Datapoint of the Day: Only 18% of Consumers Have Tried & Liked VR

Another data point from Realities 360 worth noting, via Superdata's latest VR/AR report: According to its market survey, only 18% have tried and liked virtual reality, while just 11% have tried and liked augmented reality.

Contrast this with the number of people who still want to try VR or AR: 1 in 3 and 1 in 4, respectively. With virtual reality, the mystery is why they haven't tried it even once, with so many VR headsets (if we include Google Cardboard and Gear VR). With augmented reality, these numbers  may imply some confusion with what "AR" actually is; Pokemon Go and Snapchat are massive hits that many people enjoyed (for at least awhile), and definitely have AR or AR-eseque features.

These survey numbers are consistent with the report last year that a major retail chain closed up much of its Oculus demo stations for general lack of interest. And so four years after Oculus' $2 billion acquisition by Facebook, it's fair to assume (unless sales numbers substantially budge) the total market for VR content is roughly around 18% of the consumer market. Which isn't necessarily bad -- that's about the size of the population who enjoy hardcore PC and console games. A niche, in other words, but a large one. It's just a mistake to assume this market is going to grow any larger.

Comments

[camilia fidelis nee patchouli woollahra]

If only there was some lite-VR solution that consumers who pay very little or nothing for, and have a taster of VR with easily! *fiddles absentmindedly with florally-decorated Cardboard, whistling dixie*

[madeline blackbart]

I wonder how much of this is due to people either not knowing that cheaper VR is available or that the "quality" interactive experiences people are looking for (like those on oculus or vive) require expensive hardware. I think AR and VR will eventually have mass adoption because it has the potential to be EXTREMELY useful but it's not going to happen for a while. It's mostly been adopted now by business with the money to spend who can see immediate results (example: places that train pilots are purchasing them as the VR headset are cheaper than the traditional flight sim setups they had) and arcades. We're looking at a tech that's like the equivalent of a computer in the 80s...and I'm betting in the future articles like this will be the equivalent of "that internet thing will never take off"

[TonyVT Skarredghost]

Agree with the post. Disagree with the last sense. Why can't it grow any larger?