What is holding Virtual-Reality back ?

In the future, we won’t have to rely on imagining what it would be like to be inside of a different reality; thanks to virtual reality (VR), we’ll be able to experience it for ourselves. But the technology has been around for decades, and the majority of people haven’t even heard of it. What exactly is holding back VR from going mainstream? Here are five things that experts think are standing in its way.

The smartphone is great but not good enough

As great as it is, there are a few aspects of smart devices that simply aren’t good enough for virtual reality. In fact, the all-in-one design of today’s phones make them less than ideal for VR because their screens aren’t big enough or don’t have low enough latency. The phone/display combo also makes VR headsets heavier and harder to use comfortably.

There are better alternatives

There are plenty of reasons why consumers may choose not to buy into virtual reality. Some simply aren’t interested in gaming, and others have already bought devices like Microsoft’s Xbox One or Sony’s PlayStation 4 and would prefer to continue playing their favorite games on those systems, rather than switching over to a new device.

Not enough content yet

. . . then there’s not enough content. You can build a pretty killer gaming experience, but if you don’t have any games—or if there aren’t any great games out yet—no one is going to buy your headset. Right now, people are waiting for something incredible to come along; an experience that can only be delivered with virtual reality. And so far, we just haven’t seen it yet.

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Too expensive

Right now, there’s a pretty big divide between high-end (or even midrange) VR headsets and smartphone headsets. If you’re willing to spend $1,000 on a PC and another $500 on a headset like Oculus Rift or HTC Vive, you can enjoy high-quality virtual reality.

The headset needs to get lighter and more comfortable

As great as it is, there are a few aspects of smart devices that simply aren’t good enough for virtual reality. In fact, the Today’s headsets are bulky and heavy, so for many people it’s not even a question of if they would wear them but when. The average consumer doesn’t want to deal with lugging around a bunch of extra weight on their head. The experience will be more immersive: Augmented and virtual reality are in their infant stages today, but there is a lot that can be done to increase immersion as developers continue to explore how these technologies can affect people’s lives.