HTC and Valve collaborated earlier this year when they unveiled the HTC Vive virtual reality headset. In terms of widespread availability, it is expected that in 2016 that the company will launch the device to the masses, but even then it seems that HTC has tempered their expectations somewhat.
Speaking at the TechCrunch Beijing summit, HTC’s Chief Content Officer Phil Chen revealed that the company expects virtual reality to really take off in the next 3-5 years. What this means is that even with headsets like the HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, and PlayStation VR pegged for 2016, having the technology catch on probably won’t be anytime soon.
Why is this? According to Chen, he thinks that the technology behind virtual reality still needs to be refined further, and that there needs to be more content for virtual reality headsets which we suppose is a fair assumption. After all when the iPhone was first introduced, it took a couple of years before the smartphone scene became big and we were starting to see more apps and content designed for mobile devices.
No word on how much the HTC Vive will retail for when it is released, but presumably price will also be factor in how many users will be willing the adopt the technology, but what do you guys think? Will VR be huge in 2016, or is Chen right and that maybe we need a few more years for it to truly catch on?
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