The unavoidable but risky virtual reality

A man experiments with a virtual reality headset at a Sony store in Manhattan, New York, November 1, 2016. SPENCER PLATT / AFP

After years of experimentation, virtual reality (VR) is now becoming a must-have in the world of video games. VR headsets are multiplying and technology is being refined, but game developers, on the other hand, are wondering if the current size of the market justifies investments, explains the Quebec daily Le Devoir. The big studios know how to design console games, but they hesitate to launch into VR development without restraint. “We can’t put teams of several hundred people on a virtual reality project, when we know for a fact that the income will not allow us to cover our expenses,” explains Pierre Blaizeau, director of VR technical pipelines at Ubisoft. To increase the demand, he believes that the games will have to improve the social aspect and make “share experiences with many” which will be “important” for the democratization of this technology. “Currently, it is very difficult to make the games and technical challenges profitable (image resolution, player movements, interaction with the characters of the virtual space, …) are numerous. But the future is here. For Marc-André Girard, innovation programmer at Frima studio, in Quebec City: “It’s a new medium. In my opinion, it’s a bit like the beginnings of cinema or television. At first, people were afraid because they didn’t know what to expect. I believe that over time, people will develop a similar tolerance for virtual reality. »