By Muzammil Hamza

Although Virtual Reality rung it’s announcement bells first in 2012, the “reality” aspect was still fictitious to mainstream users in the MENA region until mid-2015. Initial applications of the technology, and sneak-peaks of the gadgets involved spurred a global race to identify the next major market opportunities, especially among tech-enthusiasts, who expected the next Industrial Revolution. 

VR in the Middle East 

These were first revealed in the GCC at the Gulf Information Technology Exhibition – (better known as GITEX), which is one of the region’s most popular IT exhibitions. Hardware device manufacturers and software developers collaborated with a range of specialists and professionals, from the healthcare sector, all the way to designers and architects to identify the next best fit for the tech solution. Actual business applications of the technology began in early 2015, in Dubai, with simulation products for government entities and aircraft companies, at a larger scale. 

Following this, brands such as Oculus and Samsung Gear VR introduced their HMDs (Head Mounted Displays), with first hands on experiences. This hype however, came at quite a thick price tag – one of the key hurdles restricting mainstream spread of VR devices and applications. 

The hurdles of VR

HMDs weren’t being offered cheap, and were quick to move from actual consumer intended purchase into only their “wish-lists”. Microsoft’s ambitions in this space are focused on Augumented Reality (rather than VR), with its HoloLens product currently costing around $3,000 to purchase.

Developers have identified price as their key hurdle, and not long after, tech providers, especially Google, jumped in with cheaper options such as the Cardboard & Daydream. Daydream is expected to see an investment of upto $6bn in the MENA region until 2020, to develop applications that will gather more mass appeal usage of VR using cheaper hardware. 

Although price of VR devices were the most important driver to mainstream consumer purchase decisions, it wasn’t the only hurdle. Other speedbumps included issues around consumer awareness, content provision, specification requirements, and accessibility. 

And if we were to surpass each and every one of these restrictions, the actual consumer usage, of even these cheaper HMDs were primarily limited to experiences such as roller coaster rides – thus pointing us toward one key hypothesis: the best application of VR amongst consumers in the MENA region so far, was to use the technology as a next-gen immersive gaming solution among the masses.