Intel is building a VR studio in LA, and is already into sports broadcast technology. It recently purchased Replay Technologies, whose freeD tech is used by the NBA and MLB to do “bullet time” 360-degree replays. Though it’s getting into the VR broadcast business, the company no doubt hopes that extra content will drive demand for its chips. Oculus and Vive headset buyers, for example, must purchase decently spec’d PCs, most of which use Intel CPUs.
There’s still no proof that virtual reality is going to be huge, but all the major tech companies (apart from Apple) are betting on it. Microsoft revealed that its Holographic VR platform would come to Windows 10 in 2017. Intel’s Project Alloy will run on the platform, as will new $300 headsets from Lenovo, HP and Dell. Meanwhile, Google has developed its own Daydream headset and platform, Samsung has the smartphone-based Gear VR, and Sony is now selling it’s PlayStation VR gaming headset.
If sales take off as expected, Intel’s bet on VR content should pay off. However, it’s still too early to tell if virtual reality is going to be a genuine hit or not. HTC has reportedly sold around 140,000 Vive headsets at $700 a pop, which isn’t bad, and Oculus said over a million people used the Gear VR in May. Perhaps the biggest test will come at the end of the year, when Sony will reveal results from its first full quarter of Playstation VR headset sales.
