VR News: Oculus Announces 1 Million Rift And Samsung VR Users [VIDEO]
Though VR remains a niche market that is still struggling to fully breach the mainstream market, virtual reality firm Oculus announced on Thursday that there are now 1 million VR users every month. Considering that the technology is still in its early stages and that apps for VR devices are still rare, the 1 million user base is indeed admirable.
The secret behind Oculus' impressive numbers lies in one of the company's earliest products, the mid-tiered Samsung Galaxy VR headset, which was released to be compatible with the Samsung Galaxy S6, S6 Edge, S7, S7 Edge and Note 5. The fact that there are millions of Samsung Galaxy users around the world and that the Gear VR is priced at a modest $99, Oculus was able to push the Gear VR into the mainstream market very well.
Max Cohen, Oculus' head of mobile, announced on Tuesday that the firm's two-pronged approach, composed of the entry-level Galaxy Gear VR and the high-end Oculus Rift, helped the company achieve the 1 million user base milestone.
"Oculus' mission is to help people experience anything, anywhere. The secret with VR is it can't just be slightly better than other experiences that you've had. It has to be even better," he said.
What's even more admirable is the fact that the 1 million active users of Oculus' VR headsets do not just use the device for a few minutes per day. According to the firm's announcement, the average time spent by users on their virtual reality device is 25 minutes a day, signifying that users are actually enjoying their VR experiences.
"They're highly engaged with the product," Cohen added.
With the milestone achieved, Oculus is confident that the popularity of the technology would only get better with time. After all, with a pretty stable user base, developers would be more encouraged to create more content for the platform. Currently, there are about 250 apps for the Gear VR, which is already pretty notable. By creating more apps, users would, of course, be motivated to embrace the technology even more.
If trends continue, the future might very well lie in virtual reality indeed.
