It entirely depends on user adoption, which, in turn, relies on pricing, technological breakthroughs we can't predict, etc. Virtual reality is already popular in the sense the idea has a lot of backing, people are excited about it, and numerous companies are entering the market. The company I work for, FullDive, is one of them.
Let's look at the history a little. The term "virtual reality" was coined in 1989 by a man named Jaron Lanier to describe tech trends occurring at the time. Think back to the Nintendo PowerGlove, and the spectacular failures of other virtual reality products at the time. The primary issue was computer technology simply was not capable of effectively doing what the designers wanted it to do. And so ended the first major push towards virtual reality technology.
Fast forward to 2012, and a nascent Oculus is coming into existence. Two years later (2014) Facebook buys Oculus for more than $2 billion, and the second wave of virtual reality begins. The difference is that tech can now support an incredibly wide range of functions that designers in 1990 could only dream of. A smartphone, for instance, can handle 3D rendering with a little bit of engineering magic. That's why Samsung's Gear VR uses its own Galaxy phones. The virtual experience, though, still doesn't give real time, tactile feedback like the feeling of typing on a keyboard. This is something that will (hopefully) come with time as new technologies progress.
To circle back to the original question, the technology to make virtual reality popular already exists: There are headsets and smartphones/computers powerful enough to handle virtual reality. One major issue is cost, though. Oculus is $350 and Samsung Gear VR is $200. Both are also targeted at developers.
That's where FullDive comes in. We are in the process of producing a headset for about $49, complete with a controller to aid in the manipulation of your personal virtual environment. We currently have our app out on the GooglePlay store (Android Apps on Google Play) and you can check out our website at Full Dive. Our goal is to fill the gap most current headsets leave and provide high quality virtual reality for the average consumer.
The popularity of virtual reality will, likely, ultimately rely on making it accessible to people beyond the developer community. The quality of the experience has to warrant the price tag, and there are only two ways to do this: either increase the quality of the experience or decrease the cost. FullDive is aiming to do both, and help bring virtual reality to the market.
Also, check out this paper from 1997 about virtual reality. Good read if you have the time for it.
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