Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by cmn32480 on Thursday February 11 2016, @09:08PM   Printer-friendly
from the glass-on-steroids dept.

Google will reportedly release a smartphone-assisted virtual reality headset in 2016 and build virtual reality software features into Android rather than rely on an app. The device will use plastic casing, add extra sensors, and include better lenses than those distributed with Google Cardboard:

We've said a few times now that Google's virtual reality initiative is too big for the company to just be working on Google Cardboard, and now The Financial Times has published a report detailing what seems to be the next phase of Google's VR push. The report says that Google is working on "a successor to Cardboard," creating a higher-quality headset and building VR software directly into Android.

The device sounds like a Google version of Samsung's Gear VR. Like Cardboard, the headset will be powered by your existing smartphone, with a "more solid plastic casing" along with better lenses and sensors. Also like Cardboard, this won't be limited to just a handful of devices, with the report saying that the headset "will be compatible with a much broader range of Android devices than Gear VR."

Such a device sounds like it would occupy a compelling spot in the market. The Gear VR is a great device—the $100 headset is a powerful entry-level VR experience—but it only works with Samsung phones. Cardboard has much wider phone compatibility, but it comes with a huge list of compromises that lead to a subpar experience. Taking the Gear VR model and expanding it to accept most popular smartphones sounds like a solid idea.


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 2) by caffeine on Thursday February 11 2016, @10:35PM

    by caffeine (249) on Thursday February 11 2016, @10:35PM (#302987)

    A few weeks ago I picked up a cheap viewmaster to use for google cardboard. It works well but is easy to see the faults and the apps are very inconsistent in UI.

    It has been fun to play with and I have to say my kids (all under 10yo) are totally obsessed with them. The tricky thing is controlling the fights over whos turn it is and how much longer they have. Confounded by the person wearing the set being effectively blind and an easy target for the waiting children. I can really see this taking off in gaming.

    Oh well, I'd better get back to getting VR Minecraft working. Is trickier than it should be as I use OpenSUSE and Splashtop is being a pain to compile.

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   2