Total Immersion: Virtual Reality's Path to Mass Adoption
Joshua Daghir · Syracuse University Libraries (Syracuse University) · 2017
With the release of devices such as the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and Google Daydream in 2016, virtual reality seems poised to take over the tech and media landscape. Professional estimates of the projected popularity of these devices span extremely wide ranges, and many of these predictions fall victim to a self-serving bias. The purpose of this research is to identify the variables that affect the spread of the use of virtual reality, and to analyze how the characteristics of modern virtual reality relate to these variables. The framework used to identify and assess these variables comes from Everett Rogers’s seminal Diffusion of Innovations theory. To contextualize modern day VR, the paper include a brief history of the technology and relevant predecessors. It also compares and contrasts the diverse VR offerings on the market today. After analyzing virtual reality through the principles of the Diffusion of Innovations theory, it is clear that many factors are slowing VR’s rate of adoption, and that near-future estimates of the spread of the technology should be conservative. Despite this, the benefits of VR as seen through Rogers’s lens suggest that the long term view of the platform is much more optimistic.