Techies everywhere have long wondered when virtual reality, the unexplored frontier of entertainment technology, might find its way into the everyday lives of consumers. Although several competitors arrived in the marketplace earlier, Samsung’s Gear VR headset, a collaboration with VR company Oculus, could be the device needed to make VR viable for mass consumption. While the Gear VR is still only a step above the semi-DIY Google Cardboard, it combines affordable simplicity and a professional design from a recognized company that makes it a very tempting purchase for just $100.
Inside the Gear VR
Like Google Cardboard, Samsung’s Gear VR is essentially a headset built to fit your phone, although it’s notably more sophisticated.
For $100, Gear VR provides more than a sleek design and a way to hold your phone really close your face. Improving on early designs, Gear VR features an intuitive control system using a touchpad on the side of the headset. It’s also specifically designed for four phones: Samsung 6, Samsung 6 Edge, Note 5 and 6 Edge +. Although this four-phone compatibility considerably limits the potential consumers, the headset’s design greatly benefits from being custom fitted to just a few phone sizes.
The interface–what you’ll actually see when the Gear VR is strapped to your head–is where Oculus comes in. The Oculus app used in Gear VR provides the platform for gaming, video and other entertainment apps, which you can navigate using the touchpad and menu button. The other clear benefit of the Gear VR relying on the Oculus app is the ability to update and improve the interface experience over time without requiring changes to the actual VR hardware.
There are a few other very handy features and upgrades from the early version of Gear VR:
- The Oculus app starts up once the phone senses it’s been plugged into the Gear VR.
- Gear VR works with several phone models, where previous iterations worked with just one.
- It’s slightly lighter than the Gear VR Innovator, the earliest Samsung headset. Eighty grams may seem insignificant, but the weight when wearing it is noticeable.
- The Gear VR includes a focus dial which allows for fine-tuned viewing.
- The interface also allows for a couple extra mode settings, such as “Do Not Disturb,” which turns off phone notifications that would otherwise pop up on the screen, and “Passthrough,” which turns on your phone’s back camera to allow you to see the room you’re in.
So what do tech critics have to say about the Gear VR? In an environment where critics seem unswayed by the novelty of VR, many seem pleasantly surprised by the practical appeal of Gear VR:
Applications
Sure, the Gear VR looks great for gamers, but why should photographers, videographers and other visually minded folks care about it? The content Oculus offers seems more gaming heavy to be sure, but as the Adorama Learning Center has previously covered, virtual reality is being adopted more and more by cinematic, visual projects as a new way to create an immersive narrative experience. Plus, with new, state-of-the-art VR camera technology like the Lytro Immerge, it seems that the visual capabilities of VR are poised for big changes.
Competitors
From a visual standpoint, the most natural competitor appears to be Google Cardboard, a third-party manufactured cardboard design by Google compatible with a much wider range of smartphones than the Gear VR. The two primary differences (aside from one being made out of pizza boxes) is comfortability and user control. Gear VR was made to be worn on the face for long stretches of time, while Google Cardboard, unless you fashion yourself a headband, must be held to your face with your hands.
The Gear VR’s user control, as detailed above, allows for easy manipulation using the touchpad, as well as other tools like the focus dial and various user modes to switch in between. Google Cardboard doesn’t have anywhere near this interface, which is part of its appeal as an uber-simple, affordable device.
Gear VR also has competition on the more sophisticated end, most notably with Oculus Rift and the Sony Playstation VR headset, both of which are very high-quality devices meant primarily for mind-blowing gaming experiences. Samsung makers are probably wise not to compete too directly with these devices, opting instead to aim for mass appeal, simplicity and affordability.
Final Thoughts
Samsung’s Gear VR admittedly still has technical limitations and, for the time being, limited application for those not interested in video games, but it’s still a great leap forward in bridging the gap between everyday consumers and the huge strides being made in VR technology. For $100, Gear VR allows anyone (or at least anyone with a Samsung phone) the opportunity to experience a visually immersive new form of entertainment.
