BARCELONA, SpainGoogle has ambitions plans to broaden its virtual reality operations this year, as the company pushes deeper into both hardware and headsets.

Its only been a few months since Google began selling its ViewVR headset, but the company is hoping that 2017 is the year the emerging technology becomes more mainstream. In fact, the company is hoping to equiptens of millions of smartphones this year with VR software, according to Amit Singh, vp of business and operations of Googles VR unit.

Singh, speaking in Barcelona at Mobile World Congress, said the company already hashad some success with its most basic form of a VR hardware, the Google Cardboard. According to Singh, Google has already shipped 10 million of the inexpensive headsets. On the software side, the Cardboard app has been downloaded 160 million times.

For a lot of people, the first VR interaction might be that bite-sized chunk to get them excited about something, Singh said.

However, even while buzz and business continues to build (DigiCapital reports that $2 billion was invested in VR and augmented reality last year), the question remains, how many people are actually interested? According to a survey of 3,200 U.S. adults conducted by IBB Consulting, 71 percent said they werent interested in VR.

However, that doesnt mean nobodyis buying it. IBB found that of those who are interested, 30 percent already have their own VR equipment. And while 44 percent said they got it for free or as part of a bundle, another 30 percent paid up to $99about the same price as Viewor Samsungs Gear VR. Another 20 percent said they spent between $100 and $500.

Content will be key to driving interest, said JeffersonWang, a senior partnerat IBB.

Not surprisingly, gaming is still the most popular type of content, with 37 percent responding they are most interested in the genre. However, travel was also a key interest for 20 percent of those surveyed, while another 17 percent said theyre interested in movies, TV and news.

We think that brands have a great opportunity to use VR to sell or advertiser their products to consumers, saidArthur van Hoff, chief technology officer and founder ofJaunt, a VR app maker.

There are now more than 100 titlesincluding apps, movies, games and newson Daydream, Googles own VR platform that supports View. Singh said there are now more than 100 apps, with active users spending 40 minutes a week in VR.(Google says YouTube is itsmost popular VR app.)

People want that lean-back experience, they want immersive content, he said.

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Google Aims to Equip Tens of Millions of Phones With Virtual Reality Software - Adweek