VR gaming dates back much further than most people would think, the first-ever VR headset was created back in 1968 by a computer science teacher, Ivan Sutherland, and one of his students, Bob Sproull. The first virtual reality headsets for consumers were released in the 1990s but really VR became available to the average individual in the 2010’s thanks to a field-wide effort to develop more advanced applications for VR.
The first prototype in the 2010s was called the Oculus rift headset, this is what boosted the interest in VR development, in 2014 Facebook bought Oculus for $2billion and took over the development of the headset, it was following this purchase that Sony, Google, and Samsung all started developing VR technology too. VR became available for the general public to try in 2015, a VR roller coaster was launched, you could watch a VR experience of what it looks like inside the oval office and a VR experience showing what life is like in a Syrian refugee camp. These were breakthroughs in VR technology and in the years following this hundreds of companies started developing VR and the technology advanced rapidly bringing us to all the VR gaming we have today.
VR gaming is extremely popular in 2021, but it’s not yet as popular as normal games such as the first-person shooter game Valorant, this is a popular first-person shooter game known for how difficult it is so you might have to use these cheats to win easily at valorant. Keep reading to find out how VR gaming actually works and why VR gaming is so expensive.
The basics behind VR gaming technology.
How VR works is all dependent on a headset that creates an immersive 3D environment that simulates your vision. The screen on the headset prevents you from seeing anything that is happening in the real world so you’re fully involved with what is on the screen, the screen is usually a mobile phone or connected to a device with an HDMI cable to create the environment. Most VR headsets require a minimum frame rate of 60 frames per second to make it seem realistic and there must also be a high refresh rate to keep up with people’s movements. If these two things aren’t high enough it will damage the user experience as there will be a lag between their movements and the actions on the screen. These two things also have to work in sync as if the frames per second are higher than the refresh rate it causes a distorted image which ruins the image for the user.
Other elements of VR technology.
Whilst image is the most important there are many other elements that have to be considered. The sound effects must be in complete sync with the image the users sees for VR gaming to be good; it’s also vital to have the right sounds to accompany the image the user is seeing as if happy music is playing during a horror game it will ruin the whole user experience. On top of sound, many advanced headsets also track any head and eye movements of the user to improve their experience further. This is done with laser pointers, mobile sensors, and led lights to detect movement. These are used as they have a very high accuracy which all adds to the consumer’s experience.
Why VR gaming is so expensive.
Any gamers will know that VR gaming is considerably more expensive than any gaming that has come before it, whether that’s PC, Xbox or Playstation, etc. VR gaming has always been expensive, before Facebook bought Oculus not many companies were interested in developing VR which meant there wasn’t much spending going into development initiatives. As the article previously explains, as the image is so important the headset needs high definition display and motion sensors, all of which are still expensive now and we’re even more expensive when the first headset was developed.
Prices are starting to fall as more and more companies are developing VR which means the hardware is more frequently used causing a slight reduction in price. Creating the 3D environment is extremely costly, as well as creating tricks to guide the user through the game. On top of this, VR audio is developed in a different way to usually game audios which again is much more expensive. The reason that VR gaming is so expensive is that it is much newer than normal gaming, the more that it is developed and used the cheaper it will become. If you’re hoping to get on the VR gaming trend but can’t afford it just yet then you’ll be glad to know there is expected to be a $9billion expansion in the VR market, this should help to decrease the costs so you can finally get your perfect VR headset.
