Virtual reality gets real in China?
- By Zhang Lulu
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E-mail China.org.cn, August 6, 2016
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| Audience members try out VR devices at an expo in Beijing on Thursday. [Photo by Zhang Lulu/China.org.cn] |
Liu Yunqing, a 19-year-old sophomore majoring in mechanical engineering, queued patiently in line with his classmates in front of a tank-like device. The "tank" is part of a virtual reality gadget on display in an expo venue in Beijing on Thursday.
Liu first learned of virtual reality, or VR, in 2015. VR technology, using devices and corresponding software, replicates or creates an artificial environment and presents it to users as if it were real. It has been one of the most touted concepts in China's tech industry since last year.
Liu said he came to the venue to "do some research;" VR can be used in simulation in components of mechanical equipment, he added.
But at the venue, as well as in China's VR industry, most of the products are used for entertainment, mainly displaying videos and games.
Ding Wei, the marketing manager of Baofeng Mojing (Baofeng magical mirror), acknowledged this. The company produces mobile VR gadgets, which are head-mounted display devices that are used along with applications on mobile phones. Users can play games as well as "go on" panoramic tours using the device, Ding said.
This year is thought to be the beginning of a full-fledged VR industry in China, as the technology is moving from research to the mass market. A total of 1.2 million VR devices are estimated to be sold in 2016, rising from 500,000 in 2015, according to earlier reports. The Chinese VR industry was estimated to grow to 5.66 billion yuan this year from 1.54 billion yuan in 2015, according to iResearch, a market research company. It also projected that the market to be worth more than 55 billion yuan by 2020.
Despite the apparently promising look, the industry is not problem-free. With 3D effects on display and sometimes involving physical movement, users may experience vertigo while using the gadgets. In the expo venue on Thursday, a young woman had to put away the head-mounted device as she felt nausea while using it. Another young man, who is a classmate of Liu Yunqing, the mechanical engineering student, complained about the less desirable resolution and limited functions of Chinese VR gadgets, saying that devices made in the United States are more advanced. For instance, they enable people to watch sports games as if they were on the scene.
Similar complaints have actually emerged since the onset of the industry. In a white paper published in May, China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology pointed out that the industry needs to improve both its hardware and software. The devices need to have better sensory technology to prevent users experiencing vertigo while using it, and better data processing ability to keep up with the virtual scenario. The ministry also said that the corresponding content production lags behind, as few content and applications are available for Chinese VR devices.
But VR industry insiders apparently want more. Ding Wei of Baofeng Mojing said that the real challenge for the growth of the industry lies in building a "VR ecosystem," where the technology can be used in almost all sectors ranging from entertainment and education to military, medical treatment and the manufacturing industry. The company, she said, has been in talks with education and tour companies of cooperation.
Investment worth 4 billion yuan has flooded into the Chinese VR industry since 2015, according to research by ChinaVenture. More than half of the money was spent on VR devices in 2015, indicating the focus on the equipment itself, but half of the 1.54 billion yuan in the first half of this year was dedicated to content production, outweighing that of devices, the research revealed.
The white paper of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said China's VR industry will see "ultra high-speed growth" in the next five years.
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