2016 could make or break Virtual Reality Gaming

The Dalí Museum in Saint Petersburg, Florida, is running a new exhibit, entitled “Dream of Dalí”. This exhibit draws on the concept of virtual reality, which refers to immersive multimedia. Visitors put on virtual reality devices and are drawn inside a Dalí painting.

The head-mounted, somewhat obscure-looking, devices are the most recognisable features of virtual reality. Often referred to as virtual reality glasses or headsets, these devices allow players to block out their surroundings and present visuals directly to players. The kind of smile this puts on art lovers faces seems not to be replicable in the gaming world, where the uptake of virtual reality is increasing at a sluggish speed.

This development, despite the great potential virtual reality gaming, holds for the industry, can be explained by examining some of the developments surrounding the virtual reality technology.

The Virtual Boy was developed by Nintendo, and released in 1995 at a price of $180. A year later, the Virtual Boy was discontinued due to low sales figures. At that time, the technology to support the device was not available. By today's standards, screens were of low resolution, and the performance was not high enough to ensure images would load quick enough.