- The firm is reportedly developing a system which will rival Gear VR
- New headset will support a wider range of devices than Samsung's VR
- Google will incorporate VR support into Android, rather than using an app
- Chief executive Sundar Pichai recently said the public will 'see a lot more' from Google and partners in this area in 2016
Google is gunning for its rivals in the battle for virtual reality, according to the latest rumours.
The firm is believed to be developing a VR headset that, unlike its rivals, doesn't rely on an expensive computer or mobile phone.
It is also believed to be planning to unveil a radical overhaul of its hugely popular $20 cardboard VR headset that uses a phone for its display.
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California-based tech giant Google is reportedly set to challenge Samsung in the virtual reality arena with a high-tech headset of its own which could be released later this year. The smartphone-based system will rival Gear VR (pictured), the Samsung-Oculus Rift collaboration which has been available since last year
'The Alphabet unit is developing an all-in-one virtual-reality headset that doesn't rely on a smartphone, computer or game console, according to people familiar with the matter,' according to the Wall Street Journal.
'Google also plans to release later this year a more advanced version of its $20 cardboard virtual-reality viewer that uses a smartphone as a screen, people familiar with the matter said,' according to the paper.
'The new plastic viewer will include computer chips and sensors, these people said.'
Google is bolstering its Android support for VR and is developing a smartphone-based system to rival Gear VR, the Samsung-Oculus Rift collaboration.
The rumours were first reported in the Financial Times[2].
The site explained that the new headset will support a wider range of devices than Samsung's Gear, which is limited to Samsung Galaxy smartphones.
In addition, Google plans to solve the lingering latency problem with VR – the slight delay between head movements and the video stream - which can be disorientating and leave users dizzy.
Future developments could also see Google develop its Android operating system to incorporate VR support, rather than using a dedicated VR app, as currently.
During the Mountain View-based firm's recent quarterly earnings announcement, chief executive Sundar Pichai said that Cardboard was the first step for the global search firm's aspirations for VR.
He said: 'Beyond these early efforts, you'll see a lot more from us and our partners in 2016,'
At the end of January, Google provided an update on its official blog[3] on the success to date of Cardboard, its low cost first foray into the world of VR.
Google's development team have hinted that Cardboard is only the beginning and the firm's chief executive recently told us to expect more from Google in the VR arena in 2016
The headset, which costs just a few pounds and is made of cardboard is a build-it-yourself set of goggles which contains the user's android smartphone.
< p class="mol-para-with-font">Cardboard uses the smartphone's display, with a special app to show 3D images and to split the video stream into stereo channels.To date, more than five million units of the cardboard viewers have been shipped worldwide and more than 25 million cardboard apps have been installed from Google Play, the Android app store.
Earlier this year[4], the firm posted a number of job adverts dedicated to consumer VR hardware.
In an i nterview with Time magazine[5], head of development for the Cardboard project, Clay Bavor, alluded to the future iterations of Google's VR.
'The amazing thing about Cardboard is that it's truly VR for everyone with a smartphone,' he told the magazine.
GOOGLE'S LOW-TECH VIRTUAL REALITY HEADSET
Google last year revealed a bizarre low-tech toy - a virtual reality headset made of cardboard.
The gadget was given out to attendees at the firm's annual developer conference, and can also be created at home.
It uses a mobile phones as the display, with a special app to show 3D images and video.
The 'cardboard' gadget was passed to attendees when they left the firm's keynote, which revealed new version of android for phones, TVs, cars and watches.
'With your phone and a piece of Cardboard you can see some pretty amazing stuff,' the firm said.
'We want everyone to experience virtual reality in a simple, fun, and inexpensive way.'
'Virtual reality has made exciting progress over the past several years,' it continued.
'However, developing for VR still requires expensive, specialized hardware,' Google said on the project's page.
Head of Google's Cardboard development team said in a recent interview that the entry level device is 'not the end of the line' and hinted that Google are working on bigger and better iterations of VR devices
'We think there's something powerful and important in that. Is that the end of the line? Of course it's not the end of the line.
'I think if you imagine the types of things that a company with the ambition and the tec hnical resources and the know-how of Google would be working on, we're working on a lot of those things.'
Analysts believe that smartphone-based devices will see a faster uptake than dedicated VR hardware, provide a gateway into the world of virtual reality.
References
- ^ Mark Prigg For Dailymail.com (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Financial Times (www.ft.com)
- ^ official blog (googleblog.blogspot.co.uk)
- ^ year (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Time magazine (time.com)
