The Immersive Wire - 23 June 2021 (News edition)

The Immersive Wire - 23 June 2021 (News edition)

June 23, 2021

SUNDAY READ EDITIONCurated VR/AR analysis every Wednesday and Sunday

// 23 June 2021

Celebrated my three-year anniversary with my partner by stuffing ourselves with all-you-can-eat sushi. Perfect.

 

  • As always, treat analyst stats and comments with a grain of salt; Facebook hasn't given any hard numbers on the sales of their headsets, and some houses tend to fudge the definition of VR to make it seem bigger than it actually is. One time, a company (not CCS Insight) labelled VR to be the same as mobile VR, then said that VR penetration was massive as people had smartphones. Cripes.

  • Anyway, there is certainly evidence that the Oculus Quest 2 spiked interest in VR dramatically year-on-year. So far, so good.

  • Additionally, the company forecasts that 70 million virtual and augmented reality devices will be sold in 2025, with a market value of $2bn.

As for my own thoughts on the statistics:

  • Let's touch on market dominance. The more stories that come out where the Oculus Quest 2 is pushing the market forward, the more it becomes clear that we need more competitors. While it is great that Facebook is investing so much into the market until it becomes self-sustaining, it would be wonderful to see more consumer-end hardware that innovates a little more. We all win if there is more competition.

  • The large market share will be reflective of both consumer and enterprise applications, which will likely contribute far more than $21bn by the time we reach 2030 and the technology gets exponentially adopted across more countries.

  • I am still interested in seeing what smart glasses will do, but I think we are too early to start commenting on their success if we don't even know their features or prices. Let's see how good they will be and what capabilities they have, and then start guessing on the future.

It's in a graph, so we can trust it. Probably. Next slide, please. Photo credit: CCS Insight.

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Other stories

Want to profile your news stories here? Send me an email at tom (at) virtualperception (dot) com and let's get chatting.

  • Blaston is still getting review-bombed for adding ads.

    • Come on, everyone. If you are annoyed about an ad company adding ads to their own products, talk to them - not the developers who want to sustain a living doing what they love.

    • Anyway, no wonder they are backing away from using ads.

  • Caesarstone partnered with ByondXR to design an interactive, 3D home visualiser that enables customers to browse, personalise, and purchase countertops.

  • Facebook's CEO said VR/AR will revolutionise fitness, arts, and media. Also, Facebook is adding ads to some games and experimenting with their use.

    • This caused some controversy, but here are my two cents: most people don't care. The vast majority of people do not mind having ads in their services, so long as they are not gratuitous. The main issue is the use of their data, but even then the sentiment is evolving.

  • Health Scholars announced the appointment of Scott Johnson as its new Chief Executive Officer.

  • Hitmotion: Reloaded is now available on Sidequest VR.

  • Tencent invested $50m into Ultraleap.

    • In case you don't know, Tencent is one of the biggest companies in China, and it's another sign that the big corporates are taking notice of immersive technologies globally.

  • University of South Wales will use VR to help train forensics students on their campus.

  • Valheilm now has VR support.

  • VR Education is planning to develop a new corporate metaverse, called ENGAGE Oasis, to be launched next year.

  • Yaw VR reached its funding goal for its motion simulator and smart chair.

Jobs boardGAME SUPERVISOR, UK. ATMOS VR is looking for a Games Supervisor. This is an interactive role that places you at the centre of the game. You will pull all the right levers and press all the correct buttons to skilfully co-ordinate the game zone, ensuring the smooth running of the experience from the comfort of the Operations Room.

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE, UK. Rock Paper Reality is hiring an ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE who has experience in immersive technology. Ideal candidate can manage the entire sales cycle from finding a client to securing a deal to maintaining the relationship post-sale. Experience in enterprise sales, C-level presentations, and marketing desired.

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGERS, UK. VRTUOSO, a rapidly growing and multi-award winning company, is looking for three full-time B2B Sales Managers who are excited about technology advancements, and able to sell to CxO/Director level within enterprise accounts.

HEAD OF MARKETING, UK. VRTUOSO, a rapidly growing and multi-award winning company, is looking for a Head of Marketing capable of taking VRtuoso to the next level. We’re looking to make the leap to working with enterprise level companies at scale and we hope you’re the one to help us accomplish this.

CHANNEL SALES MANAGER, UK. VRTUOSO, a rapidly growing and multi-award winning company, is looking for a Channel Sales Manager to lead the channel and reseller programmes. The role is primarily responsible for onboarding new partners, serving as the primary liaison for new partners, growing the sales of existing partners, and assisting with sales/marketing initiatives for our reseller channel as a whole.

DIRECTOR OF ENGINEERING, UK. VRTUOSO, a rapidly growing and multi-award winning company, is looking for a Director of Engineering to lead our engineering department and help us build, deliver, and maintain the leading VRtuoso Virtual Reality products for the enterprise market.

Display your vacancy in front of thousands of talented VR/AR professionals in just a few clicks. Click here for more info.

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That's all for this week! Want to have a chat, let me know about a news story, or talk business? Either reply to this email, or contact tom (at) virtualperceptions (dot) com. Have an excellent day!