As hoped, and rumoured, Google has unveiled a new hardware line for their AR platform Daydream: the Daydream Standalone VR headset. Rumours for a standalone VR solution began circulating some time before Google IO 2016 and we’re officially getting a few details.
The Standalone DayDream VR headsets will allow immersive VR content powered by Google’s daydream to be enjoyed using a standalone device, no phone, no PC and no wires. In conjunction with Qualcomm Google has developed a reference device and has already announced that HTC, the maker of the excellent HTC Vive PC VR headset, and Lenovo are both developing standalone VR headsets for release.
HTC
Lenovo
With Google having over 6 months of content development for Daydream they now have a rich and growing ecosystem of content to be consumed via VR, and with dedicated devices like this coming to market we can expect both the demand and supply of such content to explode, speaking of which I can’t wait to play Keep taking and nobody explodes on this thing!!
Check out the launch video below.
As always we’ll be asking Google Australia about availability when the devices are actually released, probably in October at the Made by Google event.
Really bummed it did not include the AR features they pimped straight after.
I the idea though. Maybe gen2 will have that.
So their answer to Daydream being a damp squib, because the value isn’t there for most people, is to release an even MORE expensive device? They need something closer to the cardboard in terms of cost, that everyone can just use, but with enough quality that people want to use it.
VR can be absolutely brilliant if done well, but horrible and sickening if any corners are cut. Competing for bargain bin budgets is guaranteed to result in horrible products and kill the VR consumer market.