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One-Third of Global Consumers Expected to Use VR by 2020


For many virtual reality startups, the slow pace of wide scale adoption of the technology has turned out to be a consistent reason behind their often disappointing business forecasts. A new study from Ericsson ConsumerLab however seems to indicate that adoption issues may soon be a thing of the past. The study, which is based on online interviews with over 20,000 people between the ages of 16 to 69 across 13 countries, and which Ericsson ConsumerLab claims represents the views of a billion media consumers around the world, also claims that a third of global consumers will use virtual reality by 2020.


Let’s digest that for a second. 2020 isn’t really that far away, and while one-third of “Global Consumers” may not necessarily mean one third of the Earth’s population, it’s still a heck of a lot of people, certainly far more people than the number who currently use virtual reality.


One of the key assumptions of the study seems to be that within five years, thirty percent of those surveyed believed that watching television would be a virtual reality experience they are anxious to have.


While it’s true that interacting with content virtually within the living room is likely where we’re all headed, it’s hard imaging that the cost of getting there is going to lower so much within the next two years that those who already haven’t jumped onboard the VR bandwagon will be willing to.


Of course the one wildcard that is hard to yet factor into this expected boom in VR users is the type of content that will be more readily available and it’s exactly this kind of content that the study assumes will exist and in such a way that will reintroduce the social aspect of watching television, reigniting the kind of watercooler moments that video on-demand and streaming have taken away.


And yes, it’s still true that the costs of headsets will have to continue to come down for there to be any kind of VR revolution like the study hints at, what is also true that ten years ago, watching television on a phone seemed like a silly thing nobody would care for. Now, according to this study, not only do 70 percent of consumers currently watch television on their smartphones, but by 2020 only one in 10 consumers will be watching television on a traditional screen.


Not only is that just three years from now, it’s a claim that makes the study’s forecast on VR seem more likely.