PR has been VR’s greatest failure

Virtual reality has a real problem. Specifically, it has a PR problem (yes, I know — VR has a PR problem). Pick a random individual off of the street and ask for her opinion of VR and you’re likely to receive one of a few typical responses: “Reality is real enough for me” or, “I’m not really much of a gamer” or, “You’ll never find me sitting on the couch watching TV with a headset on.” Don’t get me wrong — I can totally relate. Until maybe two years ago I was a huge skeptic of VR technology myself, and I shared those doubts, the latter in particular. It wasn’t until after I was introduced to the true “reality” of VR technology that my opinion changed in a very drastic way.

A common technological point-in-time comparison that’s frequently invoked by VR skeptics is the spectacular failure of the 3D TV — when 3D TVs first began to show up at CES and finally arrive on the market people even made the same “You’ll never catch me with a pair of 3D glasses (here, headset) on” argument, myself included. This contention, however, is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the differences between the 3D TV and VR.