According to an informal IEEE survey of 1,537 attendees at CES 2016 in Las Vegas, the use of virtual reality (VR) headsets might not have the staying power that is predicted for the technology. When questioned about the year augmented reality (AR)/VR technology will advance to the point where immersive headsets will no longer be required, 52% of respondents believed it will occur by 2030. On top of the 52%, another 21% of respondents predicted the demise of the headset by 2035, 15% by 2040, and 5% by 2045.
When asked which industry would most benefit from the widespread adoption of AR/VR technology, 36% of participants indicated that the education sector would see the biggest impact and translate well in areas including virtual classrooms and AR/VR-enabled textbooks. Other notable industries included engineering (24%), healthcare (16%), and communication (9%).
Although AR/VR has the potential to aid in the medical field, especially when it comes to providing patients with an overview of upcoming surgical procedures, the majority of survey respondents were strongly against getting a "sneak preview" through VR. Some 60% of respondents noted an 8 to 10 on a scale regarding their comfort level with this option (with 1 being very comfortable and 10 being not comfortable at all). Of this group, 34% chose 10 as their response.
By using VR technology that can provide an experience of being virtually anywhere, IEEE employees asked participants to rank the first place they would go using VR. Some 30% of respondents chose the moon/Mars/outer space as their primary location. Traveling through time came in next at 19%, followed by a sporting event (18%), a popular city (16%), and extreme remote locations, such as a secluded beach or the top of a mountain (11%).
According to the results, the United States is favored to be the first country to reach mass adoption of AR/VR, accruing 58% of the votes from participants. Japan was the second-most-popular country at 21%, followed by China (12%). Brazil, India, the UK, and "Other" (if desired country was not listed) were also considerations, but only reflected a small percentage of the results.
