A true believer in the potential of virtual reality, Chinese producer predicts 5G, falling costs will make it mainstream within five years
- Virtual reality has not yet been fully embraced by consumers or the gaming and entertainment industries, but Ayden Ye believes that will come – and soon
- As his production company VeeR shows Cannes Film Festival VR competition entries in Beijing, he says 5G and cheaper cameras and headsets will take VR mainstream
Ayden Ye Hanzhong is a firm believer in virtual reality (VR). The head of VeeR, a VR content producer and distributor in China, has confidence in the technology’s potential despite the sluggish pace of its adoption by the gaming and entertainment industries worldwide.
According to Nielsen’s SuperData subsidiary, sales of the top five VR headsets – including Facebook’s Oculus and the Sony PlayStation VR – totalled 913,000 in the final quarter of 2019, a meagre number when compared to, say, the 10.8 million Nintendo Switch video game consoles sold in the same period.
Ye says VR is still in a transitional period before it catches on with the masses.
“The key to attracting an audience is having quality content,” he says.
International film festivals have recognised VR’s storytelling power with the launch of competitions for virtual-reality films. The Venice Film Festival, for instance, launched its virtual-reality section in 2017, while last year the Cannes Film Festival came up with Cannes XR, a 6-day programme dedicated to immersive entertainment.