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You Can Now Clone Samsung's Gear VR and Test Your Virtual Reality Apps

Posted by samzenpus on from the more-real-than-real dept.

An anonymous reader writes While Samsung's Gear VR headset launched in early December in the U.S., folks abroad didn't have any official means of buying the headset to test their in-development applications. Only recently has Gear VR begun making its way to countries around the world, and it's doing so slowly. For developers who don't want to wait (or DIYers who don't want to buy), some smart folks have figured out how to emulate the headset using a development board with an IMU that's been flashed with the same firmware found on the Oculus Rift DK1 headset. Plugging the board into the Note 4 (the smartphone that powers Gear VR), results in the phone recognizing the IMU as the Gear VR headset, allowing developers to test their applications and even launch the "Oculus Home" environment, allowing access to official applications and content.

7 of 32 comments (clear)

  1. Oculus Rift Availability? by Hrrrg · · Score: 1

    So when are they going to start selling this thing?

  2. It is all fun and games... by NotQuiteReal · · Score: 2

    It is all fun and games until the lawyers come knocking at your door.

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    This issue is a bit more complicated than you think.
    1. Re:It is all fun and games... by Half-pint+HAL · · Score: 3, Informative

      It's difficult to get lawyers interested after you've released your code as open source...

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      Got them moderator blues I blieve I walk out the do', With these mod-points I been gettin', I 'most never post no mo'
    2. Re:It is all fun and games... by mungewell · · Score: 1
      The Oculus SDK implicitly states that you can use it with non-commercial 3rd party devices (it actually says it the other way around, but it's pretty cool of them either way):

      https://developer.oculus.com/d...
      The Oculus VR Rift SDK may not be used to interface with unapproved commercial virtual reality mobile or non-mobile products or hardware.

      https://developer.oculus.com/d...
      The Oculus Mobile SDK may not be used to interface with unapproved commercial virtual reality mobile or non-mobile products or hardware.

      The other consideration is that the USB ID's used by Oculus' tracker are 'owned' by Oculus, any other company could not legally sell a product using them. However this is not a product, it is a suggestion based around a firmware file ('.hex') for the STM32F3 discovery board (http://www.st.com/web/catalog/tools/FM116/SC959/SS1532/PF254044), which is around $10 from multiple vendors..... now go hack!!

      Obviously with a name like 'mungewell' I am not a lawyer, these are just the opinions of a hacker...

    3. Re:It is all fun and games... by voights · · Score: 1

      There is no legal backing for "owning" USB VIDs/PIDs. You're not allowed to use the USB-compatible logo unless you abide by the USB-IF's rules, but that's it.

  3. Probably won't be shut down (?) by drewm19801927 · · Score: 1

    If I were Samsung, I would be thrilled if this resulted in a bunch of geeks buying Note 4's. Is that not more or less the business case for the Gear VR anyway?

    1. Re:Probably won't be shut down (?) by gl4ss · · Score: 1

      gear vr is a pr product now.

      oculus might be pissed off if their (possible) cut is cut off, but I doubt that as well.

      what I don't get is why not just let people run the sw on cardboard. if they miss some functionality then it's not a big deal..

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      world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.