Four Smartphone Features That Make It A 'Gateway' Device For Virtual Reality

If the term "virtual reality" brings to mind images of bulky headwear and eyeglasses, think again. Marketing professional, podcaster, and virtual reality aficionado Mitch Joel says the smartphone should be more highly considered as a VR device.

’The smartphone as we know it today has become a massive gateway for VR,’ said Joel, who is president of the marketing firm Mirum's Canada practice.

According to Joel, there are four components in smartphones that make it "very powerful for virtual reality."

First, smartphones today have impressive processing speed, particularly in such a lightweight device.

’The smartphone is pretty advanced,’ Joel said.

The second component is a smartphone’s ability to the gyroscope, or as Joel explains: ’the fact that when you move it, it knows that it’s moving. That’s core to making this experience happen.’

The resolution on smartphones is good and continues to improve, as some devices have screens with 4K resolution.

But the final component is the most important: distribution.

"All of us have these devices, so we don’t have to really create this distribution chain, all of you have it in your pocket already," Joel said.

That means that distribution of actual content, like apps and programs, is also much easier because users are already hooked on the hardware.

Joel examines this topic, among others, on his podcast, Six Pixels of Separation.