While few people recognized the value of virtual reality outside of the consumer marketplace, that mindset has changed significantly over the last 12 months.
As COVID-19 continues to lock people inside their homes for months on end and forces companies to close their doors indefinitely, VR headsets and the applications they offer are becoming a vital part of day-to-day operations in the enterprise.
According to research, the virtual reality market, estimated at USD 6.1 billion in 2020, is expected to reach USD 20.9 billion by 2025, with enterprise investments accounting for a significant percentage of that growth – but which technologies are driving the market?
To better understand the VR headsets marketplace, we invited Chris Guerin, CEO at Xpllore, the world’s first dedicated Cloud VR platform for the enterprise, to share his insights and predictions for the year ahead.
What innovations can we expect to see in 2021?
First, we asked Guerin to tell us about any new technologies coming through the pipeline which he believes will disrupt the VR headsets marketplace over the next 12 months.
He told us that, while Oculus Quest 2 continues to dominate the marketplace at the entry to mid-level, the arrival of Varjo’s XR-3 and VR-3 headsets in December 2020 marked a new era for high-end enterprise VR and MR.
“Varjo’s release of the VR-3 and, more specifically, the XR-3 mark the next wave of headsets in the high-end sector. While Microsoft and Magic Leap are currently the market leaders in mixed reality headsets, commercially, they lack ability.”
According to Guerin, the Varjo VR-3 and XR-3 offer an impressive blend of VR and AR capabilities that deliver much greater functionality for both training and onsite application. He also tells us that, while these headsets are costly, the features they offer and the things they allow enterprise users to do are enough to warrant the hefty price tag.
Will Oculus continue to dominate the mass market?
As it stands, few (if any) VR headset vendors can compete with Oculus at a mass-market level. The release of Quest 2 in Q4 2020 was a huge game-changer that delivered world-class VR experiences to the masses at a $299 price point that no other headsets in that price range could match – but will it continue?
Considering the massive success Quest 2 has had already, not to mention the reports that forecast the headsets will sell over 3 million units in 2021 alone, Guerin tells us he’d be shocked if Oculus didn’t retain its place as a market leader this year.
However, when we asked him about his thoughts on the rumors that HTC VIVE is releasing a “new era” of VR products in 2021, he told us:
“As Oculus dominates the entry-level market on one end with its mobile offering, and Varjo dominates the other with their high-end tethered VR-3 headset, HTC VIVE potentially has an opportunity to carve itself a place somewhere in the middle.”
Though VIVE has fallen from grace over the last few years, Guerin believes that if they can offer a high-quality mobile VR headset that’s good enough to justify its $800-$1000 price point, they could fill a gap in the mid-market.
In addition to this, Guerin, like many others, believes 2021 could be the year when Apple finally enters the VR marketplace. While he expects Apple’s VR offering to focus heavily on consumer markets initially, the innovation they’ll likely bring will undoubtedly bleed down into the enterprise as time goes on.
Is 2021 the year for enterprise VR?
As VR adoption continues to grow, especially within large corporations looking to improve training, education, and healthcare, we asked Guerin if he thought 2021 is the year when VR becomes mainstream in the enterprise.
Though he agreed there is a growing demand for these technologies in the SMB, he still believes the bulk of innovation and use-cases in 2021 will come from universities, medical institutions, automotive, oil and gas, and other large organizations first.
For more information on how Xpllore is revolutionizing the way people learn, design, and communicate within extended realities, sign up for free here.
