Planning to change phone for Google's VR headset? 'Wait' says company

By Park Sae-jin Posted : May 30, 2016, 10:11 Updated : May 30, 2016, 10:11

Screenshot sample from Daydream [Courtesy of Google]



Many smartphones and virtual reality (VR) enthusiasts cheered at the announcement of Google's VR headset "Daydream", but the company suggests users to "hold off for a few months" on changing their smartphones to experience the VR headset because the current smartphones may not be compatible.

Google's head of VR, Clay Bayvor told Road to VR, a media outlet, that "I can tell you that there will most likely not be any 'retroactively' Daydream-ready phones. We want to hold a very high quality bar, and for that to happen all the components need to be just right. So, to VR fans, I would say, hold off for a few months to get your next phone… and get a Daydream-ready phone."

However, the tech giant recommends developers to use Nexus 6P, Google's reference Android OS smartphone, for development purposes. But it seems that the reference phone would still not be enough to provide consumer level VR experience.

According to various media reports, the reasons for Google wanting to make sure that the devices are fully ready for Daydream is because not-so-compatible smartphones could cause motion sickness and other dizzying effects which could pull users out from the VR market.

Google announced its very own VR headset at the I/O Developer Conference two weeks ago and many were filled with hopes that they can enjoy the VR environment without paying near-thousand US dollars. Google's Daydream works by fitting a smartphone into the headset, which makes it cheaper than previous VR headsets by Oculus and HTC which costs 599 dollars and 799 dollars each. They also need a powerful PC to run, so most of the users would have to pay extra money for PC system.

Earlier this year Oculus and HTC have released VR headsets of their own, but they cost 599 dollars and 799 dollars each and they also need a powerful PC to run the devices, which would cost the users extra money. Enquiries filled online communities on which smartphone would be the best for using the Daydream and users discussed on when would be the right timing for changing their smartphones.

According to Google's announcements made at the conference, the new VR headset will need a smartphone running on Android N, an upcoming version of Android OS, to work. Google did not reveal any standards on smartphones required to run the Daydream, but the smartphone specifications reportedly need to fulfill the ability to display VR video at a latency under 20 milliseconds.

Also, Google plans on updating its applications such as Google Play, Street View, Google Photos, and YouTube to be more VR-compatible.

Google did not release much information on the VR headset, but so far, Android manufacturers such as Samsung, LG, HTC, Xiaomi, Huawei, and ZTE are to release Daydream compatible smartphones.

Aju News Park Sae-jin = swatchsjp@ajunews.com
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