VR payments in 2018 will become mainstream

A few years ago, payments in virtual reality seemed like something that would happen very soon. But, based on the cases described in today's article , the future of VR payments is very close.

Virtual reality (VR) is probably potentially one of the most important technologies for retail , if we take into account the rapidly growing number of examples of its practical application. Some experts suggest that by the end of 2016, approximately 43 million people around the world will become owners of VR-products, and by 2018 this figure will increase to 170 million.

The steady interest in VR technology and its application is indicated by the fact that, according to some estimates, over the past year the VR market has grown four times . Headsets such as the Oculus Rift , HTC Vive , PlayStation VR and Google Cardboard are highly likely to determine how we choose products and make purchases.

“At the moment, the only missing link in the idea of ​​using VR to boost trading is payments. One of the pioneers in this field was the Chinese company Alibaba , which demonstrated in October this year a new payment service that will allow buyers to pay for purchases in virtual reality with the help of a nod of their heads. ”
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Lin Fen, who is responsible for Ant Financial's F Lab incubator and has been developing the payment service for the past few months, told Reuters:

“Taking virtual reality glasses to make a payment is a boring job. With our technology, you don’t have to reach the phone. ”

As explained by the publication, the user's identity can be verified in the VR Pay service through active accounts on connected devices or using voice recognition technology. According to Lin Feng, voice recognition is the most convenient way to identify biometric identification from the whole spectrum of technologies. It is expected that VR Pay will be ready for commercial launch by the end of this year, which will allow 400 million Alibaba users to buy products in stores around the world. This will be possible with the help of VR helmets or glasses designed to create a “presence effect” in a real store.

Alibaba senior mobile unit manager Zhuang Zhoran gave the following comment :

“Virtual reality is perfect for displaying goods or services, especially for such categories of goods as furniture or tourism products. At the same time, you can add a little entertainment to the shopping process. ”

The British charitable foundation Comic Relief also advocates the introduction of VR payments as a mainstream technology in the field of charity. Zenon Hannik, Technical Director of Comic Relief, shared his views on the importance of the “presence effect” to support transactions:

“You have to show the audience where the money was spent, then each of them will feel involved in this process. We, as a charitable organization, are financing various projects, and our task is to tell their story. We can create powerful stories in terms of our impact, as the funds we collect can change people's lives, and VR will become the main means of narration. ”

For commercial payments, the idea is close in meaning - VR will become a powerful engagement tool that at the same time implements instant payment mechanisms. At the moment, the need to remove the headset to make a payment is a significant lack of technology. During this time, the client may doubt his choice and refuse to purchase. Overcoming this obstacle and maintaining the involvement of a potential client will help VR, and companies will thus reduce the risk of a possible loss of interest in the product and unmet customer demand.

According to Computing magazine , despite the fact that Zenon Hunnik from Comic Relief clearly sees VR as a future platform for charity, he notes that the technology will not be widely used until at least 2018.

“2017 will be a year of disappointment for VR. Of course, next year there will be a couple of interesting stories of promising developments, but only in 2018 will virtual reality become the main topic for discussion in the media. ”

Among other events in the segment is Mastercard's collaboration with a Wearality startup from Orlando, USA. Wearality is developing virtual reality glasses and wearable devices that allow customers to get acquainted with the goods and purchase them without leaving the virtual world.

In March of this year, MasterCard demonstrated the future of trade, tied to virtual and augmented reality, as well as wearable devices with the ability to make payments - at the Arnold Palmer Invitational golf tournament in Florida. In an official press release, the company said that soon golfers will be able to purchase Graeme McDowell's equipment and G-Mac brand clothing right during the virtual tournament with Graeme McDowell. While on the pitch, players can purchase drinks at points of sale with a simple touch of a golf glove. A purse with money is not required.

Considering that by 2020, users are expected to spend at least $ 7.9 billion on VR headsets and $ 3.3 billion on VR entertainment, VR payments seem to be a logical and necessary development stage for retail and financial institutions. Wearable devices will play a key role here, connecting the payment solution with the objects of the virtual world. That is why embedding payment functions in devices produced by large technology companies is a very far-sighted step. And one of the pioneers in this business was the company Samsung.

In April of this year, the VR Life news portal quoted the words of the head of Samsung Pay Europe, Natalie Ostmann, who stressed that the company can offer people to visit stores using VR and view products of interest in virtual reality. Users with one click will be able to choose the right product and pay for it using Samsung Pay, while staying inside the virtual environment. The solution will allow you to easily find new outlets and stores. If this function ultimately works in this way, it will become a unique feature of Samsung's VR technology and its payment service.

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