HTC is displaying its newest virtual reality headset, the Vive Flow, at Gitex Global in Dubai as it seeks to make the technology more widely available to sectors that are fast adopting digital realities.
The Taiwanese electronics company – once a major player in the smartphone market – is focusing on both the consumer and enterprise segments with its VR products, especially in remote collaboration as more people and firms rely on virtual meetings that have risen in popularity during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We feel as [if] maintaining our wellness has come to the forefront in the last few years, with millions of people feeling stressed every day,” Cher Wang, chairwoman and chief executive of HTC, said in a statement.
The global market for VR – a digitally created experience simulated with the real world – was valued at $15.81 billion in 2020 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 18 per cent from 2021 to 2028, Grand View Research reported, creating a big opportunity for service providers as virtual experiences gain traction faster than expected.
Facebook, already a major player in the VR market, already has its Oculus range of VR headsets and will be investing $50m in its so-called metaverse, a digital space that allows users to communicate and move virtually.
Recently, the world's biggest social media network launched its Stories eyeglasses in collaboration with Ray-Ban, and last week, it teased new versions of its VR hardware.
Consequently, the employment market for the VR space is also growing. A recent salary guide for the UAE revealed that jobs related to VR are among the most sought after, with compensation packages for these roles ranging anywhere from Dh20,000 to Dh45,000 a month, depending on the level of project development and implementation experience.
A number of pavilions at Expo 2020 Dubai are also heavily banking on VR experiences to give visitors lifelike experiences.
Education, training, design, engineering, architecture and health care are among the sectors that can benefit greatly from VR technology, giving users more flexibility and saving them time while they still feel deeply involved in their endeavours, said Daniel Khayat, head of product and Viveport at HTC Middle East and Africa.
Everybody wants to work remotely, but they want to be immersed. We are seeing more traction in several use cases for VR
Daniel Khayat,
head of product and Viveport at HTC Middle East and Africa
“Everybody wants to work remotely, but they want to be immersed. We are seeing more traction in several use cases for VR,” he told The National on Tuesday.
Mr Khayat added that HTC is working with a number of entities and organisations in the UAE to help integrate VR into their daily activities, including Dubai Police, Dubai Customs and a number of schools such as the Higher Colleges of Technologies, all of which are using HTC headsets.
HTC's Vive Flow has a 100-degree field of view that supports HD content and 3D spatial audio. Aside from its movies, gaming and other entertainment offerings, it also has content to promote well-being.
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
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