NewsPage index：Home > News > Details page

Virtual reality, the next big thing for tech companies

Update Date：2016-1-5 11:04:43 Source：BeiJing Tannet Views：939

The VR headset provides users with a stereoscopic display, with two marginally different images rendered, one each for the left eye and the right eye. It allows users to experience depth. Armed with motion detection sensors, the user is able to look around in this panoramic digital environment.

A day before the LeTV announcement, Internet giant Tencent Holdings Ltd gave the world a peek into its VR strategy.

The Shenzhen, Guangdong-based Tencent, a top online games producer, said it will launch its first VR device in the July-September quarter this year. The owner of a long list of popular software products, including the instant messaging app WeChat, had never rolled out a hardware product.

Tencent said it will mainly provide software support. It will give out a free software development kit in March so startups can build their own products using Tencent's technology.

Taiwan-based mobile company HTC Corp is also betting on VR headsets after its smartphone sales slumped in 2015.

Global tech giants have also invested in VR. Facebook Inc bought VR firm Oculus for $2 billion, Google Inc invested $542 million in another startup Magic Leap, and Microsoft Corp is developing its own high-end device named HoloLens.

Huang Xiaojie, CEO of the Beijing-based VR products company Beijing Mojing Technologies Co Ltd, said the entry of big players will significantly boost the VR market. "The market remains in its infancy and needs big brands to lure customers."

He said tech giants are developing sophisticated VR equipment that can be connected to computers. Mojing is betting on inexpensive mobile devices in the hope that it will gain a wider user base.

Research firm Digi-Capital estimates the global VR industry will generate $30 billion in revenue by 2020, with VR games accounting for nearly half of it. Hardware, films and theme parks rooted in VR will generate the other half.

The article transsshipment from China Daily

Previous：Volvo, Ericsson to develop video streaming for driverless cars

Next：Housing market improves after slump in major cities