HTC brings VR to the cloud

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HTC has teamed up with Dalian Television and Beijing Cyber Cloud to test the first cloud VR service in Dalian, China, according to Engadget.

Rather than tethering the HTC Vive to a PC, the headset will be connected via a 60 Mbps broadband connection, which provides access to VR content from Viveport, HTC’s VR platform.

Storing VR content in the cloud also means consumers no longer need to wait for downloads or use PCs, which could improve the overall user experience.

By removing the need for a PC, HTC’s new system also addresses one of the main barriers to high-end VR headset adoption: the high price point. Although VR vendors have been aggressively slashing the prices of their headsets to be more palatable to consumers, high-end VR devices like the HTC Vive or Oculus Rift still need to be powered by a compatible PC, which is often the most expensive piece of equipment necessary for VR to work.

However, the new solution brings about challenges of its own that could damper consumer adoption. Since all content would be stored in the cloud, there could be added latency hindering the device's performance. Also, because the device runs on a broadband connection, it creates the risk of internet connectivity issues, which could prevent access to the cloud, making the device unusable. If the exclusive commercial trial is successful, and these issues don’t prove to be significant, then cloud VR could be an efficient method to overcome the price barrier for high-end VR headset adoption.

Jessica Smith, research analyst for BI Intelligence, has compiled a detailed report on virtual reality that:

Identifies the major players in today's VR hardware and platform markets.
Estimates future growth of each of the major VR categories.
Explores barriers to mass market consumer adoption for each of the VR hardware categories.
Considers how developer sentiment is driving the growth of various platforms.
Assesses how the market will shake out over the next five years in terms of size and the success of various VR hardware categories.

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