Virtual reality is still a niche industry — it's primarily marketed to gamers — but we are starting to get a feel for how big that niche industry actually is.
One million people used the Samsung Gear VR last month, the virtual reality headset that uses Facebook's Oculus software to surface games and videos. That's according to Oculus' head of mobile, Max Cohen, who added that people who use Gear VR every day spend an average of 25 minutes on the headset. He would not, however, say how big that daily user group is.
These numbers give us some taste of VR's early adoption, but don't mean a ton right now. We still don't know many headsets have been purchased. Or how many people are coming back to VR month after month versus trying it for the first time.
But Facebook is prone to putting out big user numbers, especially those it's proud of, so we can assume the company is happy with where things stand.
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
Will you support Vox’s explanatory journalism?
Most news outlets make their money through advertising or subscriptions. But when it comes to what we’re trying to do at Vox, there are a couple of big issues with relying on ads and subscriptions to keep the lights on:
First, advertising dollars go up and down with the economy. We often only know a few months out what our advertising revenue will be, which makes it hard to plan ahead.
Second, we’re not in the subscriptions business. Vox is here to help everyone understand the complex issues shaping the world — not just the people who can afford to pay for a subscription. We believe that’s an important part of building a more equal society. And we can’t do that if we have a paywall.
So even though advertising is still our biggest source of revenue, we also seek grants and reader support. (And no matter how our work is funded, we have strict guidelines on editorial independence.)
If you also believe that everyone deserves access to trusted high-quality information, will you make a gift to Vox today? Any amount helps.
Yes, I'll give $5/month
Yes, I'll give $5/month
We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and
Google Pay. You can also contribute via