Will virtual reality become a real thing in 2016?

Virtual reality was once a science fiction fantasy. The idea that we would one day be able to disappear into a computer generated world – and like it – has been knocking around for a while, and it’s a seductive thought. Who wouldn’t want a bit of escapism every now and again?

But could 2016 finally be the year of virtual reality? It certainly looks like it. From Oculus Rift to HTC's Vive headset, there are plenty of options for consumers who want an immersive experience, whether it's for movies, games, viewing photos or any other use they can come up with.

If the manufacturers have their way, in the future, we’ll all be hooked into virtual worlds. The only question is if consumers will jump on board with it.

What are the options?

The cost of getting VR will be a factor for many consumers, but there are a few different options to choose from.

The cheapest way to get virtual reality is to use your mobile phone as a screen, and invest in something called Cardboard. It’s essentially a cardboard headset that you can drop your mobile phone into and access some of the VR-enabled applications and services. That includes YouTube’s 360-degree videos, or Zombie Shooter VR. You can load up virtual tours of Tuscany or hitch a ride on a rock-climbing trip.

It costs about €20, which won’t break the bank – provided you have a phone you can use with it, of course. It’s compatible with pretty much most Android phones, even the larger-screened handsets, which were a problem for the previous incarnation of Cardboard.

Although Microsoft has thrown its weight behind its holographic project HoloLens, it seems the company may also be interested in trialling VR apps in a similar way to Google. At an event scheduled for later this month in Russia, the company is on the hunt for developers who want to make VR applications, and according to The Next Web, it will be offering cardboard headsets to those that grab its fancy.

The next rung of the ladder is Samsung’s Gear VR. The headset, which is made using Oculus technology, uses Galaxy handsets – specifically the Note 4 and S6, S6 Edge and the new S6 Edge+ – as the screen. The developer version of the headset was made available for $199, but the company has just announced the consumer version will go on sale for $99 – a major price drop.

The Gear VR has its own an app store that covers everything from games to live music. Want to stand on stage with pop stars? You can. How about take an underwater trip? They’ve got that covered too.

There are also some games to choose from. This is where you may need to purchase some extras; although the Gear VR has a touchpad on the side of the headset, it won’t work well for some games, and won’t work at all for others.

Seizing on the gaming aspect of things, Sony has been developing Project Morpheus for the PlayStation. The headset has been shown at games conferences over the past year, and when teamed with the power of the PlayStation 4 and some decent games, you can see why it might be a winner for the games firm.

It’s a natural jump for Sony, which tried – and failed, really – to convince consumers that 3D gaming was the next wave of the future. It turned out to be little more than a novelty. But virtual reality might have a more receptive audience – provided the price is right.

Perhaps more surprising was HTC’s announcement that is was getting involved. The Vive headset, which has been built in partnership with Valve, is currently doing the rounds of the games exhibitions, and the early indications are that it is good.

So far, it’s been getting good feedback, and it’s due to go on limited sale before the end of the year, with a full release in the first few months of 2016.

That will put it in direct competition with Oculus. Its Rift VR headset is the one that kicked off the current race to virtual reality and it has been hard at work coming up with a consumer version of the device. It has teamed up with Microsoft for streaming games to the headset via Windows 10, and it's currently owned by Facebook, which paid $2 billion for the firm back in 2014. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the social network was readying itself for the platforms of tomorrow – leading to questions about who really wants a virtual reality social network.

Earlier this summer, the company gave us a taste of what to expect, unveiling new controllers that are designed to interact with the virtual world. The partnership means that the device will also come with an Xbox controller.

The downside? It won't be available in time for Christmas; it's expected to hit the shops early next year. Cost-wise, it's not going to be cheap. According to Oculus's founder Palmer Lucky, we'll be looking at shelling out somewhere in the region of $1,600.

Part of the reason for the high cost of Oculus compared to other headsets is the need for a computer that will work with the headset. If you have a fairly new, high-powered machine, you won’t be incurring the added expense. But for the rest of us, getting hold of an Oculus Rift will be a bit pricier than you’d hope.

Identifying the machines that will work with Oculus is going to be a bit easier than you might think. Oculus announced in September that it would be giving PCs suitable for use with Rift a stamp of approval.

What will we be using it for?

Research firm Juniper is pinpointing 2016 as the watershed year for VR. Still, only about three million wearable headsets are expected to be shipped in 2016, according to Juniper’s analysis. If things take off, that could be as many as 30 million by 2020.

Virtual reality is still in its infancy, but gaming is the first thing that springs to mind. However, there may also be a market for VR films.

If you thought putting on a pair of glasses to watch 3D movies was wavering towards antisocial, things might be about to get even worse. According to Juniper Research, virtual reality films could be a thing in the future. Immersive, yes, but it means watching a film with family and friends could become an individual experience, as the headsets block out the surrounding world and the people who inhabit it.

Unsurprisingly though, the major film studios seem to be getting excited by the prospect, Disney announced in September it was putting $65 million into entertainment start-up Jaunt, which is focused on VR video.

On the plus side, if you usually watch a movie with a perpetual question-asker (“Is he the killer? What’s he doing? Why is he doing that?”), the rise of VR may effectively kill off that habit. There’s always a silver lining.

We can also expect films made specifically with virtual reality in mind, if Juniper’s vision of the future comes to pass. Although its research noted that there are some cinema applications already out there that will allow traditional films to be played in VR, there could be a novelty factor to them that will eventually see them die off. That’s where the purpose-built content will come in.

But don’t throw out the TV just yet. Analysts at Oppenheimer & Co have pointed out that there are a few obstacles for virtual reality to overcome before it can really take its place in the mainstream entertainment industry.

There’s the fact that you’ll need to be tethered to a device such as a games console for some of these VR peripherals to work, and don’t overestimate the willingness of people to cut themselves off from the outside world. Oppenheimer analysts also pointed to the user interface as a potential problem; it’s not quite as refined as it needs to be to ensure total immersion.

Regardless of the hurdles it still faces, it seems we really are in line for a surge in popularity of VR next year. But regardless of how many powerful companies and individuals are backing it, the devices will have to strike the right note with consumers if they are to avoid the fate of the 3D TV.