After the movie "Number One Player" was released, many people thought that VR products would become popular in the future, and would become a common digital consumer product among mass consumers. However, the reality is that many users buy VR headsets to play. It didn’t take long for it to be ashamed. Few people would play this type of equipment with high frequency. Why is VR not so popular? What are its obvious shortcomings? And from some recent new VR products, what can we find? New trends in the development of the VR industry, this time let's take a deep analysis of the current and future development prospects of the VR industry.

Limited space for wearing and limited video game content

Let’s talk about VR first. The application scenarios of VR devices are mainly at home, but VR is different from mobile phones, tablets and laptops. It requires an open environment to play comfortably, but not all users’ homes are large enough. The small bedroom in the apartment can’t give users enough space to perform actions at all. In some large rooms, beds, sofas and wardrobes also occupy a lot of space. So for many apartment users, it’s a good idea to use VR to play games. The space utilization rate is not high, which fundamentally limits the purchase desire of many users. A feasible solution can only develop as many games as possible that are not mobile. Or you can refer to the current arcade game hall design. It would be a good idea to build a VR game hall with a large space and a guide.

The lack of games and audiovisual content is also a commonplace in VR. The number of VR games has increased, but compared with the number of console games of Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo, the number of games developed on the SteamVR platform cannot be compared with these consoles. The games are comparable, not to mention those VR all-in-ones. Although some VR all-in-ones have an increasing number of built-in games, they are still a drop in the bucket. In addition, the real explosive masterpieces of the game are rare. For example, the God of War series, Final Fantasy series or Super Mario series are classic games that everyone is familiar with. There are also "Glory of the King", "Peace Elite" and "Original God" in the mobile game. "Half-Life: Alyx" is a national game of this kind, and now there is only one VR game that can be called a 3A masterpiece. More 3A masterpieces must be added to the VR game, so that real game lovers will be more motivated to go. play games.

In terms of audio and video content, most of the high-quality videos built in many VR devices are also 2D content, and 3D or panoramic videos are also quite rare. Many 3D or panoramic videos are within 10 minutes, and most of the content is relatively empty, which can basically take a day. I can finish it. In addition to exclusive content to avoid the outside world, 2D movies are not much different from watching movies on a tablet or computer. As for the immersive experience like a movie theater, the current VR devices can only be said to be visually immersive, but not capable. The sense of hearing is also immersed, and it is easy to play with a pair of headphones, and it is not easy to restore the reverberating sound effects of the cinema.

At the same time, the resolution of many VR devices on the market is not high, and some have not even reached the 4K level. The display effect brought by low resolution must be obviously grainy, and some users may even feel dizzy. ·The experience of the audio-visual game can only be said to be ok, but the game played is cleared, the movie is finished, and the VR will be ashamed.

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The headset handle takes up a large volume and it is not convenient to use outside

After finishing using the scene at home, let’s talk about the take-out use of VR. If you are using the VR all-in-one machine outdoors, you must first be accompanied by someone to help you stand, otherwise walking with a headset will be like a blind person. It’s easy to hit obstacles or fall when you pay attention, and you can easily hit other people when playing VR games in some public places, and your actions during the game will be very funny in the eyes of others, and you will inevitably feel shy. From this point of view, the more suitable scene for take-out use is only in a friend's house or hotel.

But even for this kind of take-out use, there are shortcomings in portability. Smart phones can be put in the pockets of underwear, and larger tablet phones or laptops can also be brought with a handbag. If you are bringing a SLR camera, bring a bag. A camera backpack is sufficient, but it is very difficult to bring a set of VR all-in-one. Many headsets and handles are not small in thickness, so you need a backpack or suitcase with a lot of space to put them down and go out. The door is just to play a VR with a large bag or suitcase, it is estimated that most people are unwilling, if it is a business trip to use more people, they will also be willing to leave the valuable space of the backpack to a tablet or laptop, or even more Some clothing.

Therefore, from the perspective of usage scenarios, it is still more suitable for home use like Sony and Microsoft game consoles. However, its number of games and game quality cannot compete with game consoles, and its own advantages are limited by the space environment at home. There is no obvious advantage in the audio-visual experience, and it is in an embarrassing position that is not high enough, so it is inevitable that the development will enter a bottleneck period.

The development trend of the VR industry: All-in-one is the king, high-resolution, high-resolution, bare-hand control to kill the handle, popularization of 6DoF, and develop more content to improve the VR ecosystem

So can the future development of the VR industry solve the dilemma of the above problems? Recently, three new products, Pico Neo 3, HTC’s VIVE Pro 2 and VIVE Focus 3 have been released. At the same time, there is also new news about the new generation of Sony PS VR headsets. These VR devices can be said to be the current mainstream brands of VR equipment at home and abroad. Let's take a look at what new changes these VR devices bring.

The VIVE Focus 3 of the VR all-in-one is priced at 9888 yuan, while the VIVE Pro 2 as a PCVR is priced at only 6888 yuan. Of course, there are factors such as the lack of accessories such as the remote control, but from the price difference of 3,000 yuan, it is obvious Accessories are not the only factor that affects the price. The side also reflects that the all-in-one VR should gradually replace the traditional PCVR equipment in the future, and the all-in-one should take into account the functions of the all-in-one and the wireless and wired streaming PC, making it a more All-round VR equipment.

One of the important reasons for this change is that the all-in-one VR is more convenient to use. PCVR has to connect a bunch of data cables to really dissuade most users. Another reason is related to the current hardware market. We can see that chips in the global market are severely out of stock. High-performance graphics cards are jokingly called air graphics cards due to the prevalence of digital currency mining. The price of solid-state drives has also risen, and users cannot buy them themselves. High-performance PC, what about high-performance PCVR gaming experience? Moreover, the current market estimates that the shortage of chips and graphics cards is conservatively estimated to last until 2022. Under the combined effect of multiple factors, it is not surprising that PCVR is going downhill.

The second major change is that the performance of VR devices has finally been fully improved. Both Pico Neo 3 and HTC VIVE Focus 3 use Qualcomm XR chips, and the resolution has been increased to the level of 4K and 5K respectively. The VIVE Pro 2 of PC VR also has 5K. Resolution, Sony’s next-generation PS VR headset is also rumored to have a 4K resolution, and the picture quality has been significantly improved, and both Pico Neo 3 and HTC VIVE Focus 3 support 90Hz high refresh, which can be regarded as popularizing the screen high refresh. On the VR all-in-one machine, the improvement of the refresh rate will also significantly improve the user's dizziness when using VR. As a PC VR, VIVE Pro 2 achieves a 120Hz high refresh experience, and the official news from Pico says that subsequent firmware upgrades of Pico Neo 3 will also bring 120Hz high refresh. Therefore, future users will report that VR devices are prone to dizziness. There should be fewer and fewer problems.

The third change is not in the present, and in the future, both Pico and HTC will jointly announce that they will realize the operation mode of bare-hand recognition in the future, which means that users can throw away the remote control in the future and only need to wear the headset. Play, this not only further facilitates the VR operation experience, but also allows the VR device to obtain better portability. If the headset itself is not large, it is indeed more motivated to bring the VR device to other places. Of course, it still needs to be observed how the bare-hand control experience is. I personally expect that there should be a gradual progress in replacing the handle with bare hands.

The fourth change is that 6DoF technology has begun to be fully popularized in VR. In addition to simple shooting actions, actions such as holding or throwing can make the game control more diversified. In fact, strictly speaking, VR games can bring more than game consoles. Interesting control gameplay, but unfortunately, the masterpiece is still too scarce.

The fifth change is that the development of the VR ecosystem has finally begun to move towards a stage of gradual improvement. Projects such as VR education, VR conferences, VR socialization, and VR museums have all begun. Some manufacturers have even started the virtual idol industry, and in terms of games. Some companies have also begun to cooperate with major game developers. This is also a good sign. The cooperation between HTC and Bandai Namco is a typical case. In the future, we may see high-quality Gundam games on the VR platform. For Gundam fans, it may be the biggest motivation for them to get VR equipment.

From this point of view, these recently released VR devices and the blueprint plans displayed by VR manufacturers are indeed trying to solve the pain points of the rise of VR, but there are still many problems, such as the problem of too few 3D or panoramic film resources. The solution to this problem lies in the number of works produced by professional panoramic cameras, which cannot be handled by VR manufacturers. Compared with ordinary video shooting, the post-production workflow itself is more complicated and restricts the development of 3D and panoramic video. When it rises, the 3D panoramic content of VR will be truly enriched.

In addition, the use of VR to broadcast live sports events and concerts is also a big advantage of VR itself, but this vision has not yet been realized. Among the problems, in addition to 5G commercialization is not yet fully mature, content copyright and broadcasting rights are issues. It is also a stumbling block. It was originally a good opportunity to promote the development of VR live broadcast due to the epidemic, but this has to be a bit regrettable. If live broadcast can solve network delays, copyright and payment issues, I believe this will also allow VR to have a broader development path.

End

All in all, the current VR industry is indeed still developing and progressing. It is gratifying, but the future is still bumpy. There are still many difficulties to be overcome before VR can truly enter the homes of ordinary people. The more users there are, the virtual socialization of VR can truly flourish. Otherwise, It can only be that everyone roams alone in their own fragmented virtual world. I hope that the VR industry will get better and better, so that the fantasy world of the number one player can come soon.

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Excerpted to "VR Prospect Analysis: All-in-one is more popular than PC-VR, smooth and high-quality bare-hand control is a trend"