VIRTUAL REALITY (VR) IN AFRICA: OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES PART 1

Honestly, I don’t think I know anything about Virtual Reality (VR) until I visited the XCAPE REALITY CENTER at the Port Harcourt Pleasure Park on the 19th of September, 2021. I arrived the Park alongside Kingdom Peter, my High school classmate who is also the Chairman of our Alumni Association.
To begin, Port Harcourt Pleasure PARK is a public recreation park in the Niger-Delta's oil rich garden city of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria. It doubles as an amusement park and tourist attraction centre. Funny enough, I grew in Port Harcourt at a time when the only time we thought of parks was on May 27th -Children’s Day ...(winks)...where we all dress gorgeously and go for a march pass at Isaac Boro Park, and joyfully throw salutations at former governors of Rivers State. The activities were the same even in my early teen years.
Right at the XCAPE REALITY CENTER of the Port Harcourt Pleasure PARK, I came face to face with Virtual Reality (VR)...
Virtual Reality is a digitally created experience where a three-dimensional environment is simulated with the real-world. The technology offers an immersive experience to the viewers with the help of VR devices, such as headsets or glasses, gloves, and bodysuits.
In the simplest terms, VR which stands for Virtual Reality is an experience that you can have by holding a device called a VR Headset to your face or wearing it, and then you're in an immersive environment which is completely 360 degrees. What this means is that you are in an environment where the content creator wants you to be in, which could either be created by 360 photographs, 360 videos or computer generated.
According to Grand View Research, the global virtual reality (VR) market size was valued at USD 15.81 billion in 2020 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.0% from 2021 to 2028.
Interestingly, the VR technology in Africa is in its infancy. It is just beginning and I feel Africa still has a very long way to go in the Virtual Reality (VR) space.

OPPORTUNITES
I feel Virtual Reality (VR) technology is relevant to Africa because it affords us the opportunity to use it as tool for tackling various challenges we have on the continent.
Over the course of personal research, I discovered that Virtual Reality (VR) can be used in the following areas:

1. FORMAL EDUCATION: Education is highly significant to us as a people and this is where virtual reality (VR) really comes in. VR can be used in education to bridge the technology gap we have in thousands of tertiary institutions and even secondary schools across Africa. For example, A VR lab will allow you to simulate in chemistry labs, enable students carry out experiments effectively. It can allow students to go on virtual field trips and see places like the pyramids of Egypt, Eiffel Tower of Paris, amongst others. When I was in the high school many years ago, I was taught by my teacher that there are nine planets in the solar system. But funny enough, I never had the opportunity to see them even in pictures. Virtual Reality (VR) affords young learners of the 21st century the opportunity to explore the solar system.

2. ENTERTAINMENT AND GAMING: At the Xcape Reality Center, I was entertained. I played Car Racing and zombie shooting alongside my classmate. The feeling of experiencing Virtual Reality can be amazing for both kids and adults alike. We live in a world with a people whose appetite for entertainment is voracious, and so they would do everything, go anywhere just to get entertained. So Virtual Reality presents the opportunity which people crave.

3. INCREASED REVENUE GENERATION: Virtual Reality is in its infancy in Africa. This creates a very large room for massive adoption. Do you know that it cost NGN1,000 ($2.45) to play at 10 minutes game at the Xcape Reality Centre in Port Harcourt Pleasure Park? Yes, you read that right. As a matter of fact, I paid NGN6,000 ($15) for a game that was officially less than 1 hour. I am just one person, remember. This means if just five people play a game of 10 minutes at NGN1,000 ($2.45). That would be NGN30,000 ($73) in one hour! That would be NGN720,000 ($1,745) in a day! That would be NGN5,040,000 ($12,210) in a week! That would be NGN20,160,000 ($50,000) in a month and NGN241, 920,000 ($590,000) in a year! And these figures are real and can even double in the coming years.

4. VIRTUAL REALITY EDUCATION: We can do an educational virtual reality experience. Talking about that, my favourite is the Anne Frank VR Experience where I learnt a lot about Anne Frank and her family. You can explore the hiding place of Anne Frank and her family in virtual reality using the ‘Anne Frank House VR’ App. The app provides a very special view into the Secret Annex where Anne Frank and the seven other people hid during WWll. In the VR app, all the rooms in the secret annex are furnished according to how it was when occupied by the group in hiding, between 1942 and 1944. Everything was carefully built and modelled in 3D by Force Field Entertainment, the creators of the app. You can download the free App from the Oculus Store and learn more.
   Also, some people are already experimenting virtual class rooms, where you are a student listening to your teacher or lecturer represented by its avatar.

5. DEVELOPMENT OF MORE VR COLLABORATION APPS: This create a massive opportunity for developers in the Software industry. In this post pandemic world, people are trying to collaborate remotely in an efficient way and virtual reality offers a feeling of presence that even Zoom doesn't. It makes them feel as though they are present. These apps are designed to help bring people together and interact with team members like never before. The realistic avatars make it feel like you’re genuinely in the same room as your colleagues. There is also a host of tools for collaboration, like virtual whiteboards, presentations, etc. Examples of these are Spatial, MeetinVR, AltspaceVR, FrameVR, etc. However, more can be created, because working remotely is the FUTURE of work.

To be continued…

For questions, suggestions or contributions,
You can send a mail:justice@gygital.com or reach me on my social media handles:
Twitter/Linkedin/Instagram: @justice_orogun

Justice Orogun is a Full Stack Developer, an Award Winner and Writer. He contributes to Stack Overflow, Github and DEV.to Community. He enjoys travelling, speaking and collaborations in tech. He is open to sponsorship, opportunities and supports in tech.