Nokia (the developers of those clunky, indestructible cell phones) is making an announcement next week about their endeavor into the world of virtual reality. No details or dates were given for the VR “VIP event”, but if Nokia sticks with it, we should be looking at a market in virtual reality that covers every aspect of our lives.
Microsoft plans to release their HoloLens headset, but no general time-frame has been set. The Oculus Rift and Sony’s Playstation 4 ‘Project Morpheus’ will launch sometime before next summer. Lastly, and most interesting, HTC and Valve plan to release a headset called ViveVR this year. We can only hope that we won’t have a reason to buy more than one of these products.
This is what makes Nokia an interesting prospect. They’re known for making durable products at an affordable price. Although their electronics do not perform as well as others in the market, we can expect a VR experience that should be long lasting and practical. Maybe they’ll surprise us, who knows? Nothing has been announced yet, but here at Gamespresso we’ll be sure to keep you updated as the news comes along.
What I’m most excited for is the innovations that could come from having multiple platforms of virtual reality. Each company has its strengths and weaknesses, and as Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe said, “There is no stopping the VR revolution…this is going to take off like a wildfire…every household out there will be enjoying VR.” A bold statement, but most likely true. Consumers have been looking for the VR experience for quite some time, especially gamers. Although there are limitless possibilities surrounding virtual reality, I’m mostly going to be sitting around with a headset on desperately fighting against a non-existent enemy in what could be a breach of the barrier between VR and the real world. But I digress.
Keep on believing that this will be the next step in society’s technology, because it undoubtedly is.