Technology is advancing at a rapid rate. Not only do we have access to copious amounts of information and entertainment at our fingertips, many companies are now working to develop virtual reality technologies. To accompany the release of their first smartphone, the Pixel, Google has now debuted Daydream View, a virtual reality headset. As Samuel Gibbs wrote in his article for the Guardian, Google Daydream View review: comfortable mobile VR headset with limited compatibility, currently the product is only compatible with the Pixel. By diversifying their products and entering more markets, Google is expanding their consumer segment. Daydream’s present price is about $100 CAD, which is not very expensive compared to PlayStation’s VR technology at $399 (which Seif Ghazi wrote about in a past blog post, PSVR: PlayStation Becomes First Major Player in New VR Gaming Market) and a $400 VR headset used for video games (as Andres Garza described in one of his previous blog post, Virtual Reality: Quest for Accessibility). Although, the real price comes with the Pixel, since it is the only smartphone that works with the headset’s system at the time, and the phone is close to $900. Virtual Reality, especially in video games, can be a very successful product since it is not just a game, but is an experience. I have tried a cardboard pair myself that came with tickets to the music festival Coachella, and since it is 360 degrees, it completely transports you out of your living room (or wherever you happen to be using the headset) for a surreal experience.

Google’s new entry into the VR market, once it becomes compatible with other phones (or the price of the Pixel falls), counters Andres’s point of VR reality technology being too expensive for the average consumer. I believe as technology advances further, and more firms begin to enter this new market, the average price of VR products will fall and become a more common form of entertainment that most consumers can afford.

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