Broadband operators are keeping a watch on the expanding choices that consumers have − especially around virtual reality (VR) gear − for good reason. As more VR equipment attaches to service providers’ networks, subscriber demand to keep up with the bandwidth-hungry applications could grow a great deal, which is probably an understatement at best.
Some VR cynics argue that all the headset choices in the world can’t drive widespread use of VR if there’s not a lot of killer content out in the wild as well. But more announcements addressing that chicken-egg dilemma have been rolling in the last several months.
For example, VR animation creator Baobab Studios closed $25 million in Series B funding recently bringing its total to date to $31 million. Among the investors is Comcast Ventures, which also has backed Montreal-based cinematic VR company Felix & Paul Studios by taking the lead in a $6.8 million Series A funding round. Michael Yang, managing director at Comcast Ventures, noted in a blog about Felix & Paul that the company has been looking to address the “there’s not enough good content in VR” pain point.
“We have always wanted to invest in a team focused on premium cinematic virtual reality or live action, camera-shot, stereoscopic 360 video,” Yang says in explaining the investment interest.
Now, a new Technavio report,”Global Virtual Reality (VR) Content Market 2016-2020″ indicates that we can continue to expect to hear expansion news from the global VR content market, which the research firm expects to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of close to 128 percent during the forecast period.
Technavio points out that in 2015, when the overall VR content market generated a revenue of $221.2 million, the PC segment alone grabbed $95 million of that. It forecasts that segment as likely to experience healthy numbers during the forecast period.
“One of the major reasons for the exponential rise in growth of the PC segment is the mesmerizing gaming experience offered by PC-based gaming integrated with VR,” Ujjwal Doshi, a lead analyst at Technavio for media and entertainment services research, says. “For instance, the game Elite Dangerous on Oculus Rift requires players to wear a head-mounted device (HMD). It allows them to experience, interact, and control the actions in the virtual world with the help of virtual controllers.”
Technavio warns that as the VR market experiences a challenge with low bandwidth, wireless technologies get eliminated, which limits players to their PCs. Also, 1080p resolution HMDs are “not very impressive in terms of clarity and have a lower impact on users that play virtual games on PCs,” the research firm notes.
The report also brings up another hobgoblin that exists in the VR market, which is the price of gaming console-based headsets. They generally range from $500-$900, which will give many consumers pause. “This can pose a barrier to the growth of the VR headset market as gamers are reluctant to invest in expensive console-specific accessories because they spend high amounts on the gaming consoles,” Technavio notes.
The report further suggests that the VR content market via mobile devices is likely to experience the fastest growth during the forecast period with companies such as Samsung and Google integrating VR options into their smartphones. “As a result of the increase in adoption of mobile devices and growing number of mobile games, many vendors are encouraged to launch VR content and accessories that are compatible with these devices,” Doshi says.