1. VIRTUAL REALITY TRENDS WE
ARE PREDICTING FOR 2017
15

2. 43 millions
of VR users by 2017
30 billion
VR revenue in 2020
Increasingly mainstream
audience very soon
VR MARKET FORECAST

3. 1. VR HEADSETS V2
The trend of release of a number of
VR headsets will continue  and on a
much grander scale
We will see new devices
hit the stands from
Razer and FOVE
We will witness
a widescale adoption of
the Google Daydream
View
More ‘established’ names in the world of VR will respond with a second generation
of headsets to compete. Namely, Oculus Rift with ‘Santa Cruz’ and the HTC Vive 2,
both of which will offer better immersive experience at (hopefully) lower prices.

4. 2. SAME GAME, NEW PLAYERS
VR
What makes us think so?
Intel, with Project Alloy is already muscling its way in
Apple continue to recruit VR & AR experts
Amazon (along with other ecommerce giants such as
eBay and Shopify) will be acutely aware of the need to
diversify their platform and embrace VR when it comes
to online shopping

5. 3. MORE THAN JUST SOUND & VISION
The VR industry is moving closer to perfecting
the visual and auditory aspects of experiencing
a virtual environment.
However, to truly achieve immersion, the other
senses must be satisfied. We’ve seen VR app
developers experiment with haptic feedback
using gloves and handheld controls, and in 2017
we expect more time and resource to be spent
on developing inputs for touch and smell.
2016
2017

6. 4. VC VR Investment
The VR has already experienced rapid growth. From Q1 2015 to
Q1 2016, 1.7$ Billion was invested in AR/VR companies. But
if our forecast come to pass  the real growth is yet to occur.
As VR transitions from a novelty ‘nice-to-have’ piece of tech to a
‘must-own’ over the next 12 months and beyond, revenue-focused
Series B rounds will be more frequent.
HTC announced 10$ Billion will be invested via dedicated VR fund.
B
forecast

7. 5. UNITY AND UNREAL GROW –
SPACE FOR ONE MORE BIG 3D ENGINE?
VS.
Unity and Unreal Engine are the big two 3D engines from which developers typically choose now.
Do they leave space for another engine to emerge and compete?
We think so, and we’ll be keeping a close eye on the likes of CryEngine and CopperCube
to see how they position themselves going forward. And it’s not unlikely that one of the
big players, such Google, Facebook, or Apple will develop their own proprietary 3D engine.

8. 6. STRATEGIC ALLIANCES FORM
Companies would be collaborating in order to optimise
Windows-based content on Intel-based VR devices.
&
The race is on to develop a VR standard, and it makes sense that companies
come together to share their expertise.
We expect to see even more of these types of relationships emerge in 2017.

9. 7. SOCIAL ACTIVITIES TRANSFORM
Expect new sports to arise and thrive, such as drone racing,
while established sports such as soccer, basketball, and ice
hockey will be increasingly experienced in VR.
What about social media, we believe we’ll see more from Mark Zuckerberg
and Facebook in 2017. Zuck demoed his vision for social VR in 2016, and
reminded us why Facebook paid $2Bn for Oculus Rift.

10. 8. VR GOES MAINSTREAM
It’s likely that Daydream will bring Virtual Reality to the masses
thanks to its affordable hardware and accessible marketplace.
With VR applications such as Google Play Movies, Hulu, Netflix,
YouTube, and countless interactive games, it’s not difficult to see
why we’re certain Google are onto a winner with Daydream.
As smartphones are built and released as being ‘Daydream-ready’
(a phrase we’ll all be hearing a lot more in 2017) it essentially means
anyone with a smartphone will have access to Virtual Reality content.

11. 9. HOLLYWOOD GOES VR
The world’s first ever Virtual Reality cinema sprang to life in Amsterdam this
year. We expect this will be the first of many similar cinemas around Europe
and indeed the world that will come into being in 2017.
Hollywood are well aware of the potential that VR represents and more and
more resource will be dedicated to cracking that potential.
Special effects and first person storytelling will come on leaps and bounds
as movies seek to challenge video games as the champion of VR content.

12. 10. POWERFUL PROCESSORS, SPEEDIER SPEEDS
With all of this new hardware and software to look forward to,
it simply must be underpinned by processors that are more
powerful than those we currently use.
As VR is adopted at a mainstream level, we should see faster
networks and higher bandwidth come to the fore in order to
support the hardware and minimize latency as the content is
being enjoyed.
We expect screen resolutions to improve to provide us with
a crisper Virtual Reality experience.

13. 11. VR DEVELOPERS IN DEMAND  AND OTHER
JOBS FOLLOW
The demand for VR developers has grown throughout 2016. In fact,
the 3D developer will be the ‘new’ mobile developer. 2017 will most
certainly see this trend continue as Virtual Reality edges ever closer to
mainstream adoption.
With every growth industry, the technical jobs come first, and everything
else follows. As more content is created and released, we reckon 2017 will
see an uptick in VR-related roles such as marketing and customer service.

14. 12. THE USER BASE EXPLODES
The people are ready for VR, and 2017 will witness a massive jump in
user numbers. This suggests that the next 12 months will present the
ideal opportunity to put your VR application into the hands of an
engaged and motivated audience.
2014
200,000 users
2017
30,000,000 users
10 %
hardcore gamers
90%
casual gamers
and mass market

15. 13. VR CREEPS INTO OUR EVERYDAY LIVES
Beyond the previously mentioned games, movies, sports, and shopping, we’ll
certainly see VR creep into other aspects of our everyday lives in 2017:
Medical training and teaching in particular will
benefit greatly from Virtual Reality technologies,
offering real-time feedback and valuable practical
exercises without putting anyone in jeopardy.
Less importance will be placed on physical locations
for training exercises or classroom lessons.

16. 14. PLAYSTATION VR CHANGES THE GAME
We’re sure that Google Daydream will make VR accessible to an incredibly
large mainstream audience, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be room
for competition. We expect that to come quite robustly in the shape of
Sony’s PlayStation VR.
With over two decades in the console business, Sony have something of an advantage over its rivals
when it comes to video games. Having launched in October 2016, there are certainly plenty of titles to
keep its early adopters busy (and happy), and we’re looking forward to more third-party titles becoming
available in 2017 to really give us an indication as to the standard of VR video games is headed.

17. 15. UNKNOWN
I think there is a world market for maybe five computers
- Thomas Watson, President of IBM, 1943
We certainly don’t wish to be quoted on a list such as this a year from
now, but we can say one thing is for sure  no-one can predict precisely
how VR will change our lives in the next 12 months and beyond.
The tech is changing so rapidly, and the market is
growing exponentially; our final trend for 2017 is
quite simply ‘unknown’.

18. Thank you!
Yariv@AppReal-VR.comwww.appreal-vr.com