Virtual reality will be next frontier for advertising industry

New York

EVEN in virtual reality, it seems, there will be no escape from advertising.

The Oculus Rift, which is owned by Facebook, won't be available until early next year, but many of the two billion consumers worldwide who own smartphones can try out virtual reality on the cheap with Cardboard, a device from Google that folds into a viewer with a slot for a smartphone. As more devices come to market with the aim of making virtual reality more commonplace, advertisers and agencies hope virtual reality will be the next great medium for persuading consumers to buy stuff.

For now, marketers are producing mostly eye candy in their own apps and on YouTube's #360Video channel. But wi…