According to research commissioned by SlotsMillion, 92% of respondents to a recent study allowed that they were at least aware of virtual reality (VR), while 23% of the 2,000 people questioned said they have tried the new technology.

SlotsMillion, a virtual reality online casino, engaged strategic insight agency, Opinium, to conduct the survey which found that awareness of the technology has easily surpassed actual experience in the real world by a large degree. 15% of respondents said they had tried it once or twice while another 6% said they may have been exposed somewhere between 1 and 24 hours. Those who have used virtual reality devices for more than 25 hours only accounted for about 2% of the respondents.

As would be expected with any nascent technology those in the younger demographic reported more than their older counterparts with 40% of 18-to-34-year-olds saying they had experienced virtual reality. 24% of 35 to 54-year-olds and only 10% of those over 55 have experienced VR. It is unclear if augmented reality (AR) was included in the questions or how much, if any, the Pokemon craze contributed to awarenesses of the technologies.

Most people are curious about VR even if they haven’t immersed themselves in it yet with 66% of respondents admitting an interest. The younger generations were inclined to pay more for the experience with those between 18-34 saying they would spend £134 on average and the eldest group indicating they would invest £74.

One-third of those surveyed indicated they were mildly interested, 19% simply ‘interested’ and 14% said they were very interested. One percent of the two-thousand indicated they were ‘obsessed’ with the technology.

When the goal posts are moved a bit to gauge the potential of the industry the youth vote leaned heavily into ‘very interested’ or ‘obsessed’ with 28% of 18-34-year-olds and an astounding 80% ‘interested’.

The gender lines broke toward men with over 70% of men interested and 60% of women. About 29% of men said they had experience with only 18% of women reporting the same.

Travel and gaming were popular responses when those interested were asked what they would likely use VR for, as was watching television or film, all coming in at about 28%. Live music registered a 16% interest and exercise or sports came in at 14%.

SlotsMillions CEO Alexandre Tomic said: “Our research proves that the critical initial phase of developing awareness has been achieved and it’s really only a lack of opportunity to try a VR headset that is holding many back from taking that step.

“Once headsets and the related technology becomes more affordable, I fully expect the interest and experience levels to continue to rise sharply.

“We can use VR to create beautiful, vivid encounters that are more colorful and life-like than real life. It has the power to transport us to another world and – as we are demonstrating with our VR casino SlotsMillion – be in two places at once.”

The people behind SlotsMillion didn’t find themselves on the edge of a potential super success story by accident. The creators got together in 2012 to capitalize on what was expected then as well to be an explosive growth phase for augmented and virtual reality experiences.

Earlier in 2017 ALEA launched SlotsMillion’s Slots Tournaments giving players a place to go head to head with others in the new realm.

Microsoft, Samsung, Facebook, and Google are among companies that have created or acquired VR products. Experts say that the sector could be worth as much as £65 billion by the year 2020 if the current trajectory remains.

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