> If VR is going to go beyond the high end gaming niche
Why should it? Frankly, that seems to be the main use case. VR that can fit in a phone isn't worthwhile VR, it would be incredibly underpowered.
Why should it? Frankly, that seems to be the main use case. VR that can fit in a phone isn't worthwhile VR, it would be incredibly underpowered.
(note NSFW) http://arstechnica.co.uk/gadgets/2016/07/japan-vr-porn-festi...
I don't think porn VR is the killer app people think it is. Perhaps in a few generations especially in conjunction with tele-dildos or robot sex dolls or somesuch, but that's a lot to ask when ordinary 2D photos and videos get the blood flowing with much less hassle.
Big screen playback of YouTube and Netflix through a smartphone would offer a much better experience than watching a limited selection of titles on a postcard sized screen on the back of an aircraft seat.
Given that you're going to own a smartphone anyway, an accessory that's an order of magnitude cheaper than high end VR seems like it has a place.
That's the case now, that and porn will be the early adopter uses.
But I'm pretty sure the Killer App is going to be feeling like you are in the same space as someone you're not actually in the same space with. Which doesn't require much technologically.
You could probably get social presence with a pair of microlasers pointed at pair of lenses, plus spatial audio.
(I definitely am not trying to be sarcastic, your statement is pretty much what I think, but somehow whenever I try to think of these practical opportunities, I fail to grasp anything with even remotely the potential user base of gaming.)
Able to walk around construction projects before they start. Able to walk around construction projects as they are built.
Main deal I could expect out of a cheap version of VR technology with decent enough data connection is telepresence. One could attend any event, large or small, around the world as if you were there.
I don't have a 60 inch TV, I do have a phone (and tend to keep a pretty recent one), so the marginal cost of Daydream over what I would have anyway vs. the marginal cost of a 60-inch TV over what I would have anyway is a pretty clear win for Daydream.
In 2001/2002 they trained surgeons with it and found significant improvements:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1422600/
Siemens has done training for Oil Rig crews while the rig was being constructed. Reduced real world training times:
http://www.siemens.com/innovation/en/home/pictures-of-the-fu...
Design and simulation. The auto and oil industry have paid millions for whole-wall, multi-user, 3D display systems because they want slightly better visualization tools for people doing car design and oil exploration. Spending on that saves them 10X on avoiding wasted effort. Commoditize that to fashion, gadgets, furniture...
Real estate. In the near future, you would be considered an idiot to pay for a building to be built without walking through it first. Very soon when shopping for a house, you will walk through 50 prospective houses in VR before bothering to visit 5 in meatspace. Architects already call VR visualization "cheating" because it is so much more effective --even for professionals-- than drafting and CAD on flat media.
Education. Firing full-scale catapults is a much more engaging way to teach physics than staring at diagrams of catapults.
Tourism. VR won't replace going there. VR will replace not going there. To say that most people don't go to most places is a comic understatement. For people who can't travel because of personal/financial/health constraints, being able to get out of the house/hospital bed/nursing home for just a while would be quite a boon.
Socialization. The telephone is basically lightweight social VR. Social VR is like the telephone but more intense. The phone will not be replaced by VR. VR opens up more intense options for being with other people you couldn't be with otherwise. Instead of just sitting in the same room having a chat, you can hike through Minecraft mountains, play D&D, paint a sculpture, or shoot catapults together.
Autodesk previously demoed their app working with project tango so you can walk around holding a tablet as a viewport.