The answer to every virtual reality developer’s biggest fear; REVENUE!
As most of you know revenue generation has been a major hindrance for VR startups because the market is not purchasing at the rate in which they need to justify the continuous development of software. And the hardware companies aren’t selling at the rate they would like because of the lack of available software.
It’s the chicken and egg situation, which never ends well…
I believe the answer to this problem is a revenue infusion from advertisements. Wait — hold on, don’t start coding that ad blocker yet because I’m not talking about interruptive pop-ups. I’m talking about interactive product placements.
Let’s take a moment to admire the value of these product placements before I tell you how it works.
Product placement has been around forever and for good reason, it works! When Jules Vern was writing Around the World in 80 days in 1873 shipping and travel companies vied for a mention in his anticipated book. Since then these types of promotions have become even more valuable.
Subtlety is the key here.
Enticing a consumer to buy is as easy as presenting the product at the right time because it can actually educe a desire. Look at that pizza, now you’re hungry!
This is what I’m talking about when I say advertisements, so lets all get the idea of a greasy used car salesman out of our minds. These advertisements will not disturb the virtual experience in any way and in some cases can make it seem more realistic because we are used to seeing branded products in every day life.
Real Estate, gaming, medical training, live events, sports, movies, etc. are all huge players in VR content development because they have truly valuable applications. A family in New York can tour a home in Texas without hoping on a plane and incurring all the expenses that go along with purchasing a home abroad. A medical student can simulate surgery utilizing real equipments they would use in a live scenario. Beyonce fans living thousands of miles away from her NYC concert can stream her performance live for the first time ever.
I think we all can agree that the virtual reality is AMAZING and can improve the lives of everyone. But who is paying for these expensive simulations? The real estate agent or the hospitals or the music producers? This is the VR problem . We have the technology and the future is here, but it’s expensive and consumers aren’t seeing the value yet.
We believe the answer is in advertising. With VR development increasing, more and more users are interacting with Virtual Reality in a way they’ve never imagined. This drive of traffic to various content can be extremely valuable to businesses and brand trying to expand their market reach and increase sales.
