Challenges For Every VR Product Manager

Wevr VR Product Manager on Virtual Reality (Part 2)

Unless you’re a VR product manager in the field, people don’t realize that virtual reality has been used for 40-50 years. Specifically, the military and research firms have developed high-end experiences that have amazing content. Most people really enjoy the first experience, but the problem is that retention for future use is very low. There also isn’t enough volume for mass adoption.

Right now, VR is facing a chicken/egg problem. People are questioning why they should invest in equipment if there isn’t a lot of great content available. The same problem affects product managers. It’s difficult to invest in developing these VR platforms if there aren’t enough people to repeatedly consume content.

Another challenge with VR is that the current content and equipment are focused only on VR experiences. In other words, they don’t include other features or functionalities for daily use. To use smartphones as an example, you can still use it to make phone calls even if the phone has terrible apps that you never use. VR products need to be useful when they’re not “in use.”

The launch of a “killer app” or new content would definitely help expand VR usage. Enhancements like the removal of tethers from the headsets and adding more interactivity with the content is already starting to help. However, we need to get more people using VR in daily life to drive mass adoption and bring in other activities to integrate with VR product.

Click here for Part 1

Click here for Part 3