Virtual Reality continues Steady Growth at CES 2019
According to Parks Associates’ 360 Deep Dive: Ownership, Use, and Perception of Virtual Reality, roughly one-fourth of U.S. broadband households are familiar with virtual reality headsets, games, and videos. Additionally, 8% of U.S. broadband households actually own a headset, an increase since 2017, but still a relatively low adoption rate for the technology.
However, a number of companies the Parks Associates team spoke with at CES 2019 indicated that the VR ecosystem is far more prominent outside of North America. Asian markets have been key drivers of VR innovation over the past few years, especially in Japan, China, and Korea, where VR arcades attract millions of visitors every year. Many companies are looking to build off of this international success to make inroads in the U.S., so with that background, it comes as no surprise that in-home VR was a central component to many announcements at CES 2019.
Companies like VRLEO have produced retail-focused VR setups deployed in shopping malls across Shanghai, and the company displayed its VR products at CES with plans to enter the U.S. market this year.
NVIDIA’s CEO Jensen Huang indicated that four million PC-connected VR headsets have been sold globally in the past several years, indicating a steady base of users for a technology that remains very early in the adoption curve.
HTC led the charge for in-home VR announcements, revealing two new headsets in the Vive Pro Eye and Vive Cosmos. While the Pro Eye is targeted at the high-end consumer, the Cosmos will offer a more affordable option for PC-based VR users. The Pro Eye will employ HTC’s new eye-tracking technologies, providing greater accuracy and locus of control for users, who can now use their eyes, rather than the position of the headset, to navigate virtual spaces. Additionally, Vive announced partnerships with Ovation, Major League Baseball, and Lockheed Martin, who will all produce content for the headsets.
These CES activities come on the heels of the Oculus announcement for a Quest standalone headset, all of which will contribute to a growing number of products in the VR space, including VR accessories.
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