Oculus is adding these new social features to the Samsung Gear VR

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The Samsung Gear VR headset has gained some new features that should bring you closer to your friends.

Oculus, the virtual reality technology company owned by Facebook, announced some new social features on Thursday for the Gear VR, the headset powered by smartphone, reports Venture Beat.

These new features would let users more easily search for and connect to other users. Soon enough, users would also be able to link their Facebook profiles to their Oculus account.

All of these features would increase the social aspect of VR, which has been a concerted effort by Oculus. The company has added some social-oriented VR games to its arsenal, such as Social Trivia and a team role-playing game called Herobound: Gladiators.

The Samsung Gear VR is in the best position to achieve mass consumption compared to its competitors thanks in large part to its affordability. Samsung Gear VR is smartphone-powered, while other products such as the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, which provide more immersive experiences, require high-powered gaming PCs to function, and these PCs could cost customers up to $1,500.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has stated his belief that VR will be the main social platform of the future, so the integration of these social features into the Samsung Gear VR is a logical step. Facebook recently created a social VR team to further progress toward this goal.

We're on the verge of the main stage debut for virtual reality products and when they arrive, they will push the limits of what VR means to the average consumer. But what opportunities will this create?

The tech industry has promoted the prospect of VR for the past few decades. But only now, with headsets backed by big names like Sony and Facebook, is VR finally becoming a concrete product with mass market potential. While VR technology is largely associated with the gaming industry, the platform offers a new set of content opportunities in entertainment, advertising, and more.

But where is it all going?

Margaret Boland, research analyst for BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has compiled a detailed report on virtual reality content that examines how various VR headset categories will shape VR content development and looks at the trajectory for mobile gaming revenues to get a sense of how spending on VR content might develop. The report also lays out what types of content users and developers can expect on VR platforms, including gaming, video entertainment, and advertising.

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Here are some key takeaways from the report:

• VR headset manufacturers are driving both the development and distribution of VR content by investing significant technical and monetary resources in developers, in an effort to build up an exclusive content library.
• High demand for VR headsets by mobile and console gamers will fuel demand for VR content. The VR content market will take an increasing portion of the mobile gaming software industry.
• Beyond gaming, VR video entertainment will remain short form until demand for VR headsets increases.
• Ads featured on VR headsets will likely have higher view-through rates than standard video ad spots.
• Other industries are also beginning to experiment with VR content. Travel companies, publishers, e-commerce merchants, and social platforms are beginning to see potential in this new category.
• VR content faces major hurdles that could keep developers from investing: The VR experience must be good enough for people to take up the devices. In addition, developers need to know that a sufficient user base exists to be worthy of the resource investment in VR content.

In full, the report:

• Provides a breakdown of each type of VR headset, what platforms they run on, and how content will differ for each.
• Includes estimates for global VR headset shipments by category.
• Includes a mobile gaming forecast to give a sense of the most important market that will drive spending on VR content in the next five years.
• Lays out what other industries are developing VR programs.
• Discusses some of the potential barriers that could dissuade developers from investing in VR content.

To get your copy of this invaluable guide to the VR universe, choose one of these options:

1. Subscribe to an ALL-ACCESS Membership with BI Intelligence and gain immediate access to this report AND over 100 other expertly researched deep-dive reports, subscriptions to all of our daily newsletters, and much more. >> START A MEMBERSHIP
2. Purchase the report and download it immediately from our research store. >> BUY THE REPORT

The choice is yours. But however you decide to acquire this report, you’ve given yourself a powerful advantage in your understanding of the world of VR.