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A brief history of virtual reality shows that VR has been a point of interest throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. VR was described by Stanley Weinbaum as early as the 1930s, and in the 1960s, Ivann Sutherland created the first VR headset. At the same time, the military was working on motion control platforms that became standard training tools. In the 1990s, Nintendo in many ways launched the modern version of the VR movement with their Virtual Boy product, bringing VR into the public realm.
VR, however, didn't really begin to take off until the early to mid 2010s. In 2014, Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook bought Oculus VR for $2 billion, and the "arms race" for VR began. Just two years later, in 2016, companies like Samsung, Sony, Oculus / Facebook, and CEEK were all sparring in the competitive VR market. Two years later though, the landscape isn't looking good, according to some.
Over promise, under deliver?
TechCrunch reports that "many investors and analysts have been less than thrilled with the pace of [VR] headset sales over the past year [2016]." In other words, the year that was supposed to be a "boom" for VR was overhyped. It was, in actuality, a "bust". This was due to a variety of reasons, according to TechCrunch, including the fact that "current VR hardware and software isn't even meeting rougher-and-readier early adopter expectations". The tail has wagged the proverbial dog, leading the industry to seriously consider "the grounding reality-check of slender consumer appetite for what the tech can actually deliver right now versus a still lofty price." For the majority of VR users, the tech hasn't matched the hype or the price.
In order to address these issues, one VR company, CEEK, is developing a blockchain powered platform to supplement their existing products. Their focus is on creating a platform that caters to experiences users may not have access to--such as concerts with behind-the-scenes features--at an affordable cost relative to its peers. The implementation of blockchain technology will propel the CEEK platform to success, such that the hype of VR tech matches the price.
The CEEK Environment and Platform Design
Arguably, many VR programs fail because the experiences are too narrow. Users can only do one thing, which becomes boring in a short amount of time. CEEK offers several immersive VR experiences within their virtual sphere, CEEK City, creating a complete virtual--soon to be decentralized--environment. The city includes a Victorian Theatre, a concert arena, a sports complex, and lounge, and the city proper.
By simulating the community aspect of these experiences, users don't feel alone in the VR world. What's more, they provide a way for fans to experience events they would otherwise have access to or be able to afford. Virtual concerts, for example, allow users to purchase behind-the-scenes and VIP features, interacting with musicians at a personal VR level. These are the experiences that users crave, but so far, the technology hasn't been able to provide.
In addition, the platform's blockchain implementation keeps costs low for all parties involved. When anyone wants to purchase an item on the CEEK platform--be it a concert, VIP access, or digital merchandise, they can do so directly without need for a third party middleman like a bank or credit card company. In creating a decentralized, smart contract powered infrastructure, users have access to off-chain resources, providing a secure, scalable, and transparent way to process payments.
Token for change
What's more, the platform has a multi-purpose token, the CEEK token, which allows users to earn and trade virtual goods with the broader community. CEEK tokens not only keep platform expenses low and transactions secure, they also promote interactions between users to facilitate a "oneness" and experience that is severely lacking from today's mainstream VR platforms. These crucial blockchain developments will help transform the CEEK platform into a VR system that users will actually want to buy, because for the first time ever, the tech matches the price.
