Meta’s Reality Labs recently made news when the company reportedly lost $13.7 billion on augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) investments last year. This news came just two years after Meta spent over $10 billion on AR/VR-related technologies. Now, some have started to question Meta’s raid into this still developing market.

Despite these fears, virtual reality remains one of the most exciting emerging technologies on the market today. To fully capitalize on this intriguing opportunity, organizations must have patience as developers and non-developers learn to produce their best work with virtual reality software development kits (VR SDKs).

VR remains an exciting opportunity

Despite the headlines, there is a real reason to be excited about virtual reality. Its potential use cases span departments and industries, and it can create a major impact on the world. To get there, organizations like Meta will need to consider investing in designing designated tools for VR development, such as VR SDKs.

These tools must match user needs to encourage employee adoption of VR SDKs. For most employees, virtual reality remains one of many emerging technologies they hear about in the news and online. Often, VR SDKs are low-code/no-code, meaning individuals with limited experience should still be able to use these tools for coding and development. To encourage the adoption of these technologies, organizations must have VR tools that make developing software for VR applications easy to adopt.

Ease of use is key

When looking at the data, it’s clear what users like most about VR SDKs is usability. “Ease of Use” was ranked as the top benefit of VR SDKs by over one-third of G2 reviewers. This makes it the foremost priority for most users, which is not surprising. For a tool like VR SDK to be adopted, it must be straightforward enough for non-technical users to operate. The second response, “User Experience” is closely related to this.

 

Users also placed emphasis on the “Features” available, which makes sense given the versatility of VR and software development. Virtual reality can be applied to almost any application, so users will want different but specific features depending on their department, industry, and use case. 

Looking ahead

While the headlines around Meta and other tech giants losing money on virtual reality might be concerning, in reality, this is only natural in the beginning. There’s a reason Facebook rebranded to Meta and a reason they and their peers are still heavily invested in this space. The long-term potential of virtual reality remains massive, and VR SDKs are one of a few vital tools that can help reach that potential.

Edited by Jigmee Bhutia