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Google Daydream launched at Google IO 2016

Google'due south VR efforts have come a long fashion since 2 years ago when Google introduced its inexpensive phone-base of operations VR viewer, Cardboard. Today, equally part of the IO Keynote, Google's Clay Bavor previewed Google Daydream — the company'southward upcoming VR platform. Bavor stressed the need for a systems arroyo to VR, especially as it relates to reducing latency — often called the Motility to Photon fourth dimension. Daydream isn't a specific piece of hardware or software, but a set of reference designs and Android enhancements that are aimed at creating a vibrant VR ecosystem on Android devices.

Look for Fantasize-Ready Smartphones, with support in Android N

Gogle will be publishing the specs for smartphones that information technology believes are sufficient for a good Fantasize VR experience. Those include requirements on the sensors, display, and compute power of the SoC. Nearly of the major phone vendors are already working with Google on Daydream-Fix devices, and Google expects them to commencement coming to market this fall. One interesting note, though, is that Daydream is designed to achieve a latency of under 20ms. That is much slower than desktop VR companies consider acceptable for either comfy viewing of interactive content or activity gaming. HTC and Oculus both push for 11ms (providing a 90fps frame rate). Obviously, they also require a lot more GPU horsepower, but it will be interesting to see how many experiences will work in the slower 50fps world of Fantasize, and how much discomfort may result.

Android N will include system support for low-latency, equally well equally a VR system UI, which volition assist avoid the problem with smartphone-based VR today, where you need to keep going back and forth between VR apps and the Android UI on the phone screen.

Headset & Controller

Googles reference VR headset designGoogle isn't announcing a headset, but is making available a reference design for headsets. The sketch they showed (included to the right) looks a lot like Gear VR. Some Daydream-capable headsets are expected to be in the market past Fall. The controller reference design looks like a typical Bluetooth remote, but in addition to a button and a impact-sensitive pad also has an orientation sensor like a Wiimote. As you'd expect, you lot can therefore utilise it a chip like a magic wand to control your VR experience.

VR Apps & Ecosystem

Google Play for VR volition let users to discover, install, and launch VR apps. Your VR apps will and so exist incorporated into a Daydream Dwelling house screen, that looks very much similar the ane Oculus uses. It'll be interesting to see what happens when Oculus meets Google on Android phones — will nosotros accept both an Oculus Home and a Fantasize Home?

Google is also making a major push to add VR support to its core media offerings. Google Play Movies will let you lot to view your Play video content in a Virtual Movie Theater, and Google StreetView volition be fully VR-prepare — you lot can already use Gear VR and Cardboard with 360-degree photos in Maps through the StreetView app. YouTube is existence rebuilt with VR back up, including discovery & playlists in VR, with support for spatial audio.

For those hoping Google would upset the apple tree cart with a stunning new piece of hardware that would span the performance, price and complexity gap between Gear VR and the defended headsets like Rift and Vive (like me), that didn't happen. But Google is certainly making the right moves to provide a vibrant ecosystem for VR content creators and users on the Android platform.