VR, or virtual reality, is any simulated experience created by artificial means but has more recently come to be associated with gaming. The world is embracing it post-pandemic, it’s being used for sit-at-home concerts, museum tours, and even interactive porn. VR has been popular for the last six years or so but Covid isolation has given it the push that it needed but is it really a sustainable future for gaming or it is simply getting lucky under the current circumstances.
VR in Present
The VR gaming market revenue in the United States alone is forecast to generate up to 19.5 billion U.S. dollars by the end of 2025. VR has already improved the gaming experience and changed the gaming “universe.” it is no longer considered a niche and VR Arcades will be the newest addition in malls once the pandemic is fully over. Apart from big brands like Samsung and Facebook VR is being used by the porn industry as well as educational ones so its presence in the gaming world was not only expected but also deemed necessary. The more gamers you would speak to the more you would know about the importance of it, let’s discuss the psychology of gamers and what VR does to it. Experts have believed Video gaming to be as lethal as drugs, the complaints of Video Games making children anti-social, violent, and lethargic have plagued the industry for quite some time now. VR however challenges that, by making the experience rich for all senses it strives to make it as real as it can be, the socialization involved in it would feel like meeting people for real. Speaking of the violent behavior Barbara S Chaparro of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University has reason to believe that individuals indulging in violent VR games are more deterred to violence in real life since they see violent VR as a window of frustration/other negative emotions hence working as a catharsis. Another prison experiment was done in 2020 also suggests that violent prisoners can use VR gaming as a window for their violent expression making them calmer and more social with their peers.
The Limitations
One of the major limitations of VR would be the cost, making it very difficult to reach all socio-economic classes. It’s not as easily accessible as games on our mobile devices.
There’s a reason why in pop culture we only see billionaires use VR tech and that’s not likely to change for a while. Another aspect is the size of the device, Due to VR Video gaming would no longer be in our pockets, making it even less appealing to consumers who like things chic and sleek. The weight of VR devices alone is enough for folks to stick to PlayStations.
Moving on to a significant issue with VR, potential eye harm is high up in the rundown. VR is fundamentally a screen set a couple of centimeters from your eyes. This significantly affects visual perception and eye harm is a significant reason for stress.
This is the same reason why it’s difficult to use VR for a museum tour, the 360 experience might be there but it’s just not as easy on the eyes. MET did a virtual museum tour lately and it was faced with the same limitations. What makes us think that gaming would be any different.
Another limitation is the cost, What makes VR programming costly is getting over this issue utilizing muddled procedures. Be that as it may, in most VR gadgets this issue hasn’t been tackled. Graphical limits are one of the other reasons why we have to take a minute before deciding on the future of VR since it’s new in the market, the graphics are not up to the mark yet making the experience half-hearted for now. Lest we forget that VR would make video gaming twice as addictive.
Conclusion
Taking all things into consideration, VR’s future is certain in the video gaming industry despite the slow growth. It will be exciting to see how VR champions the existing challenges it has without the help of a pandemic that made it possible for VR to remain a household name. It’s too soon to call it a fad but it’s too late to not see the potential we have in VR when it comes to the gaming world.
