There’s Nothing Virtual About This Reality

It seems as if with every year, a new technological advance takes place, and 2016 is no different. Virtual reality has long been talked about, but has only taken off in the last year in certain countries. In Western countries, virtual reality has been mainly used for entertainment purposes (gaming, movies etc.), however, many Asian companies have been expanding virtual reality into areas other than entertainment, with all of these companies targeting China to further the virtual era we currently live in.

China has been the country to experiment with new technology in recent years, as their population is the highest of any country, they are the leading country in terms of mobile internet usage, and their economy is vastly growing year upon year, which is soon to become the biggest economy in the world. It’s as if the Middle Kingdom was the perfect place to begin a foundation for Virtual Reality.

New purposes for virtual reality that have been used in China include educational use, real estate touring, and shopping. Not only this, but thousands of ‘virtual reality experiences’ have been set up across the country, so people can experience virtual reality firsthand. All of these reasons for consumers to invest in the virtual reality market gives no surprise that predictions for the global VR market reach up to as high as $60 billion for the year 2025.

In the United States, virtual reality progression has been rather slow, with many articles stating that virtual reality is a fad, and hype for virtual experience will die down in the coming years. I strongly disagree, as many VR companies have implemented successful programs, events, and concepts in China. Western countries have not experienced the impact that virtual reality can have on ones’ life, compared to China and many of its’ surrounding countries. Asian culture have met VR with open arms, and Western culture is soon to follow. What many of these new VR companies need to do is to set a firm following in China, and slowly expand. They must perfect these programs first in Asia, before they introduce it to Europe and North America, regardless of how many years it may take.

It’ll be interesting to see where virtual reality expands to in the next decade. As each year progresses, various companies will find new ways of incorporating virtual reality into our daily life. Stockholders will continue to invest money into this market, resulting in a massive expansion of the VR market. China is leading the world into a new age, and every country will soon be right behind them.

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