Oculus VR is no ordinary tech company.
Acquired by social media giant Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) in 2014 for US$2.3bn, it pioneered the Oculus Rift virtual reality (VR) headset designed for use in video gaming.
Eyebrows were raised at the time but with the newest offering Oculus Go set to launch shortly a reassessment might be in order.
WATCH: VR Education sees 'meteoric rise' with Apollo 11 experience on Oculus Go
This latest iteration of its headset technology will be standalone without any need for a PC or a wired connection to anything.
With a starting price of £199 (for comparison, the Oculus Rift currently retails at around a £399 starting price), the Go might also be the tipping point that transforms VR from an expensive hobby into a mass market technology.
If in doubt look at the market reaction to VR Education Holdings Plc (LON:VRE) which saw its share price rocket more than 40% when it revealed its award-winning Apollo 11 experience will be part of a package of apps included in the headset at launch.
VR’s software enables you to witness the moon landing first-hand in VR from the viewpoint of the US astronaut Neil Armstrong,
It is the portability and relatively inexpensive price tag of the Go that has the potential to be a game changer, potentially breaching the barrier between niche technology and the mass consumer market.
VR could drive student engagement remotely and in the classroom
This is all good news for VR Education, as its focus is not entertainment or gaming but rather (unsurprisingly) the education sector.
Chief executive David Whelan has recognised the potential VR technology can bring to education, with immersion and the remote connection opportunities as key drivers.
“Estimates are saying that the market we are going into will be worth £1.7bn by 2021” he said when it joined AIM recently.
The online student market in particular will be perfectly suited to the immersion and remote aspects of VR.
A cheaper and relatively simple VR headset product would make student engagement much easier both inside the classroom and for remote learning.
Even before its integration into the Oculus Go, VR Education’s Apollo 11 experience had already been downloaded more than 120,000 times and generated over €1mln in revenue for the group.
Good news for VR investors
The potential mass marketisation of VR’s Apollo 11 experience will also come as good news to early stage investor Sure Ventures PLC (LON:SURE), which currently hold a stake in VR Education.
Sure also made a £500,000 investment in virtual reality cinema company Immotion Group in April, which uses VR cinema ‘pods’ to create multi-directional sound and motion experiences for users.
“A lot of people think that the first major wave of exponential growth in virtual reality will be from this arcade-style model…where you can get this all-in-one experience that really shows you the power and potential” says Sure Ventures’ Barry Downes.
He added: “What we expect Immotion will do will drive demand for virtual reality headsets in general and kickstart the market in the UK”.
If it does, Oculus might prove to be the real winner.