games, experiences that improve learning may not be among the things that come to your mind. But you may not realize that some firms that are visionary in nature are already making a huge impact with educational games. The same way that teachers embrace different methods to teach is how students learn with different methods. It has dawned on educators that interactive games can be very effective in helping students absolve what is taught in the classroom.

Virtual reality programs are created by firms like zSpace, and they are powered by VR classroom aps and equipment. Through these new innovations, students are kept engaged and interested, and it also helps in developing wonderful new types of lesson materials for teachers. It comes with endless opportunities, with the imaginations of the content developers as the only limitations. The potentials of VR in the educational equation are well understood by the educational technology industry, as shown in the huge amount already being expended in the area.

The developers of VR gaming still need to surmount a lot of challenges, but with the growth in demand and popularity, innovation will come. In the last couple of years, a lot of changes have been witnessed by the video game industry, and these changes have happened at a pace that could be described as gradual. The type of rapid growth that was expected in the VR gaming sector was not witnessed, but it still has a very bright future, and will soon become more mainstream in the not too distant future.

For those that are interested in applying VR for training and corporate educational purposes, the Viar360 is one of the best and foremost equipment to use.