Job Simulator developer has overcome one of virtual reality’s biggest marketing hurdles

It is difficult to explain virtual reality to someone who has never tried it before, but one of the most exciting developers working in the space might have solved the problem.

Studio Owlchemy Labs, which is making the VR game Job Simulator, has a new trailer in the works that mixes together video of a real-world player and the simulated office he’s interacting with. This creates a seamless image that enables us outsiders to get a third-person view on what the player is doing inside of the virtual world. Previously, audiences have had just a first-person view of the action, which doesn’t really convey a sense of presence. Companies like Sony have used computer-generated graphics to suggest what it’s like to play a game in VR. But those solutions always fail to accurately portray the sensation of existing in a simulation, and that’s a problem for a technology that is asking consumers to spend upward of $1,500. If this market is going to grow into a $40 billion business by 2020, it’s going to need to figure out how to demonstrate VR in an exciting and instantly recognizable way.