Baofeng Mojing & Zhimeng Consulting: China VR User Behavior Research Report

On March 18, 2016, at the 12th TFC Global Mobile Game Conference, Baofeng Mojing, a leader in the domestic virtual reality industry, jointly with the National Advertising Research Institute and Zhimeng Consulting Agency, released the "China VR User Behavior Research Report". This report conducted an in-depth survey of Chinese VR users for the first time, and comprehensively analyzed the current behavior of VR users. At the same time, it fully explored the user's content and industry application needs. The report also predicted the possible commercial application areas of VR technology in the future based on user needs.

Ding Junjie, President of the National Advertising Academy, Zhang Xiang, Vice President of the National Advertising Research Institute, Xiao Mingchao, CEO of Zhimeng Consulting, Gao Wei, partner of Baofeng Magic Mirror, Weng Dongdong, associate researcher of the School of Optoelectronics of Beijing Institute of Technology, Xu Tao, CEO and Global Vice President of VIA Technologies China, Qiu Feng, Investment Director of Dingxiang Capital, and other industry leaders attended the press conference. In addition, there were hundreds of industry representatives and technology media who were interested in the development of the VR industry.

The first VR research report "starting from the user"

At present, VR technology has developed into the most concerned field among global technology companies. The industry generally believes that 2016 will be the first year of VR explosion. Oculus, Sony, HTC and others have launched new VR consumer products. The VR glasses of Baofeng Mojing, the domestic virtual reality leader, have also been upgraded to the fourth generation. Just one day before the press conference, Alibaba also announced the establishment of a VR laboratory. BAT has also fully entered the VR field.

Behind the enthusiasm of technology companies and the pursuit of capital, how do users use VR? Can VR really become the new "computing platform" in the future as predicted by the technology industry? The launch of the "China VR User Behavior Research Report" can be said to be timely. Ding Junjie, president of the National Advertising Research Institute, said that when the entire VR industry is discussing technology, business, and investment, in fact, "users" are what the entire industry needs to pay in-depth attention to and insight into. The "China VR User Behavior Research Report" starts from users and is produced through joint discussions and investigations by research institutions and the industry. Such research undoubtedly provides a worthy reference perspective for the entire VR industry to gain insight into users and explore future needs.

286 million users gold mine to be developed

At the press conference, Xiao Mingchao, a well-known trend observer and CEO of Zhimeng Consulting, released the "China VR User Behavior Research Report" on behalf of the research team. The report shows that the potential user scale of VR in China has reached 286 million, and there are about 17 million VR shallow users who have come into contact with or experienced virtual reality devices in the past year, and about 960,000 users who have purchased various VR virtual reality devices.

Among the types of VR devices that heavy VR users plan to purchase in the next year, VR glasses rank first, accounting for 83.1%. The main reason for their purchase of VR glasses is to upgrade their VR devices, followed by PC-side VR helmets, accounting for more than 1/3, and then VR all-in-one machines. VR glasses are becoming the mainstream VR device due to their portability and ease of operation. According to this market expectation, the market potential of China's VR industry will reach trillions.

Data source: "China VR User Behavior Research Report"

Xiao Mingchao pointed out that China's VR industry is entering a golden age. VR is not only an intelligent device based on new user scenarios, but also, with the continuous evolution of VR technology, VR will bring new application scenarios and business innovation imaginations to various vertical business and marketing fields in the future. All industries need to think about how to integrate and innovate with VR.

VR user profile: Mostly tech geeks, watching for 34 minutes a day

The "China VR User Behavior Research Report" is the first survey on VR users across the country. Tech geeks have become the main force among VR users. Among heavy VR users, men account for more than 70%. From the perspective of age characteristics, young people aged 25 to 34 account for more than 60%. Heavy VR users who are relatively "homebodies" in life are also high consumers of technology, digital products and other products.

Data source: "China VR User Behavior Research Report"

The report shows that heavy users of VR are also heavy users of mobile Internet, and they spend an average of more than four hours a day surfing the Internet on their mobile phones. Therefore, mobile VR will become a possible evolution trend. The report also shows that VR still needs to think about how to impress more users and provide more segmented applications and content for different users, which will become a direction worth considering for VR to move towards a comprehensive mass market in the future.

At the same time, the report shows that more than 70% of heavy VR users use VR devices almost every day, and 21% of heavy VR users use VR devices more than three times a week. Heavy users use VR devices for 16 minutes to 60 minutes a day, with an average daily usage time of 34 minutes. VR has become an important part of the entertainment life of heavy users.

Big-screen movies, blockbusters and travel-related content are the most popular

What do heavy VR users watch? The survey shows that movies, panoramic videos, VR games, panoramic roaming, and panoramic pictures are all popular among heavy VR users, among which giant screen movies account for the highest proportion, exceeding 80%. Relatively speaking, female users have a higher preference for panoramic roaming and panoramic picture content.

The data also revealed the most popular VR film and television content among heavy users, with science fiction films, European and American blockbusters, war films and beauty videos ranking at the top. It can be seen that VR users prefer VR content with stronger sensory impact.

Data source: "China VR User Behavior Research Report"

At the same time, the survey shows that "home" life cannot stop heavy VR users from yearning for travel. 42.4% of heavy VR users said they yearn for travel, which also prompted them to pay attention to content related to tourist attractions on VR devices. The travel destinations preferred by heavy VR users are natural scenery, accounting for 85.7%; followed by scenic spots and historical sites, accounting for 44.2%. This is also the reason why many tourist attractions have produced VR content.

Product ranking: Oculus Rift is the most well-known, Baofeng Mojing has the most abundant resources

The "China VR User Behavior Research Report" also released the "2015 China VR Product Ranking" based on user research. The list shows that among heavy VR users, the top three VR devices in terms of recognition are Oculus Rift, Sony PlayStation VR and Baofeng Magic Mirror; and the products they think have the highest appearance are Sony PlayStation VR, Baofeng Magic Mirror and Samsung GEar VR.

For shallow users, local innovative products are undoubtedly their top concern. As the most influential technology product in the domestic VR field, Baofeng Mojing has high expectations in terms of user desire and content richness. Data shows that the VR products that shallow VR users are most eager to buy are Baofeng Mojing, Samsung Gear VR, and Sony PlayStation VR, accounting for 27.9%, 25.6%, and 23.3% respectively.

Data source: "China VR User Behavior Research Report"

The richness of current content also determines the usage stickiness of VR products. Data shows that heavy VR users believe that Baofeng Magic Mirror ranks first in terms of resource richness, followed by Sony PlayStation VR and Samsung Gear VR, accounting for 38.3%, 9.6% and 8.4% respectively.

Data source: "China VR User Behavior Research Report"

Since 2015, VR technology has set off a technological storm of "turning dreams into reality" around the world. VR consumer products have gradually changed from geek research objects to new "toys" for mass consumption and entertainment. I believe that as the industrial chain continues to mature, more and more innovative VR products will emerge.

Gao Wei, partner of Baofeng Magic Mirror, believes that the development of the VR industry needs to be closely integrated with users and be able to understand user needs and user portraits in the most practical way, so as to grasp the correct development trend of the VR industry.

VR's industry application scenarios show huge demand

As more and more VR devices enter the consumer market, virtual reality technology is not only becoming more and more closely integrated with consumers' lives, but it is also giving rise to the demand for industry and VR integration applications.

The "China VR User Behavior Research Report" also reveals the VR usage scenarios that users are interested in. The survey shows that business models or content that combine VR with games, tourism, automobiles, home decoration, performing arts, and news are highly popular among users. Among the VR content combined with other industries that heavy users are interested in and willing to experience or consume, the top three are tourism, automobiles, and home decoration. Among the VR content that shallow users are interested in and willing to experience or consume, the top three are tourism, home decoration, and performing arts.

The combination of VR with every traditional industry is a new business revolution, which will be in no way inferior to the changes brought about by Internet+. With the further maturity of artificial intelligence technology, virtual reality + artificial intelligence + traditional industries will usher in a new era to promote industrial development.

When the new horn of the VR industry sounded in 2016, the release of the "China VR User Behavior Research Report" undoubtedly pointed out the direction of commercialization demand for the entire Chinese VR industry. In this huge blue ocean market, not only technology giants are needed to provide platforms and resources, but also a large number of vertical companies are needed to provide professional products and services to create a complete ecological closed loop. The layout of content, platforms and the entire industry chain will become the new focus of the VR industry. A new user era has begun.