AMD's director of VR, Daryl Sartain, believes that virtual reality for consoles, is positive for the PC Front and to get VR into the market.

　　A lot has been said regarding VR lately, and no matter your opinion on virtual/augmented reality, VR is gaining popularity among the public, and developers.  According to a recent survey from the GDC, developers are gaining more confidence in VR development, and the Oculus Rift was picked to be the most popular VR platform among current VR developers.

　　Oculus recently announced the pre-order price for its VR device, the Oculus Rift. The device will start shipping in March, and will make you $ 599 lighter. For this price, customers will receive the Oculus Rift headset, sensor, Oculus Remote, cables, Xbox One Controller, EVE: Valkyrie, and Lucky’s Tale.

　　On the console front, Sony is developing its own VR device, PS VR. Microsoft is taking a different direction with their augmented reality headset, the Hololens.  In an interview with Tom's Hardware, AMD's VR director, Daryl Sartain, talked about console VR and its impact on PC VR. According the VR director,  development of these devices are a great thing for the VR industry in general, and he thinks that console VR is "absolutely an opportunity to get VR into the market". Sartain believes that console VR "can only be a positive opportunity" for AMD on the PC front.

　　TH: Can you give us your thoughts on console VR [as in PlayStation VR]?

　　DS: What I will say, more in the category of AMD’s role in the VR Council, is that I think it’s a great thing. I’m not pro or con, positive or negative on phone-based VR. I think it meets and addresses a particular opportunity. I think console VR is absolutely an opportunity to get VR into the market. If we do this right, my belief is that the console VR I think can only be a positive opportunity for us on the PC front.

　　AMD's VR director states that console VR will do one of two things: drive up console sales, or drive up PC sales. Both of which are good for AMD.

　　"Meaning, the cost of entry for someone to take what they already have as a console and add a console [VR] headset -- I would expect that’s not a high barrier [to entry]. In the end, if that user base starts to understand and like VR, and has the opportunity to see PC-based VR, which is going to have higher performance potential, at least initially, it does one of two things: It drives up console sales, which is good for us [because AMD APUs power both the PS4 and Xbox One], or it drives up PC sales, [which is] also good for us. I see it as a positive thing either way. I don’t think [console VR] detracts from what we’re doing".

　　Do you think console VR will have a positive effect on PC VR in general, or will it only benefit AMD? Leave a comment.