Samsung also announces the Gear VR, their Mobile Virtual Reality Headgear

We heard rumors that Samsung was dabbling in the world of virtual reality or at least with something that would be a bit Google Glass like. Now we have news of what Samsung has been working on and it leans way off to the left is much more Oculus than Glass. Which does make a lot of sense being that it uses Oculus technology to bring a virtual reality display to your face with a new Oculus Mobile SDK.

“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,” said JK Shin, President and CEO of IT & Mobile Communications Division at Samsung Electronics. “We are pleased to have partnered with Oculus VR to bring this incredibly immersive mobile content experience to consumers.”

“We are thrilled to reveal the Gear VR Innovator Edition, a state-of-the-art mobile VR experience powered by Oculus,” said John Carmack, CTO of Oculus.  “The deep technical partnership with Samsung has enabled us to create a virtual reality headset with world class resolution and performance, all on a completely mobile platform.”

Reading through the press release from Samsung and checking out the project on the Oculus blog you can see what they did. Anyone remember Google I/O and Google Cardboard? I feel like Google knew about this the whole time and poked fun at Samsung at the time. Here is what I am seeing and reading, you pair your Galaxy Note 4 to the Gear VR and then click it under that blue shield and put it on your head. You can see the two eye holes in the product image above the actual device in the photo below.

The unit does connect directly to your Samsung Galaxy Note 4 and the Note 4 becomes your VR world screen. It has physical controls by the way of a touch pad, back button and volume keys. It provides you with a 96 degree field of view with a motion to photo latency of < 20ms. The Gear VR isn’t coming immediately for consumers, more so for innovators, developers and early adopters. There is an additional perk with the Gear VR over Google Cardboard though. If you decide to buy one, you get a 16GB SD card that is loaded with VR goodies. Yes, you have to toss the card into your Note 4 first, but will contain a collection 360-degree videos and 3D Movie trailers. Below is a list of some of the other things that the Gear VR will bring to your face.

• As part of the Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron partnership with Samsung, Gear VR users will gain exclusive access to Tony Stark’s Lab inside the all new Avengers Tower.
• IMAX offers samples of Hollywood and documentary films in a virtual theatre with Samsung Gear VR – the next best thing to a live IMAX experience.
• DreamWorks VR from DreamWorks Animation allows Samsung Gear VR users to interact and laugh with DreamWorks characters and content in a whole new way like never before.
• Legendary’s Pacific Rim Jaeger Pilot is an immersive content experience that puts viewers at center of the action with Samsung Gear VR.
• Cirque du Soleil Media presents a 360 live-action 3D VR experience, featuring an act from Zarkana filmed by Felix & Paul Studios for Samsung Gear VR.
• M-GO Advanced, a new paradigm for digital video virtual reality applications, offers an unmatched interactive search and discovery of the latest premium movie and TV show content with Samsung Gear VR.
• Vevo offers more than 100,000 HD music videos, live concert events and original programming that can be enjoyed in an immersive, full-screen theater experience on Samsung Gear VR.
• Protocol Zero (working title) from DENA enables Samsung Gear VR players to infiltrate enemy grounds undetected in blackout conditions with hi-tech optics including night vision, X-ray vision, and thermal vision.

Since the Gear VR uses Oculus software, there are some new experiences coming from them as well. There will be the Oculus Home, Oculus Cinema, Oculus 360 Videos and Oculus 360 Photos. Oculus Home is is a user interface to connect to the Oculus Store to download things. Oculus Cinema is your virtual movie theater where you can playback your movies in a varietey of theater environments.

The remaining 360 Video and 360 Photos lets you view your panoramic content in a virtual view.

I am a bit interested in the Samsung gaming controller being part of the display. While I didn’t see any direct mention of it in the press release, I would imagine that Samsung has, or will be, offering up games that can be played through the Gear VR with the controller. Possibly the Pacific Rim Jaeger Pilot experience? I will keep poking around for details on that from some of the guys that are in Berlin for the event right now.

Sprints press release this morning does confirm that they will offer the Gear VR along side the Note 4 and Note Edge. So there is that. What are your thoughts? Love it, hate it, want to watch it burn in a fiery death?

Source: Samsung | Oculus