Over the coming months, consumers will be able to experience the full push of virtual reality on the market, whether it’s gear produced by Oculus (the Rift), HTC (the Vive) or Sony (PlayStation VR). Now the question is what people want the most when it comes to those experiences.
A new poll from Futuresource Consulting, as reported by eMarketer, provided an outlook when it comes to what sort of content consumers are looking for. Conducted back in October, the findings indicate that, while games remain a big factor in the VR world, the biggest thing that’s of interest are movies.
39 percent of those polled stated that they want to see what movies can do with virtual reality, although games followed very closely behind with 38 percent. Also making the list were TV/music videos, educational apps and sports-related experiences.
Virtual reality also holds great potential for marketers, considering the many age groups that will be partaking in its technology as new choices arrive. Another report conducted by Greenlight VR and Touchstone Research took a closer look at U.S. Internet users (by groups) that are interested in the tech.
The largest group turned out to be Gen Z (10-17), with 79 percent indicating they were interested in some form of VR. Millennials (18-34) followed close behind with 73 percent, followed by Gen X (35-50) with 70 percent and Baby boomers (51-69) with 64 percent.
Keep in mind that these poll numbers don’t quite cover the entire demographic of the consumer medium, as they were done with select groups late last year. But it does point an interesting picture for when the Oculus and HTC Vive arrive this spring, and what plans Sony may have in mind when it finally confirms what it’ll be doing with the PlayStation VR.
Now, it’s just a matter of seeing how the market adapts to price. The Oculus isn’t going for cheap, with pre-orders going for $599. Likewise, when the Vive launches in early April, it’ll sell for $799. That leaves Sony in an interesting position, as it could “budget price” the PlayStation VR to around $500, in an effort to sell more PlayStation 4 consoles.
We’ll see where the market leads in the months ahead…and if the consumers will follow.
