Introduction
Sami Ramly is the Product Lead for the virtual reality management team at Wevr. Sami’s team at Wevr has produced many award-winning VR products. Before working at Wevr, Sami developed Microsoft’s first 3D scan app for Windows 10.
Where Virtual Reality Is Going Next
Bill Gates said it best – people overestimate short-term progress and underestimate long-term progress. As a VR product manager, I think virtual reality is the next big computing platform and will change how we do things every day. It’ll take time, but it could be as big or bigger than the introduction of smartphones or social networks.
The first thing to keep in mind is that VR is still in the “feature phone stage.” Said differently, the current product operates like a traditional phone before smartphones were introduced. In VR, there isn’t an iPhone equivalent product for consumers or a “killer app” equivalent like Uber, Instagram or AirBnb. This next level of innovation will open VR to a much wider audience.
Interactivity within VR experiences is also increasing. For example, we have expanded range of motion where you six degrees of freedom and use your hands to engage with content. It’s also much easier to set up the experience by replacing bulky lighthouse trackers that require calibration with new computer vision algorithms that are ready to go.
As a VR product manager, I’m hopeful about the future of VR and where we are going next. We are seeing massive investment from companies like Facebook, Google and Microsoft to improve the experience. In the end, I think we are just starting to scratch the surface of what is possible.