Survey: A Vast Majority Of People We Polled Don't Actually Own A VR Headset
Virtual reality (VR), which is one of the newer gaming and entertainment mediums, has rapidly grown in popularity over the last decade. The concept seems to be everywhere, with major tech companies outlining ambitious hardware plans, the next version of the internet intending to make its home there, and businesses finding a functional use for many of the headsets. But just how popular is VR and how are people accessing this new universe? We surveyed hundreds of people to find out.
Up until the release of Google Cardboard in 2014, VR had some pretty hefty entry requirements. Not only would you have to spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars on a headset, but you would also need a high-end PC to have a hope of running the limited number of VR experiences available. Google Cardboard was dirt cheap and only required a smartphone — but it was also every bit as bad of an experience as you would expect a phone wrapped in some cardboard and strapped to your face to be.
Things really changed in 2016 with the release of the PlayStation VR (PS VR). Reasonable-quality virtual reality and an okay games library were now accessible, provided you owned a PlayStation 4 console. Uptake on the PS VR was good, the Oculus Go (a slightly more polished take on Google Cardboard) was keeping things accessible, and high-end headsets from Valve and HTC were pushing boundaries. You also had the original Oculus Quest, which hit the market in 2019. The Quest was high quality, standalone, and relatively cheap at $399. Its sequel, the Quest 2, came soon after, offering more power and an even lower price. Uptake spiked, but how much of a difference did it really make? Is VR still niche, or has it earned a spot amongst established entertainment mediums?
The majority of people don't own a VR headset
A total of 620 United States residents took our survey and the results were very interesting. Despite Meta and Mark Zuckerberg's best efforts, the vast majority of people SlashGear surveyed — a total of 63.06% — did not own a VR headset. Despite the uptake amongst those surveyed being less than 50%, the numbers are actually quite impressive. For comparison, according to Statista, around 53% of U.S. households own a gaming console. Console gaming has been in the mainstream for decades longer than VR, which is a relatively new format. Go back six years, and the numbers are even closer, with Statista reporting that 40% of people owned some form of games console.
Of those that did own a headset, just under half, and 14.84% overall, owned a Meta (Oculus) Quest 2. This is unsurprising given the headset's low price point and ability to function on its own. Next was PS VR, which has exactly half the number of users the Quest 2 has at 7.42%. The PS VR requires a PlayStation 4 to function, but that happens to be one of the world's most popular consoles, which balances things out a bit. If you already own the PS4, the PS VR hardware is comparable in price to the Quest 2. Next is Valve's high-end Index, which 6.45% of users reported having. The Index is an advanced piece of kit capable of tracking individual fingers but is also expensive and complex. The model costs just under $1,000 for the full kit and requires external sensors to track its users. At the bottom of the list came two of HTC's headsets: the Vive Pro at 5.81% and the Vive Cosmos Elite at 2.42%.
Reference: https://www.slashgear.com