After the device was announced at the Oculus conference for developers in Los Angeles, California, many were quick to label it as the product that will revolutionize the way consumers view virtual headsets.
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The unit, scheduled to ship in November, lets anyone with a Samsung Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 Edge, Note 5 or S6 Edge+ handset plug in and play.
The Samsung Gear VR was co-developed with Oculus, the firm behind the Rift headset. The device, which will come with a PC compatible with its VR software, will reportedly carry a price tag of over $1,000. In early December, Samsung opened the floodgates by releasing the Gear VR Innovator Edition, which was available to purchase at a steep price of $199.
Oculus hopes that the Gear VR can bring virtual reality to “millions of gamers”.
The new Samsung Gear VR devices are scheduled to begin shipping in the USA in November “in time for Black Friday”, said Koo.
The newest Gear VR is also getting a new controller called the Gear VR Gamepad. This is about half of the current price of the Gear VR Innovator Edition, which now retails for $199. Ergonomic appeal looks set to be one of the biggest challenges that VR as a whole faces on its journey towards mainstream adoption, and so it’s smart for resources to be concentrated on this aspect of the device. Gear VR will also support Twitch livestreams, and you’ll be able to hang out with other virtual avatars as you watch an event. There’s also a gaming suite that Samsung’s calling the Oculus Arcade, hosting some golden oldie arcade titles from the Eighties.
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Moreover, the two entities have taken initiatives to make this headset more aesthetically pleasing and user friendly. We reckon it might be a while before we start seeing more content being filmed with virtual reality in mind, but this seems to be a pretty good start.
