Re:PlayStation VR Will Arrive in October for $399
by wpietri on Tuesday March 15, 2016 @09:52PM
(#11294437)
Personally, I can't tell yet the extent to which this is a novelty technology. Stereoscopic 3D has a 150-year history [1] of people saying, "This will change everything!" and then being wrong. Maybe this is finally its time, but maybe not.
This will definitely sell a bunch of units just because everybody wants to check it out. But I think we still don't know the extent to which this will become useful or necessary. Will this be another Google Glass or Segway, meaning basically a flop? Is it a smartphone in 2002, meaning that it's interesting but will take another couple generations to really find a mass market? Or is this the next color television, where it will pretty quickly become the dominant content and device model?
I'm sure full-immersion experience will be something we get to eventually. But if this isn't somebody's first rodeo, they may reasonably question whether this time 3D will really live up to the hype.
[1] Truly! E.g., the Brewster Stereoscope, which sold 250,000 units in the 1850s. Or the ViewMaster. Or 1950s anaglyph 3D. Or the VR of the 90s. Or 3D television, which was the next big thing for a CES or two, and has since vanished.
This will definitely sell a bunch of units just because everybody wants to check it out. But I think we still don't know the extent to which this will become useful or necessary. Will this be another Google Glass or Segway, meaning basically a flop? Is it a smartphone in 2002, meaning that it's interesting but will take another couple generations to really find a mass market? Or is this the next color television, where it will pretty quickly become the dominant content and device model?
I'm sure full-immersion experience will be something we get to eventually. But if this isn't somebody's first rodeo, they may reasonably question whether this time 3D will really live up to the hype.
[1] Truly! E.g., the Brewster Stereoscope, which sold 250,000 units in the 1850s. Or the ViewMaster. Or 1950s anaglyph 3D. Or the VR of the 90s. Or 3D television, which was the next big thing for a CES or two, and has since vanished.