Samsung are set to host the next instalment of the company’s series of ‘Unpacked’ events tonight, taking place in both New York and London simultaneously. The company’s virtual reality (VR) products are likely to feature heavily at the events, following the revelation of a new Samsung Gear VR controller at Mobile World Congress (MWC), Barcelona, late last month. So what should we expect to see?
The Samsung Gear VR is arguably the most commercially successful VR head-mounted display (HMD) to date. Of course, with a large audience already under their belts, Samsung are not likely to let the VR lie, especially with Google’s Daydream finally providing some real competition in the mobile VR sector. We know a new HMD isn’t going to be revealed today, but what other news might there be?
Alongside an update on the new Samsung Gear VR controller comes the Gear 360 camera. Rumours are circulating that we’ll see a new, updated version of the popular 360 camera revealed later today. The recent price-drop of the Gear 360 – and subsequent special offer packaged with the Samsung Gear VR – would add fuel to this fire, though nothing is confirmed. Below you’ll find the details on what we can expect from Samsung in the realms of VR later today, and of course be sure to stay right here at VRFocus for all the breaking news as it happens!
New Samsung Gear VR Controller
We know it’s coming. We’ve seen it. We just don’t know when. We also don’t know how much it will cost, either as a bundle with the Samsung Gear VR itself or as a stand-alone device for existing Samsung Gear VR owners. We can expect both these details to be pinned-down, plus the first real hands-on testing to be conducted. This is all great news of course, but also we’ve simply got to have some new content to showcase the input solution…
New Samsung Gear VR Videogames & Video Content
VRFocus has knowledge that there are several videogames currently in production specifically designed to make use of the new Samsung Gear VR controller, however when we will see them is still up for debate. It’s likely that some new content will be mentioned in the on-stage portion of the Samsung Unpacked event – such as Coatsink’s forthcoming Augmented Empire – but that more will be playable behind-closed-doors after the event. In terms of video, we can look forward to easier access to user generated content.
New Gear 360 Camera
And this is potentially where that new content will come from. We don’t know much about the rumoured new Gear 360 camera; it’s likely to be a little more than a redesign with slight specification improvements. However, from the software side you can expect the content created to be much easier to share on social media. Many networks – Instagram, YouTube et al – have already made moves to allow 360 degree content to be distributed, and it wouldn’t come as a surprise if Samsung were to announce further partnerships in this field.