If VR wants to achieve popularization, how should we deal with the subtle relationship between consumers and consumers?

At present, there are not many VR content with user stickiness. VR's profit mainly comes from people's curiosity about virtual reality. Most of the offline experience of VR is one-time consumption. If VR technology has not made substantial progress, consumers will feel tired sooner or later. VR still has a long way to go if it wants to win public recognition and achieve popularization. So before VR technology makes breakthroughs, how does VR handle its subtle relationship with consumers?

Original title: Rejecting one-time consumption, how to deal with the subtle relationship between VR and consumers

At present, there are not many VR content with user stickiness. VR's profit mainly comes from people's curiosity about virtual reality, and VR's offline experience is mostly one-time consumption. If VR technology does not make substantial progress, consumers will feel tired sooner or later. VR still has a long way to go before it wins public recognition and achieves popularization. So before VR technology makes breakthroughs, how does VR handle its delicate relationship with consumers?

The subtle relationship between VR and consumers is in the ambiguous period in love

, the prelude to relationship, the buffer period and the observation period before the relationship is determined.

The curiosity psychology encourages consumers to pay attention to VR and purchase behavior. Due to the curiosity psychology, the products purchased must not be just needed, and the user experience of what is not just needed is the key. However, at present, VR technology still has certain limitations. Consumers even experience "nausea" and "vomiting". The consumer market is extremely replaceable. When consumers feel that the VR experience is not good and need to meet the needs of playing games, then he goes to play console games, which makes VR a disposable consumer product and cannot form its core consumer group, forming an "ambiguous period" with consumers.

So, how can VR manufacturers handle the delicate relationship between VR and consumers, successfully survive this "ambiguous period" to achieve popularization, and have a vigorous love affair with consumers?

Finding the consumer's G-spot is the basic condition for passing through the ambiguous period

. The "ambiguous period" with consumers. No matter what you do, you must remember the most essential task: Observation

1. Understand consumers from the content aspect and give

them what they want

. Only by carefully observing consumers 'needs can you accurately find your own positioning and produce excellent content. Otherwise, consumers will lose interest in VR.

For example, the first-person space adventure VR game "Caffeine" calls itself a suspense thriller and horror game, but because the story is too outrageous, consumers are not impressed by it.

The game is set in the year 2100. All humans are addicted to coffee. Coffee giants have built a large number of spacecraft to find mineral materials in the universe and produce synthetic caffeine. Players can only find clues through post-it notes pasted all over the spacecraft, and they will also encounter levels where the spacecraft is flooded with coffee. The game's positioning is suspenseful and scary, but post-it notes fly everywhere, and the setting of coffee flooding the boat is really funny and has no scary atmosphere. Some people even joked that this is a story about Starbucks conquering the sea of stars and exploding Holmes after convenient posting.

Whether VR content is attractive to consumers

is the most direct and critical factor in the success of content. On the steam platform, there is an existence similar to a map editor-the creative workshop. It is a central hub where player-created content and tools can be published, organized, and downloaded into the game. Like Legion Fortress 2, players can create and submit new items (such as hats, weapons, badges, boots, and more) and even consider adding them to actual games. Players in the Steam community make their own games in the Creative Workshop, which not only enriches the game itself, but also makes it very attractive to players.

2. Self-check from the hardware aspect to avoid the

poor comfort of wearing equipment

in minefields. Take mobile phone VR as an example. Its biggest advantage is that the price is cheap. Also, because the price is not high, it will also bring the problem of poor comfort. It is not that the headband cannot be adjusted. If the product is too heavy, the face will be pulled down after wearing for a long time. In addition, breathability is also a problem. Since most of these products use airtight rubber eye masks, white fog is likely to appear on the lens when the weather is cold. When the weather is hot, this black rubber eye mask will make your eyes extremely miserable.

The coordination between the operation and the hardware device is not good.

Some game operations are not coordinated with the configuration of the VR hardware device, resulting in difficulties for players to operate. The first-person shooting VR game "Gunjack" does not need to use the HTC Vive handle to aim at the target during the game. Instead, it uses a head tracker, and the handle only serves as a transmitter. Using a head tracker to aim at a target brings a lot of inconvenience to players, especially when players are driving the spacecraft. The spacecraft itself also has two operating handles. Players may unconsciously want to use the HTC Vive handle to drive the spacecraft, but in fact they can only use it. Control the spacecraft with the head. VR game operations are not coordinated with the device, reducing the gaming experience.

Clarity problem

Currently, the display screen used by mobile VR headsets is the mobile phone display, and then the image is enlarged through a single magnifying glass. Pixels that are usually not felt on the mobile phone screen are very grainy after being zoomed in.

The

fact that most available virtual reality products require much more technology than the average high-tech user means that only professionals with a strong technical background can use them.

Enhancing the sense of presence in VR is a strange medicine to get through the ambiguous period

. At this stage, you can conduct publicity and experience through various channels, have more contact with consumers, and integrate them into consumers 'lives.

1. Online: Direct promotion and display your charm (forums, media promotion, etc.)

Major technology websites and blogs have successively had special VR modules, such as Gizmodo: Virtual reality News, Videos, Reviews and Gossip; specialized VR websites include RoadToVR: Road to VR - Virtual Reality News;UploadVR: UploadVR -Virtual Reality News, Events, and Talent; domestic industry media such as Titanium Media, Tiger Smell, and VR Daily.

2. Offline: Recommended by others, indirectly attracting attention (technology exhibitions, experience halls, friend recommendations, etc.)

Technology exhibitions. VR helmets are still the darling of major technology exhibitions and game exhibitions. The exhibition area with the largest number of people lining up to experience the exhibition must be the "virtual reality zone". Japan's first adult VR exhibition ended after 15 minutes of opening because the scene at the exhibition was too lively and the organizers were worried about safety issues. Recently, the organizer of the exhibition held an "AdultVR" exchange meeting, and confirmed at the exchange meeting that the second VR adult exhibition will be held in August.

Experience Hall. It is understood that there are currently hundreds of VR experience stores, large and small, across the country, and each manufacturer has basically the same online business model-paid experience + equipment sales. Currently known are the Nibiru offline experience store of Nanjing Ruiyue Information, the EMAX virtual reality experience store launched by Shenzhen Vision Company, the Wow virtual reality experience hall, the offline experience store opened by 3Glasses, and the experience store run by VR enthusiasts themselves.

To solve the problems consumers just need, VR requires a single breakthrough in life

. To say that you are lovers, it definitely doesn't count; to say that you are friends, there's something more. There are many things you can do at this stage to enhance your relationship.

Improve product cost-effectiveness, democratize prices, and enhance consumers 'desire to purchase

. The prices of the three major VR headsets, Oculus Rift, htc vive and Sony PlayStation VR, are too high. For example, the HTC Vive officially opened pre-sales on February 29 this year. The consumer version sells for RMB 6888 in the mainland of China, and US$799 in the United States, approximately RMB 5224; the price in Europe is 899 euros, approximately RMB 6427; the price in Canada is 949 Canadian dollars, approximately RMB 4593; and the price in Taiwan is NT$28288, approximately RMB 5555.

In China, many manufacturers have tried to save the country. Storm Mirror has launched mobile phone VR brackets that cost only a few hundred or even tens of yuan. Ant Vision has a mobile phone product line. It also cooperated with Lenovo to release Le Meng Ant Vision VR glasses. The price is only 199 yuan. However, users on the Internet generally express dizziness, uncomfortable eyes, and want to vomit. Looking back, it feels like that.

This illustrates the urgent need in the VR market to improve product cost performance.

Lower the threshold and rationalize PC configuration

Antvision Technology CEO Qin Zheng once said that if the VR industry is to be popularized, the threshold must be lowered. In addition to pricing, how to make VR no longer require extremely high PC configurations is another major matter. Mainstream VR equipment needs to be used with PCs, and there are certain requirements for PC configuration. Previous reports have shown that less than 1% of PCs in the world are compatible with VR equipment, mainly due to graphics and processing capabilities.

Improving product comfort

Take the VR experience of glasses as an example. Among all existing headsets, Sony's playStation VR is the most suitable one for players wearing glasses. In order to bring a better gaming experience, Sony uses a diagonal binding method, which uses elastic to extend from the forehead to the back of the head and bind it to the skull, reducing the pressure around the eyes and allowing the display to stay in front of the eyes. Other types of products can only be squeezed from the front, and the eyes will be under greater pressure. Especially users who wear glasses will feel greater discomfort after long-term use.

However, it is precisely this fixing method that the helmet cannot be stably attached to the head. Ordinary games with little activity are okay. If you encounter relatively intense games after playing for a period of time, the helmet will decline. This is not a good sign for many games that require proactive efforts to complete.

Product content enrichment Fireworks

Workshop COO Zhang Chuang once shared his views on VR content,"In an environment like China, there are no shortcomings in hardware, and factories can be quickly found for development. Regardless of history or the future, software will always drive the rapid growth of hardware. The hardware is the horse, and the software and content are the driver." This sentence can also be used to describe the current domestic VR content industry, where ideals and goals drive entrepreneurs to try every means to solve all problems.

As more and more developers join the VR army, the shortcomings of the content market have become very obvious. Only when user-sticky content continues to be enriched can consumers 'loyalty to VR be enhanced.

Attention is always focused on consumers

. If you are careless, all previous efforts are wasted. Ambiguity is a game of chasing each other. This process requires guessing consumers 'minds and paying attention to consumers' feedback.

Steam can be called the IMDB of the gaming industry. Player reviews are the best filter. It is clear if you visit the review area whether a masterpiece is a masterpiece or a bad one. VR games are developing rapidly, but the quality of games is uneven, and many games have appeared on Steam that have encountered a lot of bad reviews.

A spacecraft combat game called "CDF Starfighter VR" on Steam has a favorable rating of only 16%, ranking third from the bottom in the Steam VR game rating. Some players reported that they were attracted by the promotional video, but after playing it, they found that the game screen was too rough and the immersive experience was poor. They put on the helmet and planned to enter the fantasy game world. However, when they saw the grainy picture quality in front of them, they instantly played out. The game seems to use flash effects frequently in order to cover up the overall picture problem, which is really not a comfortable experience. In addition, there are system problems such as being stuck in training mode and not being able to open the menu bar, and players are stuck in the game until the computer crashes. In addition, the speed of the spacecraft is too slow. Even if it is adjusted to full speed, players will not feel any sense of speed.

For these poorly reviewed games, after receiving feedback from consumers during the "ambiguous" period, they can be screened and improved accordingly based on true and reliable information to bring a better experience to consumers.

Eventually develop into a lover or a couple?

The emotional road is full of bumps, and every stage may develop astray.

As capital continues to pour in and competitors continue to increase, if VR cannot survive this transition period in an effective short period of time, is recognized by consumers, has more VR repeat customers, and still stays at the level of one-time consumption, the result will be disastrous for the entire industry, then VR is destined to be only a lover.

Only by passing through the ambiguous period and successfully becoming a regular employee can VR have more users and loyal consumers, and integrating it into consumers 'lives can VR achieve true popularization.

Editor: yvette