There’s all sorts of furor over VR when it comes to the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and PlayStation VR, and for good reason: they’re really cool experiences. But SuperData Research suggests that they won’t be where VR goes mainstream: in fact, they think that “light mobile VR" solutions like Google Cardboard will make for the significant portion of VR usage, up to 71% in 2016. While SuperData thinks that PC VR will be the bulk of ‘serious’ VR usage, mobile still might play a significant role, what with the Samsung Gear VR taking 7% of the market, and more than the PlayStation VR. You can read the entire SuperData report on their site.
While how it all shakes out remains to be seen, the point about “light mobile VR" makes a lot of sense if you think about it. VR headset screens are actually literally phone-sized. The trick comes in with the software and hardware needed to make VR work. While something like Google Cardboard is definitely an inferior experience to the Vive, the gap really isn’t that huge. Like, you get a good enough experience that should sell you on the capabilities of VR. I’ve used Rift and Vive, and Cardboard still caused me to have amazing feelings of presence with some of its demos. There are shortcomings, and perhaps the best experiences will come with the best hardware, like Oculus Rift’s recommended specs, but mobile VR solutions are cheap, accessible, and will most likely be the spark that convinces people of the value of VR. The best VR headset is the one you have.
