Google helped kick off the consumer VR revolution with its Cardboard headset. Where once you needed contraptions that ran in the thousands, Google slapped some cardboard, Velcro, plastic lenses, and a smartphone together to bring the future home. If you search on Amazon for “Cardboard” you’ll find dozens of pages of devices based on the Google original ranging from a few bucks to a hundred.
Now Google is giving us their second version in Daydream. Unveiled at today’s Google event this new device goes beyond the simple cardboard and is built from something far different. It’s a very different sort of VR device than that of what has come before. The most striking thing people will note is that it’s not hard plastic (like most VR devices) and instead built from fabric.
Google looked to a number of clothing manufactures for help in developing the covering that makes the Daydream device stand out. It comes in three colors/fabric patterns that include State, Snow and Crimson. But the coolest thing is that your smartphone will be fully enclosed in the device to help with immersion. This means that you wont be dealing with the “light bleed” that oft plague many cheaper VR headsets.
Because of the Google has included a remote control so that you can control the device without taking out you phone. The remote is pretty cool in that it functions like a Wii remote in the form factor of something more like a Roku remote. You can also store the remote within the headset so you don’t misplace it.
But there are some catches that come along with this device, unlike the original Cardboard. Right now there is only one phone that has been certified for use with Daydream, and wouldn’t you know it, that just happens to be the less than stellar Google Pixel. Google did state that other devices from various manufactures would be certified when it releases.
Where Cardboard was a fun little experiment, Daydream is going full bore in terms of support. Google is making a push to have a lot of content specially designed for the headset and remote including a Harry Potter VR experience that will launch alongside the device. The company is also working to have modified versions of both Netflix and Hulu to work with this new headset.
The Google Daydream VR headset launches this November and will retail for $80. For more information and to join the waitlist, you can visit: https://store.google.com/product/daydream_view
Related articles
About Author
