AMD believes console VR is good for the PC

Virtual reality (VR) is rapidly growing in popularity, and according to a recent survey from developers at GDC, there’s a lot of confidence in the technology and its future.

Among the current contenders, Oculus Rift was picked as the most popular platform among VR developers. It’s certainly something Oculus are going to push.

As a result of the enthusiasm, AMD’s director of VR, Daryl Sartain, strongly feels that virtual reality for the consoles is a positive influence for the PC platform and getting virtual reality headsets into the market.

The console’s strongest VR champion comes from PlayStation VR.

Microsoft, on the other hand, is currently creating their augmented reality device called the Hololens, which is actually developed for a fairly different experience.

AMD’s Daryl Sartain recently talked about console VR and its influence PC VR in an interview with Tom’s Hardware.

According the Sartain, current VR devices have a positive influence on the industry.

Sartain argues that console VR is “absolutely an opportunity to get VR into the market” and that it “can only be a positive opportunity” for AMD on the PC side of things.

He revealed below in the interview:

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.

Sartain stated that console VR will have thee effects: drive up console sales, or drive up PC sales, which are positives for AMD. He further says:

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 feel console VR will have a positive effect on the adoption of VR in the PC market?

There are obvious issues to overcome, like the cost of the upcoming headsets; take the Oculus Rift for example.

Then there are the hardware requirements you’ll have to meet. NVIDIA recommends a GTX 980 at the very minimum. And AMD are developing a beastly dual-Fiji XT card, the R9 Fury X2, to power virtual reality.

That card, according to recent reports, should arrive in the second half of this year.