Yeti: 2016 Virtual Reality (VR) User Survey Report

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Yeti released its 2016 Virtual Reality Report, which surveyed product developers at U.S. companies that are either VR-centric or just beginning to emerge in this market.

Yeti analyzed in the report:

The main challenges and opportunities of the VR market;
VR is penetrating and influencing different industries;
How well people understand the VR development process;
Average development time for VR projects;
General barriers to VR development;
Popular VR platforms and devices, etc.

One of the biggest surprises from the survey was that 54% of respondents were more optimistic about the long-term prospects of augmented reality (AR), while 34% were more optimistic about the future of VR, with 12% being unsure.

In addition, 85% of the respondents said that they are developing VR projects or will be involved in VR development within 1-2 years. Most developers already have at least one programmer with VR development capabilities, but they also realize that they are not yet capable of handling large-scale VR projects. Among them, more than half of the developers may hire external support.

However, VR's growth is not without challenges. As with most emerging and unproven technologies, VR projects face budget challenges. 40% of respondents would consider this to be the main obstacle for enterprises to promote VR. In addition, despite the optimism of the prospects of VR, 40% of respondents admitted that their understanding of the VR development process is below average.

In response to the survey results, Yeti offered seven recommendations for product developers or others interested in incorporating VR into their plans, including:

Learn. Take advantage of available documentation for VR projects and learn from your peers' projects. Plus, learn how VR is used in other industries to create unique VR experiences.

Education. There is no doubt that VR can help you realize your vision, but what you need is to educate key decision makers within the company about the strategic importance of VR.

Work on cross-device and cross-platform compatibility. While cross-device compatibility within a platform is critical, cross-platform compatibility is also worth considering. Quite simply, the more places a VR experience is supported, the more points of contact you have with your target audience.