Slashdot Mirror


Goldman Sachs: VR and AR "Will Be The Next Generation Computing Platform" Worth $80 Billion By 2025 (roadtovr.com)

An anonymous reader writes: As consumer VR headsets from major players like Facebook, Sony, HTC and Valve head to the market this year, the mainstream consumer market is beginning to catch sight of the technology's potential. Prestigious investment bank Goldman Sachs calls augmented reality and virtual reality "the next generation computing platform" and forecasts an $80 billion market by 2025. "We think this technology has the potential to transform how we interact with almost every industry today, and we think it will be equally transformative both from a consumer and an enterprise perspective," says Heather Bellini, Business Unit Leader in Telecommunications, Media and Technology at Goldman Sachs. "At the end of the day we think VR and AR will be as transformation as the smartphone market."

133 comments

  1. nope by ghinckley68 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    VR is 3D going no where just a big money pit for wall street to collect cash in.

    --
    Linux modi 2.6.26-2-parisc
    1. Re:nope by saigon_from_europe · · Score: 5, Funny

      VR is 3D going no where just a big money pit for wall street to collect cash in.

      No, it will be huge market, like... 3D TV!

      --
      No sig today.
    2. Re:nope by Dutch+Gun · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Heh, was just coming to say the same thing. VR is cool enough, but I think it's just too gimmicky to catch on as a mainstream thing. Maybe for console games it would work, since you can sit down and play relatively hands-free.

      Honestly, I think augmented reality has a much better chance at going mainstream, eventually when it gets to the point that they can hide the electronics and projected viewports in normal-sized glasses reasonably cheaply - because you know they'll eventually get there. At that point, we have a chance at moving away from physical user interfaces. And consider how useful digital information overlaid on top of the real world could be in many situations. Think about how much better computer-based navigation would work with an actual heads-up display, and if you're walking, actual cues embedded in the real world.

      And entertainment: How fun would it be to play a game of Star Wars-style holo battlechess with a friend? Thanks to the internet, you wouldn't even have to be in the same physical location. For kids: what about a ghost-hunting game that turns your own house into the playfield, or perhaps a laser-tag style wargame that takes place in the back yard? Computer games wouldn't have to exclude exercise.

      --
      Irony: Agile development has too much intertia to be abandoned now.
    3. Re:nope by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      What you say may well be true, but what is really cool is having a job at Goldman-Sachs where you get to spout random crap like this while your company rakes in billions of dollars stealing from its customers. The downside is the overhead of buying off all those politicians.

    4. Re:nope by peragrin · · Score: 1

      Something like 30% of the population needs glasses and refuses to get and or wear them as they think glasses make them look ugly.

      I have always worn glasses, however when I can read better without glasses both near and far, than a lot of people, something is wrong.

      Ar might be okay when stuck in sun glasses, I see it in helments and goggles too. Even a multi billion dollar industry, but every day wear. It won't be wide spread. To many refuse to wear things on their face

      --
      i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
    5. Re:nope by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      VR is 3D going no where just a big money pit for wall street to collect cash in.

      No, it will be huge market, like... 3D TV!

      Don't forget curved TVs!

    6. Re:nope by Dutch+Gun · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Fashion is fickle. If augmented reality takes off, future fashion might dictate that eyewear is now the new cool/sexy, especially if it's built into nice-looking headgear that also functions as sunglasses when outdoors - lots of people don't mind wearing those. Agreed that it's a very big if, though.

      Also, since when the hell do we listen to Goldman-Sachs as a purveyor of future tech trends? It's not like Wall Street is known for it's far-sightedness (no pun on corrective eyewear intended).

      --
      Irony: Agile development has too much intertia to be abandoned now.
    7. Re:nope by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It reminds me of what a Mark is. One walks into a room full of Goldman Sachs, and if you don't see the mark, you're the Mark.

    8. Re:nope by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is precisely right. I work in game development. We've had the Oculus kits since they were first released and I am a total VR fanboy, but I can clearly see that VR is not going to sweep the mainstream consumer market. It's niche, it's cool, but mainstream it is not.

    9. Re:nope by binarylarry · · Score: 1

      Hey look, its John C Dvorak!

      --
      Mod me down, my New Earth Global Warmingist friends!
    10. Re:nope by KGIII · · Score: 1

      Heh... That's kind of what I was thinking but, really, I mostly got a kick out of this quote:

      Prestigious investment bank Goldman Sachs

      Prestigious? I'm not really sure I can agree with that sentiment.

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
    11. Re:nope by Junta · · Score: 1

      I don't think everyone's reasons are as shallow as fashion. I used to wear glasses but stopped because it was just a plain hassle for not much benefit. I was 20/40 vision growing up and my family had me wear glasses. When I started living on my own, I skipped it. I had a eye test years later and said I know my vision is off, but just don't want to bother with glasses, to which they replied 'no, your eyesight is fine'.

      --
      XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
    12. Re:nope by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's not cool either.

    13. Re:nope by ranton · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I don't think everyone's reasons are as shallow as fashion. I used to wear glasses but stopped because it was just a plain hassle for not much benefit.

      Augmented reality will certainly fix the "not much benefit" part of your problem. I may not be able to see all of the benefits augmented reality will bring, but then again I thought smartphones were a silly luxury item in 2007. Augmented reality will just be this decades version of the smartphone when it comes to enhancing peoples' interface with technology.

      --
      -- All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. -- Edmund Burke
    14. Re:nope by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I once stepped in a pile of Goldman Sachs that some dog owner neglected to clean oft the sidewalk. Nasty.

    15. Re: nope by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 3, Funny

      Overhead? Hillary was relatively cheap. Her payoff was less than the annual corporate budget for coffee.

    16. Re:nope by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hey, it's FANTASTIC for space sims. Not for much else, but for space sims it is fantastic, awesome and many more positive adjectives. Not only that. Watching Wall Street pump it up for it to crash and burn later is going to be F-U-N. Finally, 80 billion dolars... HAHAHAHAHAHA! Such a good joke! I mean, it might be true if there's a dollar crash, otherwise nah. No way no how.

    17. Re:nope by penguinoid · · Score: 1

      Actually, he's probably making that prediction because of the expected universal appeal of my next game. It's a virtual reality game where you go on an epic quest to save the world economy by beating the crap out of Goldman Sachs bankers.

      --
      Don't waste your vote! Vote for whoever you want, unless you live in a swing state it won't matter anyways
    18. Re:nope by tlhIngan · · Score: 1

      Fashion is fickle. If augmented reality takes off, future fashion might dictate that eyewear is now the new cool/sexy, especially if it's built into nice-looking headgear that also functions as sunglasses when outdoors - lots of people don't mind wearing those. Agreed that it's a very big if, though.

      Fashion is too fickle, to be honest, because only a few years ago, people were getting faux-glasses because it gave them the "geek chic" look that was desirable at the time. And by faux-glasses, I mean glasses where the lenses were basically panes of glass - there was absolutely no refractive power in them (because the people had normal vision to begin with).

      And it's being adopted in safety equipment - if you're already wearing a hard hat or safety glasses/goggles as part of the jobs requirement, there's your display gear.

    19. Re:nope by arglebargle_xiv · · Score: 1

      VR is 3D going no where just a big money pit for wall street to collect cash in.

      Why do you think Goldman Sachs is so interested in it?

    20. Re:nope by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There was actually a link in the article to another article that calls this one of "The 3 Most Common Arguments Against VR and Why They’re Wrong" http://www.roadtovr.com/the-3-...

  2. Ah! Good ol' Goldman... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Next technobubble in 3, 2, 1...

  3. systemd will destroy Linux before 2025 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    More sure thing than this prediction by goldman ballsacks. Also first?

    1. Re:systemd will destroy Linux before 2025 by invictusvoyd · · Score: 2

      Wait a sec .. Will destroy ?

  4. Desperate capitalism by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Ever and ever searching for the next big bubble to sustain its illusion of exponential growth. Were it just a game...

    The sad thing is that this "game" is backed by a deep shadow of war, poverty and decline all over the place (all this fight over "intellectual property is also one aspect of that).

    Growth can't be exponential vs. a limited phisical world. Pretending it to be is giving us painful "readjustments" with ever increasing frequency.

    Cling to your denial.

    1. Re: Desperate capitalism by Dunbal · · Score: 2

      Mobile phone made in china, corporate isp components made in china and malaysia, corporate software written in india, clothes made in bangladesh, toilet made in mexico, food grown in mexico and cooked by immigrants in america for the lowest possible wage. Yup, capitalism. Because driving wages down to the absolute minimum to increase profitability is good. Who cares if by doing so no one can afford to buy our products anymore... then we can sit around and wonder why the economy just isn't growing anymore.

      --
      Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
    2. Re: Desperate capitalism by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      You're fucking stupid - 100 years ago the majority (like 80%) of the Western population were farmers busting their asses making barely enough to survive. Now you can get fat for pocket change, while easily affording luxuries even the weathiest couldn't even dream of back then, all because of capitalism. Of course no westerner is going to do the labor to manufacture those goods - we expect much better wages and cheaper goods. Using foreign labor harms nobody and is a testament to how amazing capitalism is since it has the effect of driving up the standard of living in these foreign countries. The economic growth in these countries over the past 20 years has been astounding - all because they are able to attract foreign investment by undercutting the price of labor. There's plenty of evidence that shows capitalism totally crushes any other economic system, and socialism is a complete failure - get over it, to suggest otherwise just shows you're an ignorant fool who lacks even the most basic understanding of economics and world history. Capitalism has wiped out the gross majority of poverty in just a little over 100 years, the world is better than ever before, there's less violence, more food, and overall better quality of life for more people than ever before.

    3. Re: Desperate capitalism by Dunbal · · Score: 1

      You're fucking stupid

      Argument fail. This is the point where your audience stops reading.

      --
      Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
    4. Re: Desperate capitalism by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh, get over yourself. Capitalism didn't do that. 100 years of technological progress did that. Capitalism only funded it, and it did such a shitty job of redistributing the benefits that we now have wealth equality worse than we did when Marx was still alive, even though absolute wealth is higher (because of technological progress).

      You can support that system if you like, but if you support that system while masturbating over all the technological benefits "it" has "created" then you're a fucking idiot.

    5. Re: Desperate capitalism by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      100 years ago was 1916. Please double check your facts.

    6. Re: Desperate capitalism by ScentCone · · Score: 1

      This is the point where your audience stops reading.

      Well, the stupid ones might stop reading, because it hurts their feelings to hear the truth. It's not a famously good way to engage one's audience, even though (as in this case) it's a perfectly accurate observation, which he then goes on to back up with basic facts.

      --
      Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
    7. Re: Desperate capitalism by ScentCone · · Score: 1

      Right. All market economies did was fund the stuff you like. Nothing important, just made it possible. Enjoy wasting your vote on Bernie Sanders, by the way.

      --
      Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
    8. Re: Desperate capitalism by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      ' Capitalism only funded it' - well most of the innovations we take for granted were principally funded via the military-industrial complex courtesy of the taxpayers, so it's more 'capitalism funded it once the technology was cheap enough to be sold profitably to the masses and the development costs had been paid by someone else'.

  5. Why? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Some rich assholes make a retarded prediction, pull a number out of their ass and we're supposed to care? Why?

    1. Re:Why? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because they control the capital, and useful idiots the world around think it's in their interest.

    2. Re:Why? by Dunbal · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Because he's going to want to sell you a ridiculously priced stock in an IPO.

      --
      Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
  6. In reply by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 1

    wonkey_monkey: No it won't.

    I'll be back in 9 years to check up on this.

    --
    systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
  7. Unwanted Side Effects by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I can see pedestrians walking with these on straight into oncoming traffic - like the iPhone only worse.
    Finally a chance for pickpockets and thieves to make an honest living.
    And it TV is the idiot box, this will be the ultimate in creating a new generation of new breed, socially inept of idiots.
    Obesity will thrive - no need to get up top change channels.
    Girls wearing tight skimpy clothing - well your job just got a lot harder. I bet the first no-clothes on App is a real winner.

    1. Re:Unwanted Side Effects by Mostly+a+lurker · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Actually, I can see VR/AR being used to enhance safety, similar to a kind of anti collision system in cars. When the user is not paying attention and running into danger as a result, a submodule could kick in that forces the user to focus on the threat.

    2. Re:Unwanted Side Effects by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Cars already have predictive threat detection and avoidance.

      http://www.nissan-global.com/EN/TECHNOLOGY/OVERVIEW/predictive.html

      It doesn't need an ounce of VR or AR to achieve and has already been implemented in production vehicles. I fail to see how VR or AR could help this facet of road safety engineering at all.

    3. Re: Unwanted Side Effects by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A well done hud would probably help.

    4. Re:Unwanted Side Effects by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A dashboard is already augmented reality. It tells you stuff you don't already know about the world. Temperature, ground speed, etc. Adding more info is just reasonable.

    5. Re:Unwanted Side Effects by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The only mention of cars or road safety was the phrase "similar to a kind of anti collision system in cars" and it was in reply to a post about "pedestrians walking with these on straight into oncoming traffic". ... but this shouldn't be an issue for you at all since you already don't seem to have the attention span needed to read and comprehend two short sentences.

  8. same guys that were touting segway, boeing etc... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    nothing really new in centuries until now? in the moms we trust....

  9. Banks predicting the future of technology... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    ...is like going to slashdot for mortgage-advice.

    1. Re:Banks predicting the future of technology... by CanadianMacFan · · Score: 1

      Better than going to the bank for mortgage advice.

  10. Glassholes by thegarbz · · Score: 1

    AR would be huge market. Except on Slashdot where people seemingly lose their shit because more than 5 cameras are pointed at you. I say more than because we're quite ok with privacy invasion and continuous tracking, but don't you dare even consider pointing your far more useful AR device in my direction glasshole.

    1. Re:Glassholes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That stuff will cease to be important once glasses are worn by people who aren't creeps. AR has the potential to make that happen.

    2. Re:Glassholes by The-Ixian · · Score: 1

      How are you supposed to spot the creeps then?

      --
      My eyes reflect the stars and a smile lights up my face.
  11. true only if & when they are easy to use & by sittingnut · · Score: 1

    are vr and ar easy to use for an average user, like a tv or a smartphone( such as not having to wear inconvenient head gear)?
    are they useful to everyone(as opposed to a niche of special users like gamers or scientists) like laptops?

    if no, (imo it is 'no ', at present and in 2025,) for both questions, then there isn't going to be large market.

  12. "Prestigious investment bank Goldman Sachs" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    who calls scambags "prestigious" after 2008?

    1. Re:"Prestigious investment bank Goldman Sachs" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Other prestigious assholes

    2. Re:"Prestigious investment bank Goldman Sachs" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Worthless suck ups who always flatter the wealthy in the vain hope of some tangible reward. It might even work, although I kind of doubt it.

      Investment bankers are worse than random at predicting even how stocks will change, so the subject of why any sensible person would actually listen to them predict future trends is an exercise in forensic pathology rather than any rational form of psychology.

      The only thing of any significance about those criminal individuals themselves is quite literally the fact that we are even discussing them rather than seeking to hold them accountable for the many millions of deaths they have caused with their malicious indifference. It's anyone's guess why judges are so traitor to the concept of justice that they refuse to lift in a finger in that direction.

    3. Re:"Prestigious investment bank Goldman Sachs" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      shills

    4. Re:"Prestigious investment bank Goldman Sachs" by saigon_from_europe · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Investment bankers are worse than random at predicting even how stocks will change, so the subject of why any sensible person would actually listen to them predict future trends is an exercise in forensic pathology rather than any rational form of psychology.

      Actually, there is a clear pattern. Those predictions are done by 20-something kids loaded with money (typical new hire in bank), with severely distorted view of reality. So they invest other people's money into what they consider cool. That's how we get some really strange market capitalizations. For example, Tesla is almost worth as VW (before emition scandal). VW is neck-to-neck with Toyota as #1 car produces in world, while Tesla did not make 100.000 cars in total (or something like that), and in their view, they are worth the same. No matter how much I'd like Tesla to succeed (I'm an electrical engineer with major in power engineering) and to become VW instead of VW, that's simply won't happen soon if ever. Uber is also worth amazing amount of money. Illegal taxi company that is nowhere near to make any profit, but very likely to be sued in every single jurisdiction it operates is worth 40B???? GoPro had a capitalization of 1B. WTF??? But from the point of cocain/adrenaline addict that runs your retirement fund, that's probably the coolest thing ever. And so on...

      --
      No sig today.
    5. Re:"Prestigious investment bank Goldman Sachs" by rsborg · · Score: 1

      who calls scambags "prestigious" after 2008?

      They're as prestigious as, say, Henry Kissinger.

      --
      Make sure everyone's vote counts: Verified Voting
  13. I believe it. by some+old+guy · · Score: 3, Insightful

    By then real life will suck so much for the commoners that VR/AR will be the state-sanctioned escape and control mode.

    --
    Scruting the inscrutable for over 50 years.
    1. Re:I believe it. by DigiShaman · · Score: 2

      And when you have 50% unemployment as robotics take over, you can either kill the undesirables in the population, or give em bread and circuses.

      I would imagine future governments take a position of - "You, guy, the one that can't get a job and has no future; here, take this VR unit and go home. Oh, and here's your EBT card and unlimited VR pr0n. Now GO AWAY!!!"

      --
      Life is not for the lazy.
    2. Re:I believe it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If it gets to that point, I'd expect euthanasia of surplus infants to become a governance best-practice solution.

    3. Re:I believe it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ... governance best-practice solution.

      Try to change behaviour with a reward, although the behaviour which actually occurs is difficult to predict. Then try to change behaviour with punishment. Then force the outcome that is needed.

      ... euthanasia of surplus infants ...

      Or, the government could start paying NOW, a no-breeding reward for women over 21, instead of a breeding bonus. This creates the problem of an aging population, which we already have. We need to eliminate the pensioners first, then reduce the population of the next generation. So governments should be reducing the treatment of age-related, terminal illnesses, like cancer and definitely not buying ever more expensive medicines.

  14. Been there done that by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Did VR fail the first time because the technology was immature, or because people hate looking like assholes wearing goggles? Did 3DTV fail because the technology was immature, or because people who don't wear glasses hate wearing them and people who do have to wear a second pair of glasses over their existing pair? If you still have money in Goldman Sachs after 2006, pull it out now!

    1. Re:Been there done that by deek · · Score: 1

      Did tablet computing fail the first time because the technology was immature, or because people hate looking like assholes tapping on this flat rectangular thing?

      Nobody, and I mean _nobody_, knows how a technology will turn out until it is actually out there. Often, a technology needs years of development before its potential becomes evident. Otherwise, Apple would have given up on portable computing with the Newton. Every time you use your smartphone, think on that.

  15. I see a future. But not that big a future by fateblossom · · Score: 1

    I can see VR for education purpose. Like see wonders of the world or look a engines/buildings/etc. without having one in the classroom.
    It can not replace the real thing. But it will give people a better understanding when seeing it in 3D, and you can look around the object instead of just a flat picture in a text book.

    AR. I can see some heads up display helpers. But to many and it will be to much of a distraction. So AR has to be very cheap for people want to buy them for so little use they will give.

    But using the VR googles as personal display when traveling on a plane/bus/train/etc. will proppely be the most common use of the googles.

    For gaming. I can see some use. (And I personally would get one for this). But again I thing it will go the way of Kinetic and Wii remote. It's a fun new gadget. But people don't want to move around that much. They just want to sit and relax with there game.

    1. Re:I see a future. But not that big a future by Junta · · Score: 1

      I too think this is way over optimistic (and plus, it's analyst BS in general). However Kinect and Wii are a tad different.

      Now if you say things like those omni-directional treadmills are dead on arrival, I'm right with you. If you say the Vive/Touch controller scheme might not set the world on fire because it's too much work, again I could see that perspective, though I think it will work out better with 1 to 1 mapping to how your hands move in the real world.

      However, as a 'monitor', the only downside is similar to headphones, it cuts you off from your surroundings. Otherwise, you don't have to flail your head about if you don't want to, but still the world will envelop you instead of being something on a screen. I think as a logical progression of gaming display approaches, it stands to work out well (for the same sort of audience that is obsessed with getting the latest high end graphics card, I think there will be a large overlap).

      --
      XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
    2. Re:I see a future. But not that big a future by will_die · · Score: 1

      Recently started a job where I am supporting a school. We had a company come in and setup a demo showing their teaching software and hardware.
      Most of the people took some time goofing around with them but afterwards the teachers were pretty much in agreement. While it was neat and could have some usage they were wondering who was going to spend all the time needed in setting up the class lessons and entering the information into that system. Then for the money it would be easier to just purchase a physical model or an actual product and use that.

  16. Hedge funds own the market. by monkeyxpress · · Score: 1

    Look, I'm sure VR/AR will create some big companies that will provide real products and services for many people, but the problem with all this is that GS and its ilk are just so massive that they can basically make any industry 'the next big thing' regardless of any sort of fundamentals. I mean, they basically set the whole concept of 'fundamentals'. It just makes it trivially easy for these guys to create huge profits for themselves by inflating bubbles in entire sectors. All they need is some basic level of opportunity to wrap their tentacles around.

    The situation has to stop. The banking sector is meant to be highly competitive so that scarce capital (savings) is efficiently allocated to the businesses that will produce the best real returns on it. But with zero interest rates and the massive global scale of the banks, they basically just map out which areas are going to have lots of liquidity piped into them, and it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. I don't think it is even a big conspiracy. It's just stupidity all around by people who think having lots of fiat currency is the same thing as happiness, and people who spent so much energy getting into power, they have no idea what to do when there.

    Personally I think the best solution now is probably to implement a UBI, but with the amount set by an independent central bank. The central bank could then give up on pretending to control the supply of money through interest rates and directly control inflation using the UBI payment. The basket of goods included in the inflation measurement would effectively become a set of essentials that the central bank targets price stability on, and then the rest of the economy can play whatever games it wants. This would prevent populist government from increasing the UBI to a point that was unsustainable. The downside is that there would be no guarantee that the UBI would cover all essential needs, but I think those sorts of rich/poor transfers will always need to be dealt wiht through the existing political process. If you tried to bake a solution into the UBI then one side would just spend all their energy undermining the whole UBI concept.

    1. Re:Hedge funds own the market. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "The banking sector is meant to be highly competitive so that scarce capital (savings) is efficiently allocated to the businesses that will produce the best real returns on it."

      This has never been the truth.

      Protectionism for the rich and big business by state intervention, radical market interference.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHj2GaPuEhY#t=349

      The Citibank memo

      Citigroup memo

      US distribution of wealth

      https://imgur.com/a/FShfb

      http://www2.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/wealth.html

  17. Doubt it by DrXym · · Score: 1
    People will quickly tire of VR when it becomes apparent how much bother and effort it is to set up and get going and for such limited experiences. I expect AR will suffer a similar fate.

    It won't mean these technologies don't have their uses but they'll probably occupy a niche for a long time to come. VR might be useful for playing racing / flight sims and so on but hardly mainstream uses.

    1. Re:Doubt it by swb · · Score: 1

      Maybe I just have narrow horizons, but I find Google cardboard with the street view app in cardboard mode to be pretty immersive by itself, and that's 2D-ish content and pretty static.

      I think you underestimate the "good enough" types of VR applications like stereoscopic virtual tours and the like. If you set the standard to be fully rendered, free-roaming environments requiring 4k resolution it becomes complex and prohibitive to most people.

    2. Re:Doubt it by DrXym · · Score: 1
      Cardboard is pretty impressive but that soon gives way to a sense that it's just some fancy tech demos than anything worth repeat viewing. For me, it took a couple of days to mess around with it before I couldn't be bothered to take the phone out of its bumper, start the Cardboard app, stick it in headset and do run it any more. Yeah it's cool to take a 3D tour and there is that initial wow. But after a while wow transforms to why.

      I expect the same issue will arise with PS4 and PC versions. Initial excitement will be replaced by the feeling that clearing a space, untangling the wires, calibrating the controllers etc. becomes more effort than its worth for the experience delivered. This shouldn't be unexpected either - look how other console peripherals have quickly outstayed their welcome. Kinect draws obvious parallels.

      As I said I think VR will find niches. For example playing IL Sturmovik with VR would be so incredible. It's just the whole $80 billion prediction above I find questionable. That requires mainstream use and I don't see it, at least not the way it's launching. Perhaps if someone produces a wireless headset where you can just be put it on, and be immersed in some enormous multiplayer game hosted in the cloud within seconds then yeah. But as an expensive peripheral to an already expensive PC / console. Nope.

    3. Re:Doubt it by KGIII · · Score: 2

      I want augmented reality, tied in with photo recognition and big data. I want to be able to look at a bridge, know when it was built, how high it is, if anyone was harmed during the build process, what the structural capacity is, what the max throughput is, and things like that. I want to look at a building and see the floor plan, know who built it, know who rents space in it, know what the value is, and things like that - not houses but, you know, more famous buildings.

      Basically, I want augmented reality so that I have a veritable real-time documentary available for me - pretty much everywhere I look. All optional, of course, and with varied depths of information as well as the ability to drill deeper. I'd really rather an implant but I'll be okay with AR. I'd love to be able to look at a statue and know who carved it, when, where, why it's significant, and then find out the history of that person and their significance to the area. If it were an implant, I'd even let 'em put a wireless antenna nub on my head and a wired port in my neck.

      I'd love that sort of tech - assuming it can be turned off, on, controlled, etc... AR is a fine place to start but I want full access to the web, nearly instantaneously, without the need for visual input. Imagine being able to use Google, WolframAlpha, Wikipedia, YouTube, or even porn - right in your head. I think AR might be do-able in my lifetime. I've my doubts about implants being available in my lifetime but that's really what I'd prefer. I'll be pretty damned happy with AR like I envision it.

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
    4. Re:Doubt it by The-Ixian · · Score: 1

      Yeah, that all sounds great... except, where is all of that data going to overlay?

      It makes me think of that screenshot from the early 2000's of a web browser with about an inch of visible web page underneath all of the toolbars.

      I have enough trouble wading through the information overload we have already.

      --
      My eyes reflect the stars and a smile lights up my face.
    5. Re: Doubt it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Seriously. Do you bother looking on your phone or laptop now for that information?

    6. Re:Doubt it by swb · · Score: 1

      I still think you bias the use case to free-roaming, interactive VR environments with a traditional gaming overhead on top of that. In those cases, it is tremendously computationally intensive and requires a significant amount of hardware in addition to requiring a gaming environment at least on par with the best 2D environments.

      Stereoscopic still or video imagery would require a much lighter hardware infrastructure while still providing a pretty immersive experience; I would suspect that clever innovations in image capture and interpolation would increase the freedom of virtual movement to provide a fairly compelling use case for a lot of mundane applications, like real estate, tourism, and even motion picture type entertainment.

      Something like that could fairly easily be encapsulated in an all-in-one unit with lesser hardware demands and cheaper and wider adoption. I think I read that 1.5 billion ViewMaster reels have been sold -- and that's a really low-tech, marginally immersive system with no degree of movement.

    7. Re:Doubt it by KGIII · · Score: 1

      With AR? Overlay. Not all at once. That's why I mentioned the ability to drill down. Mentally? It'd not even need to be visualized - I shouldn't think. Not necessarily like one would see it and without optical input. So, any ol' spot. But, off to the side with glasses. It can be varied sizes, it'd be pretty close to the eyes so there's lots of room to actually move your eyes and still see inside of the glasses. But no, not all at once and definitely gonna want to be able to turn it off. My original thought was it would make an awesome HUD in a car but that's really rather dangerous. It might be something that can be done with autonomous vehicles.

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
  18. Translation by GrumpySteen · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "We invested in this technology before we realized it was the technological equivalent of putting retirement funds into Beanie Babies. Let's talk it up so that we can sell it all off to our technology-illiterate investor and let them take the loss when it all collapses."

    1. Re:Translation by dasgoober · · Score: 1

      Isn't in their interest to keep the price of entry of VR/AR speculation low, so that they can buy up as much of a position as they can?
      So, you must ask yourself why are they spouting their mouths off, to raise the price...

  19. Yawn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I have no interest in it.

    Though, if the purchasing power of the dollar keeps eroding, then $80 billion will be pretty easy to hit.

    1. Re: Yawn by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Eroding ? The dollar is the strongest it's been in some time

  20. Translation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    "We've made our investment, now pump up the bubble for us. We'll let you know when we got out."

  21. Another market that will explode in tandem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    is glasses or contact lenses for near-sightedness. If 8 hours of staring at a computer screen at 1 meter distance wasn't bad enough for your eyes, then maybe you'll like having a WR headset with 10 cm distance between your eyes and the screens.

    1. Re:Another market that will explode in tandem by Junta · · Score: 2

      Note that the optics result in the scene focusing at a much larger distance. about 5 feet away in the current headsets.

      --
      XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
  22. Porn made the internet what it is today... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    VR headsets will saturate the market once porn finds the platform useful. It's not a joke: the internet is useful, and not going away, but the pornography is the market share that saturates the internet (just like the VRC market years ago.....). http://www.covenanteyes.com/2012/06/01/how-big-is-the-pornography-industry-in-the-united-states/ I expect that porn will eventually do the same thing for VR.

  23. AR will be huge in business by drinkypoo · · Score: 2

    VR can't be massive until there is a cheap way to walk around virtual spaces like you're actually walking around them. AR, though, has implications for businesses everywhere. Some of them are ALREADY using the technology to make it easier to do maintenance by showing the procedures alongside the parts, which is where it's really going to kick ass. No more walking back and forth to the workbench to look at the documentation you printed out... no more printing it out to begin with

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    1. Re:AR will be huge in business by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ... showing the procedures alongside the parts ...

      This was the original selling point of AR, 30 years ago but the hardware was too bulky and too expensive then. People invest only when there's an immediate payout, porn or entertainment.

  24. VR will die like 3D has for one reason.... by Lumpy · · Score: 0

    none of the Console makers and game makers will embrace it. Honestly titles like Rainbow 6 Siege and others would benefit from supporting 3D quite a bit. But when I started researching why they dont I found it's because none of the Current Gen Consoles have enough horsepower to do 1080p 3D smoothly.

    So you will NOT see the PS4 and the Xbox One doing VR. it will have to be a platform upgrade to get there. Hell a high end PC that costs $3500 barely runs a rift smooth enough to not cause puke fountain and headache.

    --
    Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    1. Re:VR will die like 3D has for one reason.... by Junta · · Score: 2

      Hell a high end PC that costs $3500 barely runs a rift smooth enough to not cause puke fountain and headache.

      Huh? My i5 Ivy bridge with a GTK 660 drives my rift fine for a lot of experiences. I don't think I've seen a 'made for VR' experience that pushed it, just some non-VR projects with VR shoehorned in that had graphics so high as to push things hard.

      They also have positional timewarp to smooth things out.

      --
      XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
    2. Re:VR will die like 3D has for one reason.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Nobody bothers with 3D in video games because it's just not worth the effort to get a slight depth effect while halving the visual fidelity compared to 2D. It had nothing to do with absolute horsepower - this effect will still occur when consoles are 100x as powerful. If the effect of 3D TV was more impressive it would make up for the quality loss, but it isn't. The effect of 3D TV is quite astoundingly mediocre, and nobody wants to trade lower visual fidelity for that.

      VR is not the same at all. The effect of VR is impressive enough that you can accept a lower visual fidelity as a positive tradeoff in return for experiencing VR. The visual fidelity will be at the level of "yes, the console can do this smoothly". It won't be as good as 2D games on the same hardware, but there's no direct comparison anyway - VR games are designed for VR, 2D games don't really work on VR. So you'll have 2D games looking fantastic and VR games looking a little more retro but inside fucking VR.

      So, yes, you will see PS4 doing VR, when PS VR comes out later this year. The horsepower is there to do the renderings at the lower quality level. The idea there's not enough horsepower is just ignorance based on a misunderstanding of the tradeoffs involved.

    3. Re:VR will die like 3D has for one reason.... by deek · · Score: 1

      But Sony already have a VR solution for the PS4. It's actually been shown to, and used by, many games journalists. I think they use a coprocessor or DSP (or more than one?) to offload the VR processing. The public don't actually know how they do it, but what is certain is that they have done it. Plus, from all reports, they're doing it at 120fps.

      The PS VR is lower resolution than Rift/Vive. I'm sure that helps. There may also be optimisations due to the fixed platform. Also, this will all be around the same price as the PS4 itself. At least that's what Sony are aiming for, from what I've heard.

  25. I love my 3D TV, I love 3D games by HalAtWork · · Score: 1

    Perfect for games. I've always wanted this ever since ASUS V3800 included LCD shutter glasses with the nVidia TNT2. I played Unreal, Need for Speed, Doom and many others in 3D, it blew my mind as a kid that suddenly all of the games I enjoyed could be enhanced in such a way at the click of the button. Any game that supported a 3D API could be played this way (if your monitor supported 120Hz refresh at that resolution, which limited me to 800x600). The 3DS is great too and showed how 3D could help create new puzzles, Mario 3D Land and Zelda showed that off quite well. I just hope they don't stop building inexpensive 3D displays.

    1. Re:I love my 3D TV, I love 3D games by Junta · · Score: 2

      I'll say it's a useful analogy.

      Now having used 3D display technology and a DK2, I'll say there simply isn't a comparison, the VR is a whole other level. The stereoscopic effect is so much cleaner than any shutter or polarized technology, and stereoscopic is but a tiny portion of what makes it substantial.

      On the other hand, the portion of the population that passionate about this stuff in general is not as high. 'Gaming' constitutes 90 billion dollars *total* today, and of that only 27 billion in PCs and 25 billion in consoles, meaning only 52 billion dollars of revenue around platforms that could even *theoretically* serve interests like VR, and I wager huge chunks of that have no interest in VR. 80 billion is too optimistic.

      --
      XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
    2. Re:I love my 3D TV, I love 3D games by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The VR market isn't limited to gaming. There also is of course porn, and maybe other non-gaming virtual world applications (travel/realestate brochures etc.)

    3. Re:I love my 3D TV, I love 3D games by rtb61 · · Score: 0

      The unrealistic claims about VR or AR are all based around unsound physiological assumptions. Reality is, want real answers, start doing real testing. See what happens to a group of 100 hundred people where they are required to use VR eight hours a day for 30 days, see how long they can keep going and see how great their physiological deterioration is over that time. Too evaluate the likely success or failure of that you have to test for that. Any statement by the corrupt banksters at Goldman Sachs suits Goldman Sachs and they will lie to generate profits and that is a proven fact regardless of them lying about it by settling out of court again and again and again (so how much will Goldman Sachs make out of dumping VR shares whilst telling everyone else how super glorowonderous fantasitical they are and they will make all investors billionaires).

      So do the bloody testing (which should be done as a matter of urgency for safeties sake before sticking them on children all over the place) and until then they STFU with their lies. Optometrists, doctors and psychologists should all be demanding safety testing of extended use of VR and AR before their deployment goes much further. As for whether or not you are gullible enough to believe anything at all said by Goldman Sachs, just remember they will lie to everyone to inflate their profits not just maybe but with total certainty and they will gamble other people's money on betting against the lies they tell.

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
    4. Re:I love my 3D TV, I love 3D games by Junta · · Score: 1

      This is strictly a true statement, but the degree to which it applies is irrelevant since the article is specifically about gaming, ignoring those other things.

      --
      XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
    5. Re:I love my 3D TV, I love 3D games by Junta · · Score: 1

      Of course, no amount of all those concerns being addressed would manage to overcome the simple reality that they are projecting that the VR specific market will be embarrassingly larger than the total gaming market today is just silly. Analysts are frequently very bad, but this is ridiculous by even those standards. Such claims are not merely overlooking uncertain risk elements that you mention, but basic math around nicely comparable data points that exist today.

      --
      XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
    6. Re:I love my 3D TV, I love 3D games by Junta · · Score: 1

      I'll also add that I'm skeptical about the vision of 'VR everywhere', as if that were the case, we'd already be seeing existing 3d modeling used in those scenarios. So yes, you'll see it in places like architecture and such, where 3d modeling already plays a role. I don't think you'll be seeing a huge industry around real estate and travel. Sure you might have a few 360 photos here and there viewed by google-cardboard like viewers, but not a huge contribution to the economic picture.

      --
      XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
    7. Re:I love my 3D TV, I love 3D games by rtb61 · · Score: 1

      At a guess though, they do not believe what they are writing, not in the least and they intend to sell a certain companies stock (for the reasons given, shh they have done some of the research and it doesn't look good, they are just lying 'er' forgotten to present that data and presenting other data instead), quite extensively, hence the massive pump up. Make no mistake as a smart phone accessory, Immersion Displays will be a big seller, turning that smart phone into a really big 3D screen at a very reasonable price (no motion sensors just a fancy couple of controllers), yeah your typical stoner chilling out in bed, head back and tripping the light fantastic ;D or those countless sun worshippers chilling out on beach lounges exploring other worlds or countless people stuck with really long commutes touring holiday locations (waiting to get robbed :( ).

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
  26. We had those since the CRT by HalAtWork · · Score: 0

    I remember as a kid really wishing TVs were flat like movie screens and without the distortion from the curvature. Don't know why people want that back. Those TVs don't even have controls for adjusting pincushion and trapezoid and whatever else ypou need to compensate for the curve either.

  27. Prestigious investment bank? by Rich_Lather · · Score: 1

    Prestigious investment banks don't get fined $5 billion for ripping off their customers.

  28. Pretenious ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    is very often confused with prestigious by dyslectic copy writers.

  29. WTF by wardrich86 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    What the fuck does a bank know about VR, AR, and tech trends? They're eons behind on tech.. probably still running COBOL servers.

    1. Re:WTF by The-Ixian · · Score: 1

      They know they have sunk a bunch of VC into it so it BETTER take off?

      --
      My eyes reflect the stars and a smile lights up my face.
    2. Re:WTF by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just a fyi most of them (Traders and Analysists) already use vr to get rid of the 10 + monitor setups. They are not behind on tech, they just don't fully understand it or all of its uses.

  30. Even if easy to use... by Junta · · Score: 1

    They are saying that revenues for VR/AR will be larger than revenues of all consoles and PCs combined by 60%. That's a pretty optimistic projection, than 60% more people than bother with console or pc gaming today will suddenly do so for the sake of VR. Ignoring too the fact that most pc/console gaming folks probably don't have the patience for this.

    Now I'm all for it and have a DK2 myself, but know myself to be in a minority.

    --
    XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
  31. Just like a keyboard by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Keyboards, joysticks and cathode ray tubes were a revolutionary computing platform at its time. I just never figured out how to load Pacman to my joystick and run WP with the magnetic coils of the tube.

  32. Re:true only if & when they are easy to use &a by ComputerGeek01 · · Score: 2

    God damn that's myopic. Laptops were a niche market until about 10 years ago because the standard model for an office was built around a desktop with only a few edge cases receiving the portability of a laptop. Now that the prices have dropped and people have seen the flexibility that procuring laptops for everyone provides, always connected, being able to work from home when you took the day off to take care of your sick kid or spouse; offices and people are buying laptops more than desktops. Cell phones were a niche market until the price went down and people saw that it was stupid to own a landline. It's not simplicity or convenience that determines market success, at least not in America. It's utility, price and the appearance of productivity. Think "Guns and Butter" because unlike your sophomoric comment, someone didn't just make that up on the spot.

  33. EH? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    From the creators of "Greek economy is good and healthy", "Iceland is the new china" and "Anyone can effort a loan!", another chapter in their Screw the World serie.

  34. Way to shoot the messenger /. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    When MBAs start to get excited about a new growth market that can create demand for engineers to do cool stuff, be sure to mod up the derogatory comments

  35. Had me at Goldman Sachs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Lemme guess - HRC will be pushing this along with Google drag and drop 'coding' for the future...

  36. Investment bankers are tech savvy (and crooks) by sjbe · · Score: 2

    What the fuck does a bank know about VR, AR, and tech trends?

    Plenty in all likelihood. First of this is Goldman Sachs which is decidedly NOT a bank in the sense you are implying. Investment banking involves a lot more than just taking deposits and paying interest. Goldman Sachs is arguably the best investment banking firm out there. The people working at GS are VERY smart and clued in and while they might lie to you to make a buck (like here in all probability), they aren't dumb and for the most part they do know what they are talking about. GS has tech guys and analysts that are better than most of the people who read slashdot. I know a few personally and they are anything but clueless.

    Now here is the thing. You have to ask WHY they are spouting off seeming nonsense. Remember that investment banking is basically the business of selling financial instruments. So odds are they are trying to convince someone to buy something by using overly rosy claims about the future prospects of the industry. VR will absolutely not be a $90B industry. There simply aren't enough use cases. It will be a useful niche but not much more. Augmented Reality might one day be but that day is a fair ways off unless you use a very broad definition of AR.

    They're eons behind on tech.. probably still running COBOL servers.

    You're saying the banks are behind on tech when you don't even know what the banks do or how they operate. You are regurgitating some old tripe about how they have old servers running and implying that is somehow representative of their tech prowess. Yes some banks have some very old (and very reliable) code running. That isn't the majority of their IT infrastructure nor does it follow that because of a bit of old code that they are behind on tech. They're actually pretty darn tech savvy and they have to be to compete these days. If you are going to critique banks (and there is plenty to critique) then at least get yourself clued in so you don't sound ignorant.

  37. Mondo oh-so-2000 by doggo · · Score: 1

    'Sachs calls augmented reality and virtual reality "the next generation computing platform"'

    Blah blah blah... That's what that hippy with the dreadlocks used to say back in the 90s.

  38. Strangely yes by sjbe · · Score: 2

    Prestigious investment banks don't get fined $5 billion for ripping off their customers.

    Sure they do. You may not admire them and I get that, but Goldman Sachs is very well respected in many circles and has been for a very long time. GS is as prestigious an investment bank as exists. The fact that they are two timing scumbags who would sell their own mother up the river strangely does not seem to affect their status much.

    It's no different than the folks here who dislike Apple or Google. They are still well regarded companies even though you can easily make an argument that their behavior has been less than honorable at times. Some like them and some don't and both side have a valid point.

  39. Could it be... by malditaenvidia · · Score: 1

    Could this be just a fad? I find it hard to believe people will willingly shut themselves off from the world using some isolation-helmet, much less them replacing regular display devices. It's awkward, will get tiresome after a while and almost completely isolates you from your surroundings. Other than a novelty toy, I just don't see people preferring this to watching TV with their families or friends. Maybe your stereotypical basement dweller, but even his neck (and left hand) will get tired after a while.

    1. Re:Could it be... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      First, are there really people who watch still TV with their families and friends? Second, you're obviously either a woman, or not married. I know a lot of men who are making a lot of effort to get away from their "loved" ones.

  40. The last "Big Thing" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I believe the last big thing was 3D TV.

  41. A little note about Goldman's prediction abilities by JoeyRox · · Score: 2

    They can't even predict what'll happen in the next few months let alone ten years:

    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/...

  42. VR headsets are too ugly to wear. by fizzup · · Score: 1

    The history of technology is awash in the tears of engineers who tried to make people wear something that looks as hideous as a VR headset.

  43. Re:A little note about Goldman's prediction abilit by lolop · · Score: 1

    They recently bought new crystal balls, their prediction is also confirmed by astral conjunction and they read it in their CEO palm reading. No doubt.

    --
    -- Laurent Pointal
  44. Re:true only if & when they are easy to use &a by sittingnut · · Score: 1

    fun to know there are people engaging in basic logical fallacies like you.

  45. Goldman Sachs... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    VR is pretty sweet and will do well. Not sure why Goldman needs to tell us, unless they took a brief moment from cheating old widows out of their money to analyze the VR market.

  46. GOLDMAN JUDEN? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    JUDEN GOLDMAN: A product of a culture of thieves since time immemorial that have been kicked nation to nation now trying to shape perception using puny mind tricks that only work on their own deluded weak inbred brains for the greater glory of GOLD their holy god that makes up for their 2" peckers!

  47. Virtual reality? by skaralic · · Score: 1

    Goldman Sachs already lives in a virtual reality of their own.

  48. Re:true only if & when they are easy to use &a by William+Baric · · Score: 1

    Working with headphones is frowned upon, if not completely forbidden in most workplaces. You really think working with a VR/AR headset will be tolerated?

    If one day 80% of the population is on the autism spectrum, sure. Until then, not a chance.

  49. I'm excited about VR by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I've been excited about VR since I first read about the Sega VR headset... about 25 years ago. It never panned out, of course. I'd love to play first-person-view games with a VR headset. I don't want to walk around with it on. I just want to sit at my computer like I already do, using a keyboard and mouse to control my avatar. The headset will improve visual immersion, and add another layer of control. My left hand can control my avatar's movement, the mouse can control aiming, and the headset can control my view. This is a very natural evolution of gaming.

  50. So, it will be next to Itanium then, right? by rainer_d · · Score: 1

    I mean, they were right about that one. Kind of. Somehow.

    --
    Windows 2000 - from the guys who brought us edlin
  51. Golden Ball Sacks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Here's how this works: These fuckers create a big noise and then scare their investors that they will be "left behind" if they don't go all in for the next big thing. They play the game from both sides.

    #1 -- Shit out a bunch of PR about the "next big thing"
    #2 -- Sell investments to stupid rich fucks in the "next big thing"
    #3 -- Profit!

  52. Prestigious? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "... Prestigious investment bank Goldman Sachs..."

    FUCK OFF.

  53. Woth $80 billion... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...in artificially inflated stocks, prior to the next tech bust (after this current one).

  54. Re:A little note about Goldman's prediction abilit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They recently bought new crystal balls,

    Or crystal meth, the new blue kind.

  55. Re:A little note about Goldman's prediction abilit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    it is clear pattern - they give recomendations for own profit, not for those who listen to their "forecasts".
    In other words - they create demand for papers/commodities/instruments/currencies/bonds they want to sell.
    In 2008/2009 they (+ JPM) recommended against my national currency and official national GDP growth forecasts. Amazingly, they were "selling short" the currency expecting it to fall against € or $. To GS+JPM irritation, currency remained strong and GDP was positive and very close to gov prediction.

  56. Book about VR in the future by jeezmos · · Score: 1

    Every time I hear about VR in the news I think of the book Ready Player One and how society in the story reacts to mass adoption of VR.