Why this venture capitalist doesn’t see opportunity in virtual reality
[philip lelyveld comment; This is proof that being a venture capitalist is not the same as being a visionary.]
“There are no VC opportunities in AR/VR in the near term,” said Benson, speaking Thursday at the third annual Lane Powell Startups Seminar in Seattle.
“It was around 2010 and 3-D television came around and people were like: ‘Oh my god, this is so great.’ And people went out and bought their 3-D televisions and they had their little glasses. But, guess what? When you have those 3-D glasses on and you are watching your 3-D television, you can’t work on your iPhone; you can’t work on your laptop; you can’t talk to your kids. ...
If you want to be in a VR experience — that is completely isolating. I am not sure how many people have actually been in an Oculus … but you are submersed in that experience. And that is great if you are Valve Software, if you are Gabe Newell and you are building a $1 billion or $2 billion gaming empire. Or if you are Sony or Sony Playstation, or Nintendo. But it is not great for pretty much any other experience. I can’t really see any VR applications outside of gaming.”
Gulati countered that there are big opportunities when it comes to implementing augmented reality technologies in industrial applications, noting that augmented reality could be used by a technician to help fix an elevator or working on a manufacturing line.
“But I don’t think AR is really going to be that interesting until they figure out how to implant it inside your head, because nobody wants to be seen with Google Glass on.
Other VC funds are betting big on VR and AR, even with failures such as Google Glass. There were 94 virtual reality venture deals recorded last year, up from just 24 in 2014, according to CB Insights. And during the first half of 2016, $1.3 billion had been invested in 76 deals, a growth rate of 85 percent over last year’s total.
See the full story here: http://www.geekwire.com/2016/venture-capitalist-doesnt-see-opportunity-virtual-reality/