1) Sports

Are you one of many Americans who are smart enough to spend $1000+ dollars for a frontcoart game? What if you only spent a fraction of the cost for a ticket?

Think about it. Imagine if cameras capable of producing 360 video were at the middle of the field/court for professional sports. Many people would fancy such a thing, especially if they don't need to fork over a fortune.

If the NFL or NBA gave access to such views for a couple bucks(maximum 20-50), the potential for VR can skyrocket.

2) Smartphones

It's 2016. Nowadays, more people are choosing phones over PC's. while that isn't to say PC's are dead. However, smartphones are just a monster in the market.

Almost everyone has a smartphone(which even includes spoiled rich kids with iphone 6s's). Now imagine if in 2-4 years a huge range of smartphones are supported for VR headgear? If it has a modest selling price($99) and a fancier version(perhaps a gold-covered version for Bill Gates), this can help Oculus(biggest supplier of VR headsets) become a great force. 

3)Possible Imax?

Yes, I know people will point out to me that this would be ridiculously expensive. However, what if there was a heavily-advertised movie that made you use a VR headset? It could either flop horribly(if it's some garbage such as Fantastic Four), or create a snowball-effect. Saying all of this, I'll move to the fourth point-

4) Porn

Yes, you've read this correctly. 

While I myself don't watch porn, I know it's quite...well...popular. I'm pretty sure people watch millions of hours of porn every day. now imagine if you got to see that in 360 degrees? Sure, it'd look weird when you're enjoying yourself, but people don't care. Why? I honestly don't know. I mean, for god's sake people. We have plastic penises nowadays. Don't be surprised if porn has a revolution in technology.

5) PS4+PC

Oculus is creating VR headsets for the PS4 and PC. However, I think they'll need help from both in order to gain some sort of attention from the gaming community. With a pricetag reaching up to a medium-powered PC, it'll take much effort to make people buy the oculus(and actually use it).

What VR headset is Oculus creating for the PS4? :O

It's going to be a big thing regardless. It's the future. Things we do now will be better with VR.

I thought it was going to be the next big thing because next to the last 20 years of baby steps forward VR is a god damn long jump in the way we experience and play games.

But yeah, sports and porn.

VR won't become a huge thing until it can become available at a decent price for most consumers willing to buy one. And nobody knows how long that will take.

Just look at the Oculus costing $600.

I think price will be the biggest factor, and everything else comes after that

I agree with Sports, Porn, and Price but also think you need to add-

Virtual tourism (imagine being able to experience different places- literally anywhere, and this could be fixed experiences of a place like standing in time square or a more interactive one like virtual trip like on a boat), Or imagine live feed versions so a camera and tripod later and grandpa can 'come' along for the trip even though hes at home), etc

virtual music and concerts- you could be at the concert live, or in the music video

virtual movie type experiences- not regular movies, more like being in a play going on all around you, could literally be anything

virtual roller coasters and rides of any kind like deep sea, jets, space ships, etc

virtual education- shared learning environments like building a car together only you're in New York and I'm in California, being in the operating room to watch a surgery, etc

virtual shopping- get to check out the room you want to rent or house you might want to buy, check out the hotel before you reserve, check out cars on the lot, etc

The possibilities are mind boggling when you think of it! I can't even truly imagine all the possibilities! This tech is nothing short of a revolution. When people actually try it for themselves it will sell itself!

VR/AR is the next big thing. And it doesn't need to be saved.

VR has been tested to make a large percentage of the popular nautious. people heave repeatedly been saying that 3D would be something permanent for like 50+ years now and that has never been the case

I could see VIrtual REality being something in decades but the techonology is just not there now. People do not want to put some headset bullshit on their face. That's not 'virtual reality' that's literally just (essentially) pushing a moniter/TV closer to your eyes so you don't see things outside of the screen in your periphial. it's just not impressive

Oculus Rift will fail. too gimmicky

I think a lot of you are overrating what Virtual Reality currently is. its LITERALLY a headset on your face. this is not a new concept nor is anything currently in development that is THAT revolutionary in terms of function

people just aren't casually going to sit around with a thing on their head. in terms of immersion its just not a big enough step. I think its a cool concept, but its sort of like 3D, good 'futuristic' concept on paper but in actual practice people don't like it any more than standard ways to watch movies. Video games are similar in this

also those of you saying sports and porn aren't being realistic. porn would only be apt if there was something more to the device than a freaking screen on your face, and sports? you think people are going to really enjoy sitting behind a virtual screen that pretends they're at the event? half of enjoying watching sports is watching it with other people and screwing around! no way in hell are people going to be individually sitting with their VR sets watching a big football game rather than at a big-game party instead. I just don't buy it

then we look at price point and that's yet another thing hurting it. for a total price of like 1000$ (after the console, games, whatever) a person could literally go to a big game or go on a vacation.

people are wayyyy stretching the realistic uses of this