The inevitable trend that I think is about two things. One is the further development of mobile app, another one is the VR application. I believe these two things have huge potential if they perfectly combined. Actually, people are doing this right now, like Alibaba, they are building the new-tech mobile app to allow people to shop on their mobile phone with the application of VR. For example, the VR goggle can give you real experience of shopping like checking the clothes with 360 degree, and show you the direct feeling and impression of the appearance of the cloth like you are in the real store.
VR is a new technology for everyone, and it’s definitely going to be the trend in the future. So why did I mention the mobile app instead of talking about VR only. Because mobile app is already popular and relatively mature, but still it has a lot of space and potential can be further developed. So it will be a great opportunity for VR to grow and make its practical functionality more efficiently by using the existing platform of mobile app.
Firstly, I want to talk about the market of mobile app. The reason that I think mobile app is the trend and the perfect co-operator of VR’s because people can’t leave without their mobile devices anymore. Mobile devices like smart phone, tablets, wearable devices are becoming the part of people’s lives. Recently, I read an article and it’s about the time that people spend on their mobile phone every day. In that article, it says people check their social media and some mobile applications 17 times approximately, meaning at least once every hour. This is just the number of frequency that people check their phones, and we don’t how much time they will spend on each check. I guess that number will surprise you, because you will not to notice and aware how much time you spend on this little device in most of the time. Mobile devices are becoming the part of lives, therefore I think the market of mobile app is huge and magnificently profitable.
Recently I read a book called “The Mobile Mind Shift” which is really relative to this topic, and it’s a great book that inspired me with so many brilliant ideals, concepts and cases. The ubiquity of smartphones and mobile devices has created the opportunity for business to thrive by serving their customer’s and employee’s needs wherever and whenever they are. We have grown accustomed to going to our mobile devices whenever we need assistance, and it is in these mobile moment that brands have the ability succeed, or fail, at building customer loyalty and engagement. You can engage desktop-computer users when they are at their desks, or some notebook users at coffee bar, but only when users go mobile, you can engage all of the people in real time all the time. That’s why mobile devices are the fastest-growing and most fascinating field in real-time market engagement. Ted and another two authors understand this ideal deeply and in their new book they share how the battleground for minds is no longer based on how much a company spends on classic advertising or sales, but on the smart and innovative marketing strategy with new trend of technology.
The mobile app is becoming a successful and mature platform, so why should VR not to use this existing resource to boost their industry? I think the answer is obvious. The statistic depicts the total number of active virtual reality users is forecast to reach 171 million worldwide by 2018. Can you image how big this market is? VR is still an infant industry for now, and the marketing application of VR goggle is limited. So I think, by developing the application of VR and combing it with mobile app, the result will be significant. VR is definitely not only a new technology for video games. but also a excellent device which can provide many practical applications and functionalities. Image you can see any place in the world with real visual impact, and image you can put yourself in a movie like a part of it. All you need to do is open a mobile app and put it in a VR goggle, then you can do anything you want to. Isn’t that so excited to have these kind of experiences in the future? The potential of these two trends are huge, and I think in the near future, all those features and expectations that I mentioned will be developed and fulfilled.
Dingkai Chen