Since the dawn of information and communication technologies in the late 1970s, particularly powered by the wide spread adoption of Personal Computers, Internet penetration and the use of world wide web for content access, development of cells phones, and now smart gadgets, majority of global billionaires have emerged from the technologies. Right now we are at the dawn of another phase of technology shift that will render most of the previous technologies redundant, and the new emerging technologies led by some 5 tech sectors will also create its own dollar billionaires, and you too can take the leap and stand a chance of being part of those who will mint the billions.
This week we will be focusing on the 5 tech sectors from where you can mint billions between now and probably 2050. The 5 tech sectors we will focus on are the sectors deemed to shape the global economy as the economy shifts reliance from the traditional manufacturing factories to fully automated AI controlled self replicating 3D printers; Industry 4.0, the Industry that will render practically everyone jobless. As the global economy changes to embrace Industry 4.0 whose main worker will be AI, there are emerging some sectors that will be controlling the shift, and anyone who has his money where his mouth is will seek jobs, invest, develop, innovate or do business in these emerging sectors.
The 5 tech sectors that we will examine include:
- Virtual Reality (we may also mention Augmented Reality in there),
- Artificial Intelligence,
- Internet of Things, the Cloud, and Big Data,
- Vertical Agriculture, and
- Revolutionary Biotechnology
Those who already have the billions may include modern self actualizing factories in the list.
Today we focus on how Virtual Reality can help you get employment, start a startup, allow you to innovate, and potentially be part of the yet to be created new dollar billionaires.
VR/AR or Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality can be viewed as totally different sectors or as one sector. This is because VR is an immersive tech that transport the user inside the content, whereas AR is non-immersive tech that displays the content on the user’s physical environment. What makes the two sectors be considered similar is the functionality as there are several functions shared by the two – only that AR is more versatile as it allows mobility in physical environment. Right now, Virtual Reality is the new age tech that has taken off, but it is still at its infancy.
Virtual Reality took off last year when three major VR players launched their hardware. One year after the birth of Virtual Reality, it is being predicted that the sector will be worth some $120 billion in the next three years, mostly controlled by hardware sales. Past 2020, the Virtual Reality will not only continue to grow in value but the focus will shift from hardware to content and software, and by mid 2020s Virtual Reality is expected to replace the traditional PC both for entertainment and productivity.
The question today therefore is, how can anyone take advantage of the growing Virtual Reality to make some much needed cash? Here are four ways you can make your money in Virtual Reality, starting today.
1. Become a hardware salesman
As mentioned, the expected $120 billion worth of Virtual Reality by 2020 will be dominated by hardware. This is because the hardware is at its infancy and those who have already acquired the headsets are very negligible. In the US, it was estimated that only 6% of the US citizens acquired the Virtual Reality headsets in 2016. By 2020, some 81 million human beings are expected to own at least one Virtual Reality hardware. Locally, the data is not even worth mentioning, although Samsung may have made some headway as the Samsung Galaxy S7 launched with the Samsung Galaxy Gear VR.
The market for Virtual Reality hardware is therefore still very green, and whoever takes control in the hardware supply will get that much needed first mover advantage. Then the market is very wide. Since Virtual Reality can be used at home for gaming and other forms of virtual entertainment, in schools for education, in offices for collaboration and conferencing, and in shopping malls for window shopping and trying products, the only barrier that may deter you from making it big is your marketing and sales talent. Good news, you can become a hardware salesman even with as little as Kshs 50,000 (or less) as the startup capital.
2. Become a content creator
Virtual Reality is useless without the accompanying Virtual Reality immersive content. There are two types of Virtual Reality Content – that which is generated through technologies such as CGIs and animation, and those created using 360 videos. The CGIs and animation are useful for creating games and a few other forms of entertainment, virtual environments like parts of the Universe like the Milky Way, or even renditions of certain parts of the world that have been captured in great details using traditional photography and videography tools. 360 degrees videos on the other hand captures the content as typical videography but in 360 degrees using 360 degrees cameras.
As an entrepreneur, you may consider investing in 360 degrees high quality cameras to create numerous localized 360 degrees virtual reality content for different setups. For example, if you are a wedding videographer, you may want to start doing 360 degrees wedding videos that will completely revolutionize how couples remember their wedding ceremonies. The traditional wedding videos are great as they allow the couples to see how great or awful their wedding was, but the 360 degrees wedding videos will allow them to “wed all over again” every time they immerse themselves into the wedding event.
A very important sector that will be impacted by Virtual Reality is the education sector. Today, learning is so much of an imaginary endeavor, with students not being able to properly visualize what they are required to imagine. For example, teaching subjects like history require students to imagine how events took place way back in the past. If the students are lucky, they may be showed some black and white low resolution pictures taken back in the dark ages or badly captured boring videos showing snippets of that part of history. With Virtual Reality, the students can always be “teleported” to that part of history. Imagine the vast amount of education content specific to Kenya that needs content creators to create.
Virtual Reality Content is not limited to weddings and education sectors alone. Virtual Reality will impact several industries including shopping, tourism, entertainment, health, communication and a million and one other sectors. The type of Virtual Reality content creator that you can be by simply buying a good 360 degrees virtual reality cameras is limited by your own imagination.
3. Set up Virtual Reality Centres
The early Internet entrepreneurs made money through cyber cafes. In your estates today, there is probably that guy who is making money by selling video gaming services to kids. Of late, the malls in town have come up with certain 3D video game centres that they are calling 7D Experience.
Since Virtual Reality is in the infancy, there are very few who can afford to buy the big hardware like the HTC Vive, Sony Play Station VR or even the much acclaimed Facebook owned Oculus Rift. Given the low acquisition of VR headsets by individuals, an entrepreneur can set up Virtual Reality centres at the estates and charge reasonable prices for games, communication and a few other forms of VR Entertainment.
4. Manufacture your own VR headsets
If you are the Chris Kirubis and Uhuru Kenyattas of this country, you can also take the challenge and set up a local factory for manufacturing VR headsets. As much as the technology was envisioned and perfected in the United States, China, Taiwan and Japan are already taking the lead in taking their own Virtual Reality headsets to the market. As already discussed, the next ten years of Virtual Reality will be controlled by the VR hardware, and whoever sets up a plant right now for manufacturing the VR gear for local/African market will make a kill.
Finally, for those wondering what careers they need to pursue, a career tuned to Virtual Reality will for sure pay off.
