Sales

• Virtual Reality (VR) technology is going to get a serious boost in 2016 thanks to the proposed commercial availability of several instrumental devices.
• CCS Insight predicts dedicated VR devices will record sales of nearly $1 billion by the end of 2016.
• An estimated 9 million headsets will be shipped out across the world in 2016.
• Lower-priced smartphone-based devices will make up the majority of the VR headset shipments.
• One day virtual reality will become a part of daily life for billions of people.
• Virtual reality will expand the hunger for more powerful PCs to a much broader audience.
• Mobile VR headsets are expected to increase from 1 million in 2016 to 122 million by 2025.
• Goldman Sachs predicts VR will be an $80bn market by 2025.

Marketing

• 2016 will see Virtual Reality (VR) become the next MR buzzword.
• The Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and Sony's PlayStation VR will propel the virtual-reality headset market to $895 million in revenue.
• Consumers will soon be exposed to an incredible diversity of virtual reality options ranging from ultra-low cost to super premium.
• Wearables and VR headsets like Oculus Rift will present marketers new ways to tell their brand stories and communicate with consumers through immersive 360 experiences.

Experiences

• The trend toward personalized video experiences will pave the way for the adoption of virtual reality (VR) as the next screen.
• Virtual Reality will create more opportunities for people to learn together in a shared experience.
• Virtual Reality will continue to drive deeper social connections.
• Ikea customers will soon be able to walk around kitchens in virtual reality using a VR app being piloted globally.
• 2016 will see Virtual Reality (VR) become the next MR buzzword.
• Virtual Reality will be the next generation's Facebook.
• Consumers will see a load of high-quality VR games, apps, and "experiences" in the near future.
• Devices that enable the creation of video content for VR experiences will likely continue to become more apparent and important.
• VR headsets are expected to become a major component in the future in gaming, entertainment and computing.
• VR devices are going to be too compelling not to bring into the office.
• Enterprises will likely derive considerable benefits from using AR and VR to transform operational models and long-standing fieldwork and training processes.
• VR headsets can take people to places they could never visit because of cost issues or feasibility.
• VR will eventually work its way to something as small as a pair of glasses.
• There are people developing platforms to teach others how to do surgery, to show them from the point of view of a surgeon what's happening.
• VR HealthNet is developing virtual-reality modules for nurses and other medical professionals aimed at helping them internalize certain procedures without any risk to patients.
• Retailers will continue finding innovative ways to utilize VR so they can provide shoppers with simulated experiences that take them far away from the traditional showroom.
• AR and VR will eventually merge into one enhanced version of reality.
• Smell-o-vision has been around for a long time and its certainly going to be brought out in various incarnations as VR use grows.

Disruption

• The Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality (VR/AR) will create a "major" new market that will replace smartphones.
• In the next 10 years there is no industry that Virtual Reality (VR) is not going to touch.
• VR devices such as Google Cardboard could be given away by companies to clients to view their videos.
• VR will allow a true convergence between traditional and newer interactive media.

• VR could reach a 10 million annual shipment rate in 3-to-5 years.
• While Virtual Reality could revolutionize entertainment it is not going to be only about entertainment.
• Virtual Reality (VR) could one day mean the end of the office in the physical sense.
• One day there will be so much Virtual Reality content that is sold at even higher prices than today's video content.
• Immersive journalism could connect audiences with major news stories in dynamic new ways.
• You might go to the dentist and pop on an Oculus Rift before having a cavity filled.
• AR and VR will make it possible for IT to play an active role in retooling high-cost training and simulation environments.
• VR could replace supermarket experiences, driving and history lessons.
• Future Martian expeditions that include a VR rig could produce the first virtual experience that lets humans explore the planet located more than 48 million miles from Earth.
• VR sports broadcasts could become the norm.
  

Drivers
content · headset · games · virtual reality option · video offering · experience · ar · virtual tourism · oculus rift

Athena's forecast (robot generated from verbatim forecasts)

• Start year: 2015
• Likely Tipping point: 2020
• Likely End year: 2026
• Likely Impact $: Billions
• Likelihood: 90%
• Regions affected: Global
• Most affected sectors: Entertainment, Media, Military, Law, Education, Technology, Telecommunications, Tourism, Travel, Services, Health

Questions (New Service)

• Will renewed public interest and the advent of low-priced hardware and new VR apps mean virtual reality is back in vogue?
• Is 2016 the year that virtual reality (VR) finally makes its breakthrough as a mainstream technology?

Add your answers in the Forums inside these links.

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