Q2 2015 update of the VR Hardware Radar

With some important announces made recently about consumer launch windows for HMDs, here’s our Q2 2015 updated Hardware Radar chart.

The VR Hardware Radar plots companies developing a range of different hardware peripherals and equipment into one of the following categories:

• HMD – Integrated: A virtual reality head-mounted display with the screen integrated into the unit. This segment (obviously) includes Oculus, as well as companies such as HTC,  ImmersiON-VRelia, Avegant, Sony and ANTVR.

• HMD – With Mobile Device: A virtual reality head-mounted display using a third-party mobile device as the screen. Companies in this segment include Durovis, Seebright, Altergaze ,  and Samsung.

• Controller – Hand Device / Glove / Body Unit: An input device using hands and/or body movement for tracking via sensors. PrioVR, STEM,  and Leap Motion are all included in this element of the market.

• Controller – Treadmill  / Foot Control:  An input device that tracks leg/foot movements. In this category we include Virtuix Omni, InfinAdeck, the Cyberith Virtualizer and Stompz.

• Controller – Haptics:  An input device for hands and body that also provides tactile feedback by force or vibration. The KOR-FX Gaming Vest, iMotion and the Reactive Grip are three of the products included here.

• 3D Camera: A video or image recording device that captures 3D stereoscopic views. Jaunt , NextVR and Matterport are within this grouping.

• End-to-End Platform: A company that provides HMD systems coupled with input devices and motion capture. This category brings together companies that are creating VR experiences encompassing HMDs, input devices, games and other elements. Survios and VRCade are two examples.

• Misc: Products not fitting into other categories (obviously).

We assign companies according to their launch stage as they bring their products to market. And, as mentioned earlier, due to the speed of this market we’re now updating this tracking on a monthly basis. Launch stages are classified as follows: Continue reading →

Virtual Reality Hardware Radar Q1 2015 Update

Hot off the heels of our latest update of the ‘Face Race‘, we’ve just updated the VR Hardware Radar chart for Q1 2015.

The VR Hardware Radar plots companies developing a range of different hardware peripherals and equipment into one of the following categories:

• HMD – Integrated: A virtual reality head-mounted display with the screen integrated into the unit. This segment (obviously) includes Oculus VR, as well as companies such as ImmersiON-VRelia, Avegant, Sony and ANTVR.

• HMD – With Mobile Device: A virtual reality head-mounted display using a third-party mobile device as the screen. Companies in this segment include Durovis, Seebright,Altergaze, Vrizzmo and Samsung.

• Controller – Hand Device / Glove / Body Unit: An input device using hands and/or body movement for tracking via sensors. PrioVR, STEM, Control VR and Leap Motion are all included in this element of the market.

• Controller – Treadmill  / Foot Control:  An input device that tracks leg/foot movements. In this category we include Virtuix Omni, InfinAdeck, the Cyberith Virtualizer and Stompz.

• Controller – Haptics:  An input device for hands and body that also provides tactile feedback by force or vibration. The KOR-FX Gaming Vest, iMotion and the Reactive Grip are three of the products included here.

• 3D Camera: A video or image recording device that captures 3D stereoscopic views. Jaunt, Giroptic and Matterport are within this grouping.

• End-to-End Platform: A company that provides HMD systems coupled with input devices and motion capture. This category brings together companies that are creating VR experiences encompassing HMDs, input devices, games and other elements. Survios and  VRCade  are two examples.

• Misc: Products not fitting into other categories (obviously).

We assign companies according to their launch stage as they bring their products to market. And, as mentioned earlier, due to the speed of this market we’re now updating this tracking on a monthly basis. Launch stages are classified as follows:

• Announced / Pending Funding: A prototype has been announced but the company/inventor has not yet secured funding.

• In Development: A prototype has been publicly demonstrated and/or the company has funding (privately, via Kickstarter or from third-party funding including VC’s).

• Pre-Order / Dev Kit Available: The product is in a stage of development beyond a prototype, has made limited versions available to developers and/or is taking pre-orders.

• Consumer Version Available: The product is available for purchase by the general public.

Shown below is the Radar segment for head-mounted displays (HMDs). There are now several HMDs available for mobile devices, including Durovis Dive, Google Cardboard and Homido. Recent launches include the Samsung Gear VR and the Carl Zeiss VR One. Continue reading →

The Consumer Virtual Reality Face Race: Q1 2015 Update

It’s CES time and the consumer virtual reality market has gone into ‘double busy’ mode. All the players, large and small, have a presence at CES this year with the big boys (Oculus, Samsung etc) presenting their kit alongside smaller start-ups keen to move into this rapidly growing space.

We’ve been tracking the movers and shakers in the consumer VR market for over a year now and shown below is the Q1 2015 update of the ‘Face Race’. This visualization shows all the companies developing headsets for VR as well as those creating devices for Augmented and Mixed Realities.

Companies with Red dots have launched consumer versions of their headsets or have developer kits readily available. Q4 2014 saw several companies join this launch stage, including Carl Zeiss with the VR One and Samsung with the Gear VR.

Orange dots show companies allowing pre-orders and/or allowing selected developers to test their headsets. Yellow dots represent companies still in development. Newly added (in Q1 2015) companies joining the Face Race include Moggles Razer (with the OSVR), XG VR and Viewbox.

We’ve also just updated our Hardware Radar showing all companies developing peripherals for consumer virtual reality. The Q1 2015 update of the Hardware Radar chart is here.

Further information:

VR Hardware Market: November update

With the Virtual Reality market gathering speed at an increasing rate, we’ve decided to update our Hardware Radar on a monthly basis. The Radar plots companies developing a range of different hardware peripherals and equipment into one of the following categories:

• HMD – Integrated: A virtual reality head-mounted display with the screen integrated into the unit. This segment (obviously) includes Oculus VR, as well as companies such as VRelia, Gameface Labs, Avegant, Sony and ANTVR.

• HMD – With Mobile Device: A virtual reality head-mounted display using a third-party mobile device as the screen. Companies in this segment include Durovis, Seebright,Altergaze, Vrizzmo and Samsung.

• Controller – Hand Device / Glove / Body Unit: An input device using hands and/or body movement for tracking via sensors. PrioVR, STEM, Control VR and Leap Motion are all included in this element of the market.

• Controller – Treadmill  / Foot Control:  An input device that tracks leg/foot movements. In this category we include Virtuix Omni, InfinAdeck, the Cyberith Virtualizer and Stompz.

• Controller – Haptics:  An input device for hands and body that also provides tactile feedback by force or vibration. The KOR-FX Gaming Vest, iMotion and the Reactive Grip are three of the products included here.

• 3D Camera: A video or image recording device that captures 3D stereoscopic views. Jaunt, Giroptic and Matterport are within this grouping.

• End-to-End Platform: A company that provides HMD systems coupled with input devices and motion capture. This category brings together companies that are creating VR experiences encompassing HMDs, input devices, games and other elements. Survios and  VRCade  are two examples.

• Misc: Products not fitting into other categories (obviously).

We assign companies according to their launch stage as they bring their products to market. And, as mentioned earlier, due to the speed of this market we’re now updating this tracking on a monthly basis. Launch stages are classified as follows: Continue reading →

40 Brands in Virtual Reality

We’ve just updated our popular slidedeck showing brands in virtual reality. Shown below are 40 examples that contain a mix of official and unofficial brands in VR. From an ‘official’ perspective, brands are increasingly using VR primarily in a ‘test sense’ – these are companies keen to experiment with new marketing techniques and expect many more to follow. Cars and movies are two of the more popular categories to embrace virtual reality.

Another trend taking place is the use of mobile device headsets (Durovis Dive and Android) for marketing purposes, the most recent one being Piloto 360 from Moviestar/Yamaha. Check out the 40 VR examples in the deck below. A high-res version can be ordered here.

Further information:

Virtual Reality Hardware Market Q4 2014

Another quarterly update, another set of new companies developing hardware for the consumer VR market – welcome to our Q4 2014 update.

Let’s start with the ‘Face Race’ – i.e. companies developing HMD’s for virtual reality. Our device spectrum visualisation is shown below.

So what’s going to happen this quarter? The major HMD launch is expected to the Samsung Gear VR which is slated for a December 2014 release. Samsung has been really smart with respect to launch preparation because they’ve been working with a slew of  developers to port existing Oculus Rift games over to the Gear VR, as well as initiating a range of brand-new games. HMDs are pretty useless without content so they’ll be numerous titles available for the Gear VR at launch. Continue reading →

Virtual Reality Games by Genre – the Q3 KZero VR Software Radar

The KZero VR Software Radar tracks games, apps and other virtual reality experiences by genre and we’ve just updated it with Q3 2014 data.

Explaining the VR Software Radar Chart

The Radar visualises these games (and non-gaming apps) according to:

• Genre: We’ve segmented the titles into twelve different genres, from First Person Shooters and Exploration through to Social Virtual Reality, Puzzle and Platformer. Each of the four segments contain three different genres. We realise that there’s some overlap between genres for some of these games but have placed them to represent a core game mechanic.
• Launch stage: Broadly split into Released/Open Beta (red dots) or Alpha/Pre-Alpha (orange dots).
• Average Player/User Age. Similar to our Universe chart, we’ve attempted to assigned each game according to the forecasted average player age that the game is aimed at. Of course, we know that at present the ownership base of DK2’s and Durovis Dive’s is predominantly adult, due to the development stage of the market but nevertheless, the game mechanics and style of game-play have been assessed and the games placed accordingly.

The vast majority of these games are currently built for the Oculus Rift, but we’ve also included planned upcoming games for the Sony Morpheus HMD and Samsung Gear VR as well as some Durovis Dive games. Continue reading →

Virtual Reality Hardware Radar for Q3 2014

Here’s our updated Hardware Radar chart for the Consumer Virtual Reality sector, updated with Q3 data. The radar shows companies within the emerging ecosystem developing peripherals and related hardware for VR.

Launch Stage

We’ve assigned companies according to launch stage as they bring their products to market. Launch stages are classified as follows:

• Announced / Pending Funding: A prototype has been announced but the company/inventor has not yet secured funding.

• In Development: A prototype has been publicly demonstrated and/or the company has funding (privately, via Kickstarter or from third-party funding including VC’s).

• Pre-Order / Dev Kit Available: The product is in a stage of development beyond a prototype, has made limited versions available to developers and/or is taking pre-orders.

• Consumer Version Available: The product is available for purchase by the general public.

Hardware Categories

We’ve segmented the VR hardware market into eight different categories, as follows:

• HMD – Integrated: A virtual reality head-mounted display with the screen integrated into the unit. This segment (obviously) includes Oculus VR, as well as companies such as VRelia, Gameface Labs (classified as a HMC – head mounted console), Avegant, Sony and ANTVR.

• HMD – With Mobile Device: A virtual reality head-mounted display using a third-party mobile device as the screen. Companies in this segment include Durovis, Seebright,Altergaze, Vrizzmo and Samsung.

• Controller – Hand Device / Glove / Body Unit: An input device using hands and/or body movement for tracking via sensors. PrioVR, STEM, Control VR and Leap Motion are all included in this element of the market.

• Controller – Treadmill  / Foot Control:  An input device that tracks leg/foot movements. In this category we include Virtuix Omni, InfinAdeck, the Cyberith Virtualizer and Stompz.

• Controller – Haptics:  An input device for hands and body that also provides tactile feedback by force or vibration. The KOR-FX Gaming Vest, iMotion and the Reactive Grip are three of the products included here.

• 3D Camera: A video or image recording device that captures 3D stereoscopic views. Jaunt, Giroptic and Matterport are within this grouping.

• End-to-End Platform: A company that provides HMD systems coupled with input devices and motion capture. This category brings together companies that are creating VR experiences encompassing HMDs, input devices, games and other elements. Survios and  VRCade  are two examples.

• Misc: Products not fitting into other categories. We’ll keep a close eye on this category to see if it’s worth keeping, but in the meantime we’ve allocated Petal, a VR fan into it. This company was recently unsuccessful with Kickstarter funding but we’ve kept it on the radar. Continue reading →

The Face Race. A List of Companies developing Virtual Reality Headsets

Over the coming weeks we’ll be updating all key KZero charts and reports relating to the Consumer Virtual Reality market. The first Q3 update related to our market sizing for consumer VR, which can be read here.

Turning our attention to the launch timings for companies developing HMDs for virtual and augmented reality, hot of the press is our Device Spectrum visual, shown below.

So, there’s things we know, things we are assuming (based on rumours, conversations and other intel) and things we don’t know. Mashing all of this together produces the visual above. Continue reading →