VR excels at novelty, but falls short on human connection. (REUTERS/Kevork Djansezian)
Virtual reality was supposed to be the next big thing.
That was the message the tech industry peddled for years. But despite all of the hype, consumers just don’t seem as excited as many would have hoped.
There are the obvious reasons: the gear is expensive, headsets are clunky and image quality is still nowhere near that of movies or console games. But the biggest obstacle to VR’s mainstream adoption is not its tangible limitations, but rather, the fact that the experiences it affords are isolating and lonely.
No human connection
Consider this: the most popular tech of the last decade has been social. Studies show that when we check email and social media, we actually get a hit of oxytocin, the same “cuddle chemical” that is released when we embrace, or fall in love. That’s what makes it all so addictive, and why we keep coming back. Yet VR is the opposite: it excels at novelty, but falls short on human connection. And that could be the biggest factor in VR’s stalled growth.
Early in 2016, the research group SuperData estimated Playstation VR would sell 2.6 million units. A few months ago, they revised that figure to just 750,000. At the same time, less than a year after flooding its locations with Oculus Rift VR “pop-up” stations, electronics giant Best Buy is closing down almost half of its in-store demos. Workers from multiple Best Buy pop-ups told Business Insider that it was common for them to go days without giving a single demonstration. People just didn’t seem to want to try out the headsets.
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Source: CBC