VR Industry Trends A comprehensive overview on the state of the VR Industry in Q1-2017
This trend report provides a comprehensive overview of the state of the Virtual Reality Industry in Q1 of 2017. It's based on real data from the Sketchfab platform with over 800,000 contributors* and over 1.5 Million scenes viewable in VR, as well as our most recent VR survey. The report details trends we’ve observed within the industry, specifically related to content, VR hardware, and the future of VR.
What's your experience with Virtual Reality?
- I've tried both Mobile & Desktop headsets 46.6%
- I've tried a Mobile VR headset 18.2%
- I've tried a Desktop VR Headset 14.8%
- I've seen a VR headset, but never tried it 14.0%
- I've never seen or tried a VR headset 6.4%
Insights: Experience with Virtual Reality
79.6% of our surveyed audience have experienced VR in some capacity, with more people having tried a mobile headset vs. a desktop based headset. Almost half of the surveyed population have experienced both mobile and desktop based VR.
Overall, what's your opinion of Virtual Reality?
- VR has potential, but not for everything 53.6%
- VR is the future 43.1%
- VR is just hype 3.3%
Insights: Virtual Reality Sentiment
The majority of the surveyed population (53.6%) believes that VR has potential, but may not be the “end-all be-all” solution. 43.1% believe that VR is, in fact, the future. A small portion of the audience (3.1%) believes VR is just hype.
Are you more interested in the potential of Virtual Reality or Augmented Reality?
- Virtual Reality 64.4%
- Augmented Reality 35.6%
Insights: Virtual Reality vs. Augmented Reality
According to the survey, the majority of respondents (64.4%) are interested in the potential of Virtual Reality over Augmented Reality.
Do you own a Virtual Reality headset?
- Yes 65.7%
- No 34.3%
Insights: Virtual Reality Headset Ownership
65.7% of the surveyed population own a VR headset. 34.3% do not.
Why haven't you purchased a Virtual Reality headset?
Insights: Non-Purchasers
68.7% of those who have not purchased a VR headset believe they are too expensive. 30% of the survey respondents believe that the technology isn’t quite ready, and 23.5% of respondents feel that there is a lack of quality content. Other reasons for not purchasing a VR headset include: complex setup, potential disorientation, hardware incompatibility, and having access to the technology through another means such as work or school.
Which Virtual Reality headset(s) do you own?
Insights: Virtual Reality Headset Ownership
The majority of our surveyed population own a Google Cardboard (58.9%). The second most popular headset is the HTC Vive (47%). The Oculus Rift and The Samsung Gear VR are extremely close with 29.3% and 29.5% ownership respectively. Other headsets included in responses are: PSVR, Google Daydream, Freefly VR, Procus PRO, Zeiss VR One plus, and Homido.
What's your favorite Virtual Reality headset?
- HTC Vive 57.8%
- Oculus Rift 19.8%
- Samsung Gear VR 7.3%
- Google Cardboard 6.3%
- PSVR 2.9%
- Google Daydream 0.8%
- Other 5.1%
Insights: Favorite Virtual Reality Headset
57.8% of respondents prefer the HTC Vive. 19.8% of respondents prefer the Oculus Rift, and 7.3% prefer the Samsung Gear VR. Other headsets mentioned include: Google Cardboard, Google Daydream, PSVR, and various custom homemade solutions.
What's your favorite use for your Virtual Reality headset?
Insights: Favorite Use of Virtual Reality Headset
The clear preference was Exploring Environments (61.3%). A close second for favorite use of VR headset was gaming, coming in at 57.2%. The following categories also had a favorable response (in descending order): Content creation, 360 videos, and interactive social experiences. Other uses include: Architecture visualization and Research and Development.
Which future Virtual Reality feature(s) are you most interested in?
Insights: Future Virtual Reality Features
The majority of the respondents (58.6%) are interested in wireless headsets, while full body tracking (50.7%) and haptic feedback (35.8%) are close contenders. Other notable features users are looking forward to are (ranked from highest to lowest priority): eye tracking, better VR navigation, and social layer features.
What do you think Virtual Reality needs to achieve mass adoption?
- Cheaper Headsets 43.0%
- Better Content 31.9%
- WebVR (Democratization of VR content) 11.3%
- Other 13.9%
Insights: Virtual Reality Mass Adoption
43% of respondents believe cheaper virtual reality headsets are the key to unlocking mass adoption. Better content is close behind with 31.9%. WebVR distribution is another noteable contentender with 11.3% of the votes. Some of the additional responses included: resolving motion sickness, increased ease of use, standardization & integration of hardware/content formats, reduction of room required for VR, standalone headsets (no computer required), and integration into larger institutions (schools, libraries, etc..).
Which industry vertical do you think will be most impacted by Virtual Reality in the next 5 years?
- Gaming 54.5%
- Education 19.5%
- Social 7.6%
- Health/Medicine 7.5%
- Business 6.8%
- Defense 4.2%
Insights: Top Virtual Reality Verticals
An overwhelming amount of respondents (54.5%) believe the gaming vertical will be most impacted by virtual reality in the next 5 years. Education came in second with 19.5% of the vote. Other categories that will be impacted by VR (ranked in order from most to least votes) are: social (7.6%), health/medicine (7.5%), business (6.8%), and military/defense (4.2%).
Do you currently produce 3D or Virtual Reality content?
- Yes 60.7%
- No 39.3%
Insights: 3D/Virtual Reality Content Production
60.7% of respondents produce 3D or VR content. 39.3% do not.
Have you ever used a Virtual Reality headset for reference when 3D modeling?
- No 76.4%
- Yes 23.6%
Insights: 3D Modeling in Virtual Reality
Of those that produce 3D or VR content, 23.6% have used a VR headset for reference when creating content. 76.4% of respondents have not.
Do you plan on buying a Virtual Reality headset in 2017?
- No 54.4%
- Yes 45.6%
Insights: Virtual Reality Headset Purchases in 2017
45.6% of respondents are planning to purchase a virtual reality headset in 2017. 54.4% are not.
Which Virtual Reality headset(s) do you plan on buying in 2017?
Insights: 2017 Virtual Reality Purchase Forecast
Of respondents planning on purchasing a virtual reality headset in 2017, 50.5% plan on purchasing an HTC Vive, 32.9% are planning on purchasing the Google Daydream, 29% are planning on buying the Oculus Rift, 15% are planning on purchasing the PSVR, 14.3% are planning to purchase a Google Cardboard, and 12.5% are planning on purchasing a Samsung Gear VR.
Time spent browsing Sketchfab 3D Scenes
Insights: Time Spent in VR (MM:SS)
On average, users spend 8x more time browsing content with VR enabled than without it. Sketchfab users spend 1:33 on Desktop devices, 1:42 on mobile devices, 6:39 in a mobile VR environment (Cardboard, Gear VR, etc…) and 18:35 in desktop VR (HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, etc…).
Sketchfab VR Consumption: Desktop vs. Mobile
- Mobile VR 76.32%
- Desktop VR 23.68%
Insights: VR Consumption
The most popular method of consumption is via mobile VR headsets (Google Cardboard, Gear VR, etc.) using smart phones (76.3%). The second most popular form of VR consumption is through Desktop VR headsets such as the HTC Vive or Oculus Rift.
Geographic distribution of Sketchfab VR Users
Insights: Geographic VR Distribution
In Q4, the top 5 countries consuming VR were: United States (63.85%), United Kingdom (10.79%), France (8.46%), Japan (2.92%), and Poland (2.92%). Other countries include Germany, Brazil, China, Turkey, Finland, Mexico, Taiwan, Canada, Hungary, Russia, Australia, India, Netherlands, Argentina, Czech Republic, and New Zealand.
* This survey is based on 1000+ responses from the Sketchfab community.