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Monday, 07 July 2014 06:24

Firefox and Chrome add VR Support, Push the Marketing and Sales Angle

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If there was ever an indication that virtual reality might make it in the mainstream market it is when the web browsers start to support it. So far we have heard rumblings that Microsoft, Google and even Mozilla will be throwing their lot in with the VR gang. One of the big reasons for this is that Facebook has already pushed into that territory with their purchase of Oculus VR. After buying the virtual reality headset maker there have been multiple rumors of Facebook making a VR social world as an extension of their existing social network.

It is also highly possible that some of the more annoying social network based games would like to cash in on the VR craze once things get rolling. These items have led a renewed interest in VR for the web. We all know that 3D did not take off like some had hoped and to be honest it probably was never going to, there are too many variables to 3D and too many people find it annoying at the least or migraine inducing at its worst.

So what are the browser guys planning? According to Brandon Jones, Google wants to entice web developers to add in bits of VR code into their web pages to make them more engaging. “In the case of a piece of clothing you could see it on a virtual mannequin, walk around it, lean in and examine the stitching, and so on as if it were actually sitting right in front of you”, writes Jones in a recent blog post.

Meanwhile Firefox claims that “The Web is a vibrant, connected universe where many different types of experiences can be created and shared. People can be productive, have fun and learn all from within their browser.” It looks like the biggest push right now would not be for gaming, but for marketing and sales. There is a lot of talk on how to leverage VR to create a more interactive sales experience including virtual tours of hotels, apartments, homes etc. These are shown off as potential selling tools with little talk about the use of VR for any real entertaining content.

Right now these features are only available in beta versions of the respective browsers and you will need to either use Google’s cardboard or be one of the lucky ones to have an Oculus Rift in hand. We wonder if this new marketing oriented push will really make VR more mainstream or just more annoying.

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Read 3000 times Last modified on Monday, 07 July 2014 06:27
Sean Kalinich

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