Unity Vision Summit Attendees Receive Free HTC Vive

Virtual Reality is commonly perceived as the next step in entertainment and could revolutionize the way we all watch films, and play video games. Not only that, VR devices could theoretically be deployed in the medical profession to help diagnose patients from remote locations or instruct junior doctors how to perform certain examinations. As you can see, the Virtual Reality craze is certainly going to be around for some time, and I cannot wait to see the kind of software implementations across various industries. Of course, there are already a huge selection of headsets being finalized including the Oculus Rift, PlayStation VR and HTC Vive. 2016 should be the year when VR becomes mainstream and consumers can finally see what the fuss is all about!

During the Unity Vision Summit, founder of Valve, Gabe Newell made a brief appearance on video and announced that all attendees would receive a free HTC Vive. This rightfully made the crowd very excited and they applauded Valve for their kind gesture. It’s a very clever move on Valve’s part because it gives developers access to the HTC Vive and allows them to understand the possibilities of the device. As a result, there should be more VR focussed games which offer a truly unique experience. VR hardware isn’t going to appeal to the core gaming audience unless there’s a killer application. Perhaps, Valve is hoping one of the developers in attendance today is going to help showcase the benefits of VR technology.

In all honesty, I cannot wait for VR to become mainstream and believe it could revolutionize immersion in a way never thought possible. However, it’s important to keep the devices at a reasonable cost, because many users will perceive it as a very expensive accessory. Whatever the case, VR is here to stay, and this year should really show us what its capable of.