Virtual & Augmented Reality
Abstract:
Virtual Reality (“VR”) and Augmented Reality (“AR”) both have the potential to revolutionize the way consumers and En- terprises interact with each other and the world around them. These technologies have long been more “science experi- ment” than “commercial product” and have been beyond the reach of everyday consumers and have lacked the function- ality demanded by enterprises. However, efforts by technology giants like Facebook (Oculus), Sony (Morpheus), HTC (Vive), and Samsung (Gear VR) resulted in viable VR headsets reaching the mass market in early 2016. With assessa- ble and relatively efficient devices, VR and AR innovators have already begun to disrupt massive existing industries and contribute to the development of new business applications previously thought of as impossible. Consumers have been the early adopters of VR technology with the majority of use occurring in the home Entertainment and Gaming spaces. However, innovative enterprise-oriented applications for healthcare, architecture / design, retail, and content delivery (to name a few) have already started to gain traction and exhibit true value-add in today’s daily busi- ness workings. Given a mindboggling number of possible applications and the massive markets that they will disrupt, VR and AR market revenue is projected to increase from $5.2 billion in 2016 to over $162 billion in 2020, according to IDC. Investors seeking to capitalize on the VR and AR opportunity put into play over $6 billion in capital from 2010-2016 (with $2.3 billion occurring over the LTM period off of Q3 2016). Though technology improvements are still needed (field of view, image quality, depth of focus, and latency), VR head- sets and applications today are well on the way to being mainstream devices. As Mark Zuckerberg stated, “Virtual reality was once the dream of science fiction. But the internet was also once a dream, and so were computers and smartphones.” Looking at the market today, we are well on our way to making those SciFi dreams a reality.
Discussion Topics:
Please introduce yourself, your firm, and take a minute to express an opening view on today’s discussion topic.
What are the barriers to adoption for virtual reality headsets?
How far are we from a commercially-viable AR system?
How will VR content catch up with what is possible in VR?
Many people believe that VR is limited to gaming; what are the first few commercial verticals that VR will breach?
Will AR/VR follow the same trend as other high priced electronics (PCs & iPhones) that shipped in high volume?
Do you think latency, nausea, and other health issues will be a substantial risk to VR adoption?
Do you think it is feasible to ship 10 million VR units in the next 3-5 years?
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs