The consumer-friendly virtual reality age really seems to be on the way. We now have two major high-end VR sets, the Oculus Rift and the HTC Vive. The PSVR is set to hold down the middle of the market, and is launching soon. Meanwhile, the Samsung Gear VR has been happily dominating the smartphone VR market since last year. That might be about to change.
We’ve known that Google is getting into VR since May, when it announced its Daydream VR development platform. Today, the company announced that it’s making its own headset, as well. The Daydream View is a lightweight headset made for comfort, and even keeps people with glasses in mind. It looks a bit like somebody put a t-shirt over a pair of binoculars. Anyway, just slap a Daydream-ready phone into the headset and you’re ready for some portable VR fun.
Which phones are Daydream-ready? Why, Google’s newly announced Pixel and Pixel XL phones, of course! What a coincidence! Sarcasm aside, other manufacturers will be releasing their own Daydream-ready phones later on, so it’s not a monopoly. As for software, developers will be able to use Google’s Android VR SDKs to make VR games and apps. Of course, Google is busy porting its own apps into VR as well. If you’re feeling impatient and are planning to buy a Pixel, you can also pick up the Daydream View for $80 this November. That’s not a bad headset price at all.
Source: Google