Oculus founder: Virtual reality will replace mobile phones

Today, people queue up for hours to buy smartphones because they embody the latest high technology. But in the eyes of Palmer Luckey, founder of Oculus, in a few years, mobile phones will look like a product of history, and people will replace them with virtual reality devices. "I believe that virtual reality devices will be more popular than smartphones."

This is a bold prediction, as the number of smartphone devices has reached billions. There are currently two major schools of thought in the field of virtual reality. Virtual reality helmets that track the movement of a person's head to bring a fully immersive 3D world experience. The other is Microsoft's upcoming HoloLens augmented reality product, which overlays a virtual view on the real world. Luckey believes that "ultimately, augmented reality and virtual reality will merge. These devices will be with you. I would be very surprised if we still take tablets out of our pockets 50 years later. By then you will be able to project virtual environments at any time."

Virtual reality is a hot computing trend that is considered the future of gaming, learning and communication. TrendForce analysts predict that 14 million virtual reality devices will be sold in 2016, led by products from Oculus, Sony's PlayStation VR and HTC.

To be successful, VR devices need to become very cheap, get rid of the shackles of PCs, and find a way to overcome society's prejudice against wearing VR devices all the time. Luckey believes that this process is underway, and today's VR devices cost at least $1,000. "Most people will not choose VR products at this price. But in five or six years, most people will be able to buy them. VR will start as a niche market, and eventually almost everyone will have it.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.