i3 - January/February 2016 - 18

PlayStation VR has an advantage over the
competition because of its global installed base
of more than 25 million PlayStation 4 consoles. He also adds that Sony has its Worldwide
Studios teams working on original VR game
content like Sony Japan Studio's The Playroom
VR, Sony London Studio's The London Heist,
and Guerrilla Games' RIGS: Mechanized Combat League. Additional exclusive games include
Rebellion's BattleZone and Crytek's Robinson:
The Journey.
"VR is great for gaming because it gives you
a full-scale view of your place in the environment and that sense of presence that everyone
likes to use," Koller says. "VR takes over the two
senses that you use the most-vision and hearing-and it tricks the brain into thinking that
you're in another environment."
AUGMENTED REALITY
Digi-Capital is even more optimistic about augmented reality, which it forecasts to generate
$120 billion in revenue by 2020. Merel believes
the billions of smartphones on the market open
up the opportunity for software makers to capitalize on that technology, which blends digital
images with the real world through a phone's
camera.
Microsoft has hedged its bets on both VR
and AR. The company has partnered with Oculus VR to include its Xbox One controller in
every consumer edition retail package and also
is offering plug-and-play Windows 10 connectivity and the ability to stream Xbox One games
inside Oculus Rift. On the AR front, Microsoft
is developing HoloLens, a wireless visor device
that allows consumers to play games like Minecraft on the wall or on a table in full 3D.
"Windows 10 is going to be a great platform
for augmented reality," Mike Nichols, chief
marketing officer at Xbox, says. "HoloLens is
one device that shows that off, so that's why we
built it."
One of the mysterious players in the augmented reality space is Florida startup Magic
Leap, which has raised $592 million from companies like Google, Qualcomm, Warner Bros.,
and Legendary Entertainment. The company
has designed a Dynamic Digitized Lightfield
Signal, which generates images indistinguishable from real objects and then can place those
images seamlessly into the real world. Ready
Player One author Ernest Cline says Steven
Spielberg and Warner Bros. Pictures may use
18

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2016

HOW SAMSUNG IS CORNERING
THE MOBILE VR MARKET
VR takes
over the two
senses that
you use the
most-vision
and hearing-
and it tricks
the brain
into thinking
that you're
in another
environment.

-John Koller,
Sony Computer
Entertainment
America

While Google has a much more affordable VR alternative with its Cardboard VR, analysts believe Samsung's
$99 Gear VR will serve as many consumer's entryway
into virtual reality. By partnering with Oculus VR and
offering an affordable device that works across all
2015 and newer Samsung smartphones and mini
tablets, the Korean company has positioned itself as a
leader in the VR space.
Nick DiCarlo, vice president and general manager
of immersive products and virtual reality at Samsung,
says content is king when it comes to enticing new
consumers to experience VR.
"Everyone in the VR space agrees that having
enough content is critical," DiCarlo says. "3D was an
enhancement to entertainment and games, but VR is
a blow-your-mind step function. That's a bar we want
to hold ourselves to. We want the content to blow
people's minds."
Samsung has worked in conjunction with Oculus to
bring game developers on board for mobile VR titles
and linear 360-degree content through MILK VR. That
channel launched with 30 titles and now has more
than 300.
"We've seen the MILK VR per user engagement
triple in the time we've been running the service, and
the games are getting longer and richer," DiCarlo says.
"Part of the lighter and more comfortable redesign
for the Consumer Edition was because of these more
robust VR experiences that are becoming the norm.
One of the keys for the VR ecosystem to grow is
getting consumers to experience it for themselves.
DiCarlo says that since most people have multiple
phones in their family, the Gear VR can be shared
easily.
I T I S I N N O VAT I O N

https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-hololens/en-us

i3 - January/February 2016

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