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Google Unveils $79 Daydream View VR Headset, Attempts To Reduce VR's Complexity (theverge.com)

Posted by msmash on from the another-go-at-VR dept.

With its Cardboard, Google showed the world (and other companies) how people can experience VR without spending a premium for it. Today, on the sidelines of Pixel announcements, Google outlined its next step in the nascent technology category. Enter Daydream View VR, a $79 headset that is more comfortable and friendly, and with more capabilities. The Daydream VR comes with a Daydream controller, which has three-degrees-of-freedom. The Verge adds: The goal of Daydream View is to make a VR headset people can get their phones into and out of within a few seconds. To that end, it's revealed a few new features. When you put an unlocked phone on the front panel, an NFC chip will tell it to launch Daydream, after which you can close the panel and start using the headset. When you latch it shut with the elastic loop on the top, a pair of rubber nubs on the face will help the phone detect its position and automatically center the image. While we've already seen the basic Daydream controller design, Google is now showing it off as an actual piece of hardware. The controller has one home button and one menu button, plus a clickable trackpad on the end, volume buttons on one side, and internal sensors that can detect motion -- it can't tell your absolute position in space like Oculus Touch or the HTC Vive, but it can sense which direction it's pointing, and loosely follow your hand. When you're not using it, the controller fits into a slot on the inside of the headset, so the whole device is self-contained.Here's the official blogpost with more details.

5 of 43 comments (clear)

  1. Pixel Only? by rockmuelle · · Score: 4, Interesting

    So, it's really $79 + a new phone + potentially switching providers.

    Google definitely made VR available to everyone with this one!

    1. Re:Pixel Only? by barc0001 · · Score: 2

      I'm interpreting it as a software problem instead of a hardware one. I imagine it will already do everything but support the handheld remote and the NFC sensor with every phone out there, and the remote should be a quick driver write away. I have a knock-off Cardboard that everything works on my G3 except the magnetic click sensor for example.

    2. Re:Pixel Only? by EndlessNameless · · Score: 2

      just buy one of the existing products on the market that will work with today's devices

      You mean all of the proprietary solutions like the Gear and the Rift?

      Where you can choose between being locked to one hardware vendor or one notoriously capricious platform?

      forget this turd

      I rather like the idea of an open VR API, and I look forward to seeing how this develops.

      But your opinion is good too. I heard you can polish turds, after all, so there is some hope for you.

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      According to the latest ruleset, this post should be modded as Vorpal Flamebait +5.
    3. Re:Pixel Only? by jareth-0205 · · Score: 2

      And by the time Daydream's certification requirements, specs, API, etc. is available for OEMs and they have a chance to release products for it, Google will drop it and move on to some other shit.

      To be fair, though Google are fairly harsh about killing off their own products, they've been pretty consistent about supporting and developing Android stuff atleast.

  2. no they unvieled cardboard pro by Lumpy · · Score: 2

    This is a phone holder, nothing more. you have been able to get these for years now.
    Come on google, give us Glass 2.0 or throw your weight behind real VR.

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    Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.