Virtual Reality

Research Directions and Future Trend

Market Now: (BusinessWeek 2005, February 28)

   Games: US24.5 billions revenue in 2004,

          larger than the movie box-office business

        Game software sales: 7.3 billion,

           (1) EA (Electronic Art): $3 billion, and top five

               game developers accounted for 56% of the revenue.

     Likely winners:  SONY, EA  (Consoles, games, movies, only Sony

                      has it all)

     At risk: Ninendo, Activision (second largest independent

     game developer), Walt Disney

    2004: game consoles: Sony (56.4%), Microsoft (24.9%), Nitendo(18.7%)

    39% of video gamers are women.

Compared to past predictions:

$250 million worth of VR products and services will be shipped in 1994.

One billion dallars by 1997 (IEEECG&A, p15, Vol 14, No 1, Jan 1994)

--- S.E.Tice, President of S.E.Tice Consulting, Inc.

--- Carl Machover, President of Machover Associates.

VR is growing at annual rates on the order of 60%

(twice the growth rate graphics experienced 25 years ago)