While the partnership between Samsung and Oculus VR helped to produced the Samsung Gear VR , the electronics giant had already been working its virtual reality device since 2005. Detailed in a new post on Samsung’s official blog, the company retraced the development history of the Gear VR of the past 10 years. The finish product has been optimized for the Samsung Galaxy Note 4, but at one point it was planned to release with the Samsung Galaxy S4 in mind.
Samsung began development of the Gear VR when it secured a patent on a headset that would hold open clamshell / flip phones, but work only officially started on the device in 2013, when smartphone processing power had caught up with power that would be required for the headset. Even though the Samsung Galaxy S4 launched in the same here, the company wasn’t satisfied the smartphone’s screen, and so continued to work on alternatives.
Over 30 prototypes were developed, each improving upon the last in terms of reaction speed and head-tracking accuracy. Even though the two companies had different ideas on the device (Oculus VR wanted virtual reality for gaming while Samsung wanted to utilize the concept for movies, videos and photos), team behind the Oculus Rift managed to help Samsung eventually produced the Gear VR that was revealed in September last year.
“ The Samsung Gear VR goes far beyond expectations of how mobile technology can be used to consume content, and is a powerful representation of the progressive innovation of the Gear series, ” Samsung’s president and CEO of its IT and Mobile Communications Division JK Shin said at the time. “ We are pleased to have partnered with Oculus VR to bring this incredibly immersive mobile content experience to consumers. ”
The company’s full recount of the Samsung Gear VR’s development history can be read via the source link below.
[ Source: SamsungTomorrow ]
[ Via: CNET ]