Virtual reality (VR) has vast disruptive potential but has yet to reach mainstream adoption. The technology is still relatively new and faces several price and convenience obstacles, but recent VR innovations could provide a boost to overcome these challenges.
Making the most of this emerging market means capitalizing on these growth opportunities early. Here’s a look at five of the most significant innovations that will likely drive VR adoption and growth over the next few years.
More accessible developer tools
A lack of content is one of the biggest obstacles holding VR technology back, with 45.6% of extended-reality professionals citing it as a significant challenge. Part of that stems from VR’s novelty, but it can also be challenging to develop VR solutions. Recent waves of more accessible, easier-to-use dev tools will help counteract that trend.
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The OpenXR API is one of this area’s most significant VR innovations. OpenXR works on popular engines like Unreal and Unity and provides a vendor-agnostic standard for developing VR apps. Consequently, developers won’t have to use platform-specific tools to create apps or choose specific devices to release them on, streamlining development and encouraging wider releases.
As tools like this become increasingly accessible and common, more companies will develop VR apps. This spike in development will make VR as a whole more versatile, driving broader adoption.
Pancake lenses
VR hardware has made some important advancements recently, too. Pancake lenses are one of the most significant of these improvements.
Most VR headsets up to this point have used Fresnel lenses, which require a significant distance between the users’ eyes and the lens, increasing weight and bulk. By contrast, pancake lenses layer several lenses on top of each other to direct and enhance light in less space. As this technology advances and becomes more affordable, it will enable smaller and lighter headsets.
Meta’s Quest Pro uses pancake lenses and its upcoming Quest 3 likely will, too. Bigscreen’s upcoming debut VR headset will also feature the technology, and many expect Apple’s VR equipment to follow suit. Pancake lenses are quickly becoming the new industry standard, which will help drive adoption. Companies that don’t capitalize on them may soon fall behind.
Eye tracking
Eye tracking is another VR innovation that will alter the course of the industry over the next few years. This technology measures the distance between the users’ pupils and their cornea’s reflection to determine where they’re looking.
Eye tracking lets VR headsets render only what is in the users’ field of view instead of a complete environment. Consequently, this technology can dramatically reduce computing needs while improving visuals, making more engaging experiences for users and allowing developers to create more expansive environments with the same resources.
Until recently, eye tracking has been exclusive to high-end devices like Microsoft’s HoloLens, which sees more adoption in maintenance and repair operations than commercial use. However, as it becomes more affordable, it’s premiering in consumer devices like the Meta Quest Pro.
Modular headsets
More manufacturers are also leaning into modularity for VR headsets. The newly announced HTC Vive XR Elite offers a modular design that can switch between a glasses form factor or a more traditional VR headset. Vive also provides a modular eye tracker add-on for the Focus 3, letting users integrate this newer technology into older headsets.
New players in the industry are introducing modular headsets, too. Somnium Space introduced a highly modifiable headset at CES 2023 that lets users 3D-print and attach custom parts to personalize their experience.
Modularity enables a single headset to serve multiple specialized purposes, helping bring VR to a broader audience. It also opens up new sales opportunities for VR companies or manufacturers of modular parts. Consumers are willing to pay more for a bundle of products than for more products separately, so manufacturers can offer bundles of headsets and modular components to boost revenue.
5G and Wi-Fi 6
Some innovations driving VR growth aren’t necessarily VR-specific technologies. New connectivity standards like 5G networks and Wi-Fi 6 help VR technology reach its full potential, so they are essential to its expansion.
Wi-Fi 6 is up to 5× faster than Wi-Fi 4, which many home and business networks currently operate on. 5G provides similar speed benefits over 4G LTE cellular networks, and both technologies improve network bandwidth. These speed and bandwidth improvements will make VR more accessible by making cloud experiences easier.
With faster, more reliable networks, users will be able to access VR services from the cloud without lag that could induce motion sickness or otherwise hinder the user experience. Similarly, users could leverage remote hardware to lessen their own hardware limitations. This heightened accessibility and convenience will drive further adoption.
VR innovations like these are making the technology more versatile, accessible and engaging. As that happens, businesses and consumers will see VR in a new light, and more users will adopt the technology.
VR developers and related companies should take note of these trends to capitalize on them early. Those that take advantage of them in the early stages could see considerable growth; those that don’t may fall behind the competition.
About the author
Emily Newton is a technical writer and the editor-in-chief of Revolutionized. She enjoys researching and writing about how technology is changing the industrial sector.
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