Is the Metaverse a metadud? Just 7% of US teens plan to buy VR headset
The Metaverse promised to be The Next Big Thing transforming how we gather, enjoyed live music, and much more. But despite a raft of improvements and new tools, adoption rates are actually falling.
Despite several years of blistering hype about the rise of the “Metaverse” (read: Facebook’s clumsy attempt to dominate a market simply by rebranding video games, AR, and VR as…something else), new data from Piper Sandler indicates that there’s little real interest among younger Americans.
According to the firm’s latest survey of 5,600 teens (part of a much broader study of teens in general), just 27 percent own a VR device, compared to an 87 percent iPhone ownership rate among teens. Just four percent of U.S. teens actually use VR on a daily basis:
The survey results suggest that virtual reality hardware and software has yet to catch on with the public despite billions of dollars in investment in the technology from Big Tech companies and a number of low-cost headsets on the market. Teenagers are often seen as early adopters of new technology and their preferences can provide a preview of where the industry is going.
Only 7 percent of U.S. teens planned to buy a VR headset anytime soon. VR headset sales were generally down in 2022, 2 percent in the U.S. and 12 percent globally. In China, second hand used VR headsets are piling up as consumer interest there wanes as well.
That’s a comically stark difference from several years of hype related to the technology, which always seemingly assumed mass adoption of a niche technology with numerous barriers to entry. Cost and comfort remains an obstacle for many, though so does motion and “simulator sickness,” which continues to impact a large chunk of potential customers and was the subject of a Verge story this week.
I enjoy VR myself, but can spend about twenty minutes in VR before I get cold sweats and am disoriented and ill for hours. Especially when it comes to so many of the jankier titles that don’t implement meaningful counter balances to motion sickness. All of the supposed tricks, from slow, expanded usage to train the brain… or pointing a fan at me while playing, don’t work. Data suggests I’m not alone.
None of this is to say that VR and AR won’t increasingly be useful and exciting technologies as the underlying tech advances. And somebody (probably not Mark Zuckerberg) will eventually offer a low-cost must-have VR gadget that truly delivers something truly revolutionary that doesn’t make you puke. But until then, the best we’re left with is yet another cautionary tale about the perils of speculative hype.
