I Love VR / I Hate VR

With much fanfare and waves of excitement, VR has been heralded in the press as the “next big thing.” Each week at least one article appears in the press, creating a market energy not seen since the early days of the digital 3D revolution. Behind the scenes, just as XPAND created their VR division, NUION, other industry stalwarts seem intent on racing to create their own VR content or hardware divisions.

But if you read between the lines—hidden among all the bluster—there’s an ill wind blowing. Please allow me to make my case, prove my point.

Notice the contradictions housed in each of these quotations from recent articles covering the emerging VR phenomenon:

“...2016 is the year many of us will have our first experience with VR. Let’s not mince words: VR is awesome. It is also very likely to be nauseating or at least a little disorienting, an effect that hits most folks.” 

“A technology might finally have its commercial moment in 2016... [yet] the experience can cause nausea, eyestrain and headaches.” 

“It’s marked on 2016 calendars everywhere. Virtual reality finally gets real. ..You may also want some Dramamine.” 

”...highend headsets arriving this year require expensive PCs, while inexpensive smartphone viewers can give users headaches.”

In the same breath, really, so much vicissitude? Is virtual reality really such an exciting/destructive technology?