Category: Daydream View

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Google Brings Stable WebVR Support To Chrome on Daydream

Google Brings Stable WebVR Support To Chrome on Daydream

Late last month Google opened the doors to its Daydream mobile VR ecosystem up to developers, and now it’s doing the same for the web.

The tech giant today is releasing a stable build of WebVR support in the Chrome browser for Daydream compatible phones and headsets. That means when reaching a WebVR compatible page, you can slot your phone into a Daydream View — or Huawei’s upcoming headset — and view that content in VR, be it a 360-degree video or a full virtual experience.

You won’t need to download anything to access these experiences; they offer a quick way to jump into VR as naturally as you surf the web itself. You can jump into 360 YouTube videos with no need to access the Daydream app, for example.

To celebrate the launch, Google provided a few examples of where to find the best WebVR content so far. Check out Bear 71 for an interactive VR documentary, Matterport for a library of 360 photos and videos, Within for 360-degree movies, Sketchfab for user-created content and, interestingly, Playcanvas’ WebVR Lab, which appears to integrate the Daydream controller into an immersive experience.

The feature’s been a long time coming for Chrome, and it’s not finished yet; stable support for Cardboard and wider phone integration will be coming at a later date, and Chrome on Windows still only has experimental support at this point in time.

Google isn’t the only one pushing WebVR right now; Samsung is supporting the API with its internet browser for Gear VR, and Oculus is working on its very own browser, codenamed Carmel, that will work with both Gear VR and the Rift. While there’s still years of development ahead, eventually WebVR should grow to be a widely-available feature on a range of browsers and headsets. Last month we also reported on the reveal of a new tool from Google itself that would help optimize VR on the web.

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ZTE Rolls Out Daydream Update for Axon 7

When Google first revealed details for its next virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD), Daydream, a number of smartphone manufacturers were announced to be partnering with the company, one of which was ZTE. Then in the summer of 2016 ZTE launched its flagship device, the Axon 7, with confirmed compatibility for Daydream. Today the smartphone manufacturer has announced an update roll out for the Axon 7 adding Android Nougat and Daydream functionality.

While Google has partnered with the likes of Samsung, Huawei, Alcatel, Asus, HTC, LG, Xiaomi and ZTE on Daydream compatible devices, very few have appeared since the HMDs launch in November, with Google’s own Pixel being the main entry point for Daydream use.

ZTE_Axon 7-Daydream

“Delivering Android Nougat for the Axon 7 provides consumers with an enhanced experience and greater value when purchasing this flagship device,” said Lixin Cheng, chairman on CEO of ZTE USA. “Also, with Daydream certification, consumers are now able to have an immersive VR experience at a price they can afford when paired with the Daydream View headset.”

As ZTE’s top-of-the-range smartphone, the Axon 7 features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor, a 5.5 inch quad HD AMOLED display, 4GB RAM, 20MP Hybrid IS rear-camera and a 8MP front-facing camera, dual hi-fi quality speakers with Dolby Atmos Surround Sound, and dual sim card slot

The start of 2017 has been decidedly quiet for the fledgling headset with few notable software launches. The few that have happened included live event streaming specialist NextVR launching its app and Resolution Games porting its popular fishing title Bait! from Samsung Gear VR, having surpassed one million players.

For any further Google Daydream updates, keep reading VRFocus.

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CCP Games Adds Challenges and a Loadout System to Gunjack 2: End of Shift

Shortly after the launch of Google Daydream View last year CCP Games Shanghai released Gunjack 2: End of Shift as an exclusive on the platform. A sequel to the popular Gunjack on Samsung Gear VR, Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and PlayStation VR, the followup has now been updated adding four major new additions to the videogame.

With the aim to bring greater depth and replayability to Gunjack 2, the new features are: Challenges, Weekly Shift, a Progression System and a Loadout System. In the Challenge mode players will be matched against others in a competition for the highest score, with a mission mutator altering the characteristics.

Gunjack 2 End of Shift - Loadout screenshot

Then there’s the Weekly Shift, taking over from the daily shift, where seven procedurally generated new missions will be made available each week, with high scores for each mission displayed on a leaderboard, rewarding the best players.

Gunjack 2: End of Shift’s new progression system utilises both of these two new features, as players complete Challenges and Weekly Shift missions they’ll be rewarded experience. In turn this unlocks new weapons and upgrades including such as the Pyro Slicer gun, the ‘Maelstrom’ Autocannon upgrade, for raw damage and faster reloads and the ‘Carnage’ Flak Cannon upgrade, for a larger area-of-effect.

Lastly there’s the Loadout System with which players can customise their own particular choice of weapons for the Challenges and Weekly Shift game modes, ensuring they’re ideally equipped for the fight ahead.

As a Daydream exclusive Gunjack 2: End of Shift can be found on Google Play for £12.99 GBP.  Checkout the new trailer below, and for any further updates, keep reading VRFocus.

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VR Fishing Title Bait! Passes 1 Million Players, Now Available for Daydream

Less than a year ago Resolution Games launched its second virtual reality (VR) title for Samsung Gear VR, a fishing video game called Bait!. The experience proved to be popular on the fledgling VR headset, garnering nearly 150,000 downloads in less than a week the studio announced. Today the developer has revealed Bait!’s achieved another milestone, alongside expanded head-mounted display (HMD) support.

Resolution Games has managed to hit the one million player barrier for Bait!, putting it in a very exclusive group. Otherworld Interactive’s horror title Sisters achieved the one million mark back in May 2016, but that’s classed more as an experience rather than an actual video game like Bait!.

BaitHeader

And that player count looks set to grow even further as Bait! now supports Google Daydream from today. Daydream owners can find the title on Google Play for £6.49 GBP/$7.99 USD.

“We are so excited to see the initial interest in Bait! as it crests 1 million players,” said Tommy Palm, CEO and co-founder of Resolution Games. “And, we now look forward to making the game available for the growing audience on Daydream, while adding the ability to use the motion controller for casting and reeling in fish, which adds a whole new layer to the game’s immersion within VR.”

Checkout the new Daydream launch trailer below, and for any further updates from Resolution Games, keep reading VRFocus.

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Get Your Cook on with Cosmic Chef for Daydream

Since its launch a couple of months ago, Google’s Daydream View head-mounted display (HMD) hasn’t exactly been overrun with content, with titles appearing sporadically. Today those that have bought the headset have been treated to another release, this time from Uber Entertainment in the form of Cosmic Chef.

Available to download now on Google Play for £9.99 GBP, Cosmic Chef mixes up gameshows and cooking into a culinary battle royale in which players must chop, slice and smash their way through waves of ingredients, scoring as many points as possible to get a maximum three stars.

Featuring a bizarre set of characters, players need to make some tasty food to score big trying to make their opponents native dishes even better than they can.

Regular readers of VRFocus may know know Uber Entertainment from its first virtual reality (VR) title, third person single-player adventure Wayward Sky for PlayStation VR. Most recently Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) revealed another project the studio has been working on during the PlayStation Showcase in December. This was Dino Frontier, a table top strategy sim set in the wild west, due for release this summer.

For all the latest Daydream releases, keep reading VRFocus.

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Daydream View Is $50 On Google Play Store Until Late February

Daydream View Is $50 On Google Play Store Until Late February

Got a shiny new Pixel, or other Daydream-compatible smartphone? Been sitting on the fence about getting into Google’s VR ecosystem? Now might be the right time.

Daydream View, the first headset to support the platform, is currently $49 on the Google Play Store, which is $30 off the regular price of $79. It applies to each of the headset’s three color variants. This isn’t a permanent cut, though; the price may jump back up on Feb 25, 2017 at 11:59 PM PST.

If Google’s approach to shifting Daydream is anything like Samsung’s with Gear VR, then you can expect to see plenty of these types of sales in the weeks and months to come. Samsung and Oculus outright gave Gear VR away with purchases of new phones over certain periods of 2016, and Google already offered a free View units to anyone that pre-ordered its Pixel phone late last year.

It doesn’t appear that the sale is in effect anywhere else right now, though we’ve reached out to Google to ask if it has any plans for this.

The price cut will likely come as good news for developers putting their content onto the platform, as we’ve reported some seemingly sluggish sales for many of Daydream’s top apps within the first few months of launch. This is more than likely down to a low install base for the ecosystem — though Google hasn’t shared any official figures yet. Anything to boost those numbers will be welcome.

Still, you might want to hold fire on buying a Daydream View. In our review, we noted that the headset was a “finicky fit”, letting light in from the sides among other issues. The important thing about the wider Daydream ecosystem is that this won’t be the only headset to support it. In fact, Huawei’s own offering was revealed during CES this month and looks like a far more traditional solution. It could be a good idea to wait for that if you’re looking to get into Daydream.

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