Three-dimensional bummer

Seven years. That's how long it has been since the incredible success of James Cameron's Avatar, which marked the beginning of the 3D revolution in cinema, to the curtailment of 3D-enabled TVs by all major manufacturers. LG and Sony were the last to give in: at the end of January, both corporations announced their refusal to use this technology in upcoming models. And this is despite the fact that according to the results of sales in 2012, 3D TVs occupied 20-30% of the market. We've had enough of it. Stop it.

However, the inglorious end of the sensational feature, which once promised a revolution in home consumption of video content, could have been predicted a few years ago. When manufacturers, demonstrating the next breakthrough models of TVs at the annual CES exhibition in Las Vegas, began to shamefully hide the corresponding functionality from journalists and generally stopped focusing on it.

Have you changed your TV in the last five or six years? Have you succumbed to marketing gimmicks and sweet stories about a "fundamentally new user experience"? First, there was too little suitable content: even DirecTV, the largest television and radio broadcaster in the U.S., shut down its 24-hour channels with 3D content back in 2012. Secondly, it is simply inconvenient to watch 3D with glasses. Thirdly, do you remember when a three-dimensional movie you saw on TV really shocked you? It's the same.

Virtual Hype

And now for a provocative question. Which entertainment and hyped feature will die next? We predict: home VR.

The VR craze dates back to 2014, when Facebook bought VR headset maker Oculus Rift (for $2 billion, by the way), Sony announced its plans to release a VR kit for the PlayStation 4, and Microsoft soon showed off its HoloLens augmented reality glasses. This is not to mention the fact that in 2014 prototypes of the HTC Vive system were demonstrated for the first time, which later became the exclusive partner of the SteamVR platform.

Today, technology seems to have come a long way compared to the 1990s, when virtual reality was experiencing its first boom, and bulky helmets with special gaming chairs were actively advertised in computer magazines. Or not? Let's try to summarize the preliminary results. The number of games with Sony VR support can be counted on the fingers of one hand, and the image quality leaves much to be desired. The company even had to release an intermediate version of the PlayStation Pro console to make the picture prettier in the virtual reality headset. The HTC Vive bundle costs $800 (this is in the US) and works only with computers, and it's better to keep quiet about games. The Oculus Rift kit is not much cheaper and requires a powerful computer to work. All three devices run on different platforms, and a Vive-enabled game won't run on an Oculus headset. Fragmented platforms, a small amount of impressive content, technical limitations — in general, sadness.

The sales figures are also underwhelming. By the end of 2016, more than 350,000 Oculus Rift headsets, 420,000 HTC Vive and 2.5 million PS VR units had been sold worldwide. To be honest, this is not enough: not enough for the largest game publishers to throw resources into the development of some powerful "platform seller". The mass audience still does not understand why they need a virtual reality helmet at home, and it can be understood.

Get out of the house!

Does this mean that in a couple of years, virtual reality will be forgotten, just as TV 3D is now forgotten? Not at all! First of all, virtual reality attractions came in handy in shopping malls and other places with a large crowd of onlookers. A short 15-minute session is the perfect way to enjoy VR before the player starts to vomit and the eye notices the deliberate artificiality of the picture. Secondly, the range of applications of VR technologies is incomparably wider than the entertainment segment. And I'm not talking about apps for realtors that allow you to inspect apartments for sale. For example, the Russian startup Intellect and Innovations has developed a rehabilitation complex for stroke patients: virtual reality helmets complete with a motion capture system help correct patients' motor skills. VR is beginning to be used to treat phobias, including the fear of spiders. Scientists are experimenting with the use of virtual reality to combat phantom pain after limb amputations. Finally, PwC predicts that in the next three years, technology will be adapted by industry to prototype products and facilitate production planning. So virtual reality is here to stay. Although it is not a fact that it will stay in your living room.