From Meta’s Oculus to PlayStation’s VR headsets, Cheddar News anchors Ken Bufa and Kristen Scholer cover the potential for this tech in Cheddar Connected as more heavy hitters like Apple look to take the stage.

Closing Bell

Deep Dive Into Virtual and Augmented Reality Headsets

back to cheddar news is closing bell, everyone christian. Surely here with ken, buffa, that's right now. It's time to get into our cheddar connected segment and it was the year 2012 crowdfunding campaign began for a new virtual reality headset made by a company called Oculus VR. Remember that Fast forward 10 years later, that same company is offering the world's most popular VR headset. But it's been a long and interesting journey for the mena owned company now called reality labs plus all makers of VR and AR devices. Okay, ken, So even though most people have probably heard of V. R and A R, this technology hasn't yet been widely adopted by consumers. Well, that could be changing his new data and recent moves by tech giants does indicate VR and Air headsets have the chance to become a popular product Of the future. So, for example, new data from the International Data Corporation. Finding that 2021 was a record year for a ar and VR headsets with shipments growing by more than 92% from 2020. What total of 11.2 headsets were shipped with almost half shift during the holiday quarter and Metas Quest II was by far the most popular products, making up 78% of the AV. A AR VR market. So this is fascinating. I know you're the tech expert, you are the one that's connected. What do you think? So the thing is when a AR and VR headsets first came out, it was a real hassle to use them, you have to have all these wires connected to your face, including your pc. But now, with the introduction of the new technology you don't really need that you have perhaps with the one wire connected that's connected to the console, whatever or computer you're using. So not only was the technology evolving, but the ease of use was evolving to which may have had a direct impact on how many people are willing to take the plunge into the AR VR space. You know, the thing for me is that it's still so clunky like that. I do think at least anecdotally that that is something in the price point that does keep some people I think still on the fence. Mm hmm. That's right now. The meta quest two is the latest VR headset from Reality labs. And just as it's been a long journey for the company, it's also been a long journey for just this one product, it was released in september of 2020 as the Oculus Quest to, it was then rebranded as Meta Quest to november of last year after the company previously known as facebook changed its corporate name to of course, meta The device has also had big software upgrades, but regardless consumers seem to still agree that the headset is the best option on the market and starting at 299 bucks, it's also one of the more affordable VR devices to keep in mind, it also includes one of the biggest libraries of VR games and apps around The headset also does not require an external computer in order to run a feature not shared by Sony's upcoming PS VR two. Well, I can hear the playstation maker announcing its working on a VR headset in february of 2021. Then earlier this year, Sony revealing device would be called the Playstation VR two and also revealing what it will look like this week, the company stated, expects to have more than 20 major games available for the headset once it launches your a lot of noise behind me. This is what usually happens at 3 33 33 before the long holiday weekend, but here's the deal. What this one does is users will also need to have a PS five to access it as the headset was only gonna work by connecting to the gaming console with a USB C cable. Well, it may not seem like a big deal, but tech radar journalist Hamish Hector saying introduces a number of constraints that you won't get with the all in one VR headset, like the meta quest to. That's right. But Ben is dominance in the VR space is about to be challenged by another. Tech giant. Apple could be close to entering the virtual reality or mixed reality space with the new device. Bloomberg is reporting that Apple recently showed off a new headset capable of virtual and augmented reality to board members. An announcement about this long awaited headset might not come as early as next month as the company's developers conference, but the early look for board members could hint that the release is drawing closer and when it finally becomes available, it's expected to have a hefty the price tag. Some of the rumored features of Apple's mixed reality headsets. Senate says the device could cost $3000 or more. It also says the device will feature eight K displays in a run on a new software that works at Apple called reality Os. Now, here's the deal, I've said this since the beginning. If there's one company that's going to introduce the masses to a AR and VR it is Apple. They've been making small strides in doing this one VR I mean they are with your iphone with our reality enable uh, inability enable ability with IOS devices being able to do that thing to your emoji will act likely as your avatar in the VR metaverse, a our world and three they have so much processing power that's jammed into a tiny chip that they're using now for the M one devices like their laptops, their ipads and everything else that the processing will take place on the actual headset and that means that you won't have to deal with an external computer. And also with that processor being so efficient, you likely won't have to deal with massive clunky batteries inside the headset as well. I agree with you, I think if anyone's going to make it with a consumer in mind the mass consumer, it's Apple but a three out of $3000 price tag, I mean that's expensive, that's like double what an ipad costs. So you definitely um, I guess want to save up if you want to access this new technology and one more thing face idea, although it works for your entire face, it could, they could simplify that to work with just the brow area so you can make all your purchases and do your log in attempts through your VR headset as well. It just makes sense to me interesting what happens if you get Botox, please sign in with a different user name, you're not being recognized. I had, I'm sure Apple's thinking about that. Okay, well another tech giant recently revealing its looking to break into the virtual headwear space as well. Google hosting its annual product event earlier this month and announcing it is working on a are glasses that can translate a conversation in real time. That's interesting. The announcement coming more than a decade after google unveiled google glass in 2012 and the same year that the crowdfunding campaign started for Oculus, although few details are known about the glasses so far, they do show how VR and AR technology could have use cases extending beyond entertainment when revealing the glasses on twitter, google saying quote augmented reality can break down communication barriers and help us better understand each other by making language visible and quote, I love it Now one tech giants, mixed reality headset is already being used in ways that may surprise you were talking about Microsoft's hollow lens. Now it's being used to help avoid the costs of bringing out experts to fix issues and perform training. Microsoft has shared stories of companies like eaten Toyota and Loreal using the headset to improve training and troubleshooting. It's post discussing the study now, what's interesting here, especially when it comes to google, how they're trying to go with this language approach. It's more I guess productivity based than media consumption based. Like so many people think with the Oculus to and then perhaps the rumored apple headset that's coming out where hollow lens and this introduction by google is more productivity based, more technical used to get things done, which I can see that space being a huge marketplace for this company because as you know, Microsoft test teams, they have all these like illustrator um software, not obviously illustrated that adobe, but like productive productivity software and google hand in hand with the international appeal can be huge for them as well. So I do think especially when we talk about the workplace. I mean that's kind of how I first was actually introduced to it. Design teams teams in different areas, being able to remote and collaborate on projects together here in this virtual world and virtual space. So it's not surprising to me that on an enterprise level. Right. I mean, those would be customers that would be willing to pay up some of these high prices as well to use the technology. Absolutely, especially if you're training and like something that's close confinement perhaps in the cockpit of a plane, you can just put on the goggles and your structure can label things as you're looking around the cockpit, there's like a billion different users you can think of in your head, but I think productivity is the way to go, definitely. Okay, so with all of these big name companies looking to offer a portal through which consumers can enter these virtual worlds, could these devices continue to increase in popularity? That's the billion dollar question. Well, the international data corporation says headset shipments are forecast to grow nearly 47% in 2022 from 2021 experienced double digit growth through 2026. When global shipments of a RN VR headsets are expected to surpass 50 million units. Well, again, only 11 million sold in 2021. So we still have a ways to go. And the one big thing we have not mentioned yet, Kristen is the metaverse, the term that has become the talk of the tech world used to describe universal and immersive virtual worlds that are aided by the use of VR and a our headsets, no discussion of the metaverse is driving interest and investment around a AR and VR technology, as you already know. That's exactly right. Still too early to tell if or when I will lead to more headset sales but meta the current leader in this space and it's about to get much more competitive for companies also hoping to drive mass adoption. A virtual headsets, I mean leave it to facebook's parent company, meta genius brand marketing their meta the metaverse, Everything in the virtual world, it kind of has become now synonymous because of this campaign, meta with the virtual world. That's true and it just anecdotally like with um with what comes to my friends, why they've been a little timid or hesitant to buying something from meta, especially when it comes to VR is the data consumption that you give to these companies when you're wearing it, what you're playing, who you're playing with, your ability to maneuver between games, what interests you are. That is a lot of data harvesting that can be taken advantage of on these devices. So when they do come to market and they're going to be coming, I'm guessing in recent years, data and privacy is going to be a huge thing for these companies to try to tackle to make sure that they are not only protecting their customers but also making sure their customers feel safe using their product. That's such a good point