New Trend Report

New Trend Report

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New Trending Report

The emergence of social media, autonomous internet access, and the increase of tablets and smartphones have changed the demands and anticipations of media users. The outcome is an astonishing variety of new digital products and services, which function and exist as new trends. As the emerging media introduce new features and change their algorithm, social media trends similarly undergo an evolution. This paper aims to educate, inform, and report on one of the lasted new trends hitting the industry in social media and emerging data. 

Virtual reality is one of the new trends hitting the industry and the emerging media. In overview, virtual reality signifies a computer-generated environment with objects and scenes that appear to be real, making the user feel they are immersed in their surroundings. A device known as a Virtual Reality headset is normally used to perceive this environment. Virtual reality happens to be the future of social media in a way that not only can individuals enrich existing friendships, but they can also make new friends through the ever-growing catalog of social Virtual Reality experiences (Anbarjafari et al., 2017). Virtual social media users can possibly create avatars and then put on headsets to walk around customized virtual worlds, play games, meet up with friends, explore other users’ published worlds, or build places they want to visit. For instance, perceiving Virtual Reality as the future of social media interaction, Facebook acquired Oculus back in 2014 with an idea to unite the globe in a more consequential way.

After the arrival of virtual reality headsets a few years ago, VR has drawn a lot of attention. The future of Virtual Reality appears limitless, and there is strong interest from individuals across industries and the media (Anbarjafari et al., 2017). The buzz about this new trend started with the introduction of the PC-connected Oculus Rift prototype in 2010. The trend progressed from PC-tethered headsets to console-tethered headsets and mobile-tethered headsets between 2014 and 2017. One common thing is that the buzz surrounding Virtual Reality during 2016 has been inevitable. During this year, the consumers’ headsets were launched, and the market started to shape up. With the release of the Oculus Rift in March 2016, the phase of virtual reality actually commenced (Kruzan & Won, 2019). This new trend has been generating buzz since 1990, but the Oculus Rift was the first high-end virtual reality system to reach the consumer market and delivered the kind of experience consumers had been longing for.

The Facebook brand got everyone’s attention about this new trend. Other virtual reality stocks that have got everyone’s attention about this new trend include Microsoft Corp., Alphabet Inc. (GOOG, GOOGL), Sony Group Corp. (SONY), and Apple Inc. The worldwide virtual reality market is now witnessing a rise in competitiveness among several corporations. The market comprises several major players, such as Google, Oculus, Samsung, Lenovo, and HTC. The use of virtual reality in the entertainment and sports industry played a big part in getting people’s attention about this new trend. Location-based entertainment, gaming, music, and theatres are expected to witness the benefits of virtual reality technology. People are paying attention to this new trend because it proliferates through different aspects of their lives (Kruzan & Won, 2019). As a result, individuals face very new different ways of communicating with each other in social media and other emerging data. People are also giving this new trend attention because some of the biggest names in smartphones, social media, and consumer electronics gave this trend a major boost in a series of announcements at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Another thing is that virtual reality is breaking investment records and is important to all major players. 

Virtual reality is much different from others in the industry. It is different from others in that it can create sensory experiences, including sound, virtual sight, and touch. Apart from being used in the gaming world, it is also being developed by unique Interactive to create virtual representations of architectural designs. It is unique in that it simulates a physical presence in the real world or an illusory world, allowing the user to interact with the world.   

 Virtual reality can be compared with Augmented Reality and also Mixed Reality. Augmented reality signifies an enhanced version of the physical world that is achieved through using digital visual elements, sound, and sensory stimuli delivered via technology. On the other hand, mixed reality signifies an amalgam of physical and digital worlds, unlocking natural and intuitive 3D human, computer, and environment interactions. The main difference between Virtual reality and augmented reality is that VR entirely takes over the senses and experiences of an individual, whereas AR just adds to real-world experiences. Another thing is that AR uses a real-world setting while VR is entirely virtual. The difference between virtual reality and mixed reality is that VR users have a completely virtual experience. In contrast, mixed reality users interact with virtual elements added to augmented reality users’ real-world experience.  

Virtual reality has both pros and cons. Among its pros is that it is innovative and enjoyable, provides realistic scenarios, improves retention and recall, simplifies complex problems or situations, and has little risk. Virtual reality allows users to connect and share on an entirely whole new level. It aids users to meet friends anywhere in the world and share experiences that would not be conceivable in the real world. When it comes to its cons, it is quite expensive, lacks flexibility, it has functionality issues, and it is often an isolating individual experience. It is also a fragmented market and is slow for demos.   

One of the examples of how this trend has been used or implemented in the campaign is in the New York Times newspaper. A couple of years ago, the New York Times delivered Google Cardboard glasses to all of their subscribers in order to watch virtual reality movies (Anbarjafari et al., 2017). The result is that the emotional greatness that that this campaign provided viewers reinforced brand loyalty for all three of the products: the New York Times, the glasses, and the featured movies. Some of the lessons learned from this are that virtual reality plays an important part in social media and technology. It plays a part in brand campaigns and marketing. Users are always ready to embrace new technology, and virtual reality develops creativity. Lee at al., (2021) assert that mass communication says virtual reality experiences feel real and appear unmediated. Lastly, constructivism is the underlying learning theory used to discuss this trend. It is a learning theory suggested as an instructional design and development model. 

Reference

Anbarjafari, G., Haamer, R. E., Lusi, I., Tikk, T., & Valgma, L. (2017). 3D face reconstruction with region based best fit blending using mobile phone for virtual reality based social media. arXiv preprint arXiv:1801.01089.

Kruzan, K. P., & Won, A. S. (2019). Embodied well-being through two media technologies: Virtual reality and social media. new media & society, 21(8), 1734-1749.

Lee, S. A., Lee, M., & Jeong, M. (2021). The role of virtual reality on information sharing and seeking behaviors. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 46, 215-223.