In 2017-18 there will be more than 43 million VR users in the world making this a landmark period for VR Software and hardware development. Release of newer and better headsets (probably more cost efficient) will be introduced in the market. A lot of big companies are yet to make their foray into this exciting new adventure and that is all set to change in the coming 3-4 years. Inputs of touch and smell which have so far been missing in the immersive experience will be a matter of research and breakthroughs – the actual growth is yet to be witnessed.

Synonymous with growth is investment and business opportunities. Google Daydream has already caught the eye of seasoned venture capitalists and as VR transforms from “good to use” to “essential to have” revenue focussed. New gaming engines will raise their heads to compete against the currently established Unity and Unreal engine probably created by some of the bigger players. Strategic alliances are on the cards with the software and hardware giants exploring options.

VR in social media, marketing, real estate, transport, urban planning, teaching, medicine……the list is endless and so are the possibilities that can be explored. Hollywood is looking at VR in a big way. Special effects and first hand story telling will present the case to be brought on virtually. Faster networks and much higher bandwidths and servers would be in the fore too to handle the terra bytes of data to be transferred and processed.

Post VR like stitching, stabilizing, Prep & Paint and Roto are vital to get a near perfect immersive experience and a lot of production companies prefer to outsource these functions so they can concentrate on their core function of VR Film production considering the number of cameras involved.