DayDream

December 4, 2017

Huawei VR Controller aufgetaucht

Huawei scheint nun auch den Virtual Reality Markt ins Visier zu nehmen, denn ein FCC Antrag zeigt einen VR Controller, der vermutlich zu einer Mobile VR-Brille von Huawei gehört. Zwar hatte das Unternehmen bereits auf der CES 2017 eine Daydream-Brille vorgestellt, doch anschließend gab es keine weiteren Informationen zu diesem Projekt.

Huawei VR Controller aufgetaucht

Auf der CES konnte die VR-Brille von Huawei lediglich mit dem Mate 9 Pro oder dem Porsche Design Mate 9 verbunden werden, da nur diese Geräte eine Unterstützung für Google Daydream anboten. Bis die Brille nun aber letztendlich auf den Markt kommen wird, könnte Huawei die Palette an unterstützen Smartphones auch noch erweitern. Zudem ist unklar, ob Huawei überhaupt noch an den alten Plänen festhält. Zwar scheint es sich bei dem Controller um einen gewöhnlichen Daydream Controller oder Gear VR Controller zu handeln, doch die Anordnung der Button ist abweichend. Zudem soll es mit dem Controller möglich sein, Anrufe anzunehmen, während man in der Virtual Reality ist. Ein solches Feature bieten die Daydream Plattform und die Gear VR Plattform derzeit nicht.

Dementsprechend bleibt es spannend, ob Huawei tatsächlich eine Daydream-Brille vorstellen wird, oder ein komplett anderes Produkt plant. Immerhin wird auch HTC im nächsten Jahr einen autarke Brille ohne trackbare Controller in China anbieten und der Daydream-Plattform zunächst den Rücken kehren.

(Quelle: Road to VR)

Der Beitrag Huawei VR Controller aufgetaucht zuerst gesehen auf VR∙Nerds. VR·Nerds am Werk!

November 24, 2017December 31, 2017

The 9 Best Daydream VR Games You Can Play Right Now

Google Daydream has now been out for a year, and it’s already built up a pretty respectable line-up of mobile VR games, both new and old. The problem is it’s pretty tricky to browse compatible apps on the Android store. We’re hoping that Google offers better options in the near future but, until then, we’ve come up with the six best games on the platform you can download right now.

To play these right now you’ll need a Daydream-compatible phone along with the Daydream View headset, though more phones and headsets will be added over time. Expect this list to grow in the coming months too as new games come out and developers hone in on what makes Daydream special. This certainly isn’t anything to scoff at, though.

Eclipse: Edge of Light

Eclipse was originally destined to arrive on PlayStation VR, but the experience remains incredibly compelling on Daydream. This is a full first-person adventure that is a sheer joy to explore. You crash-land on a mysterious planet and start to uncover the secrets of an ancient civilization, but all is not what it seems.

Eclipse would be great as a standard walking simulator, but it adds in clever puzzles, platforming and makes great use of the Daydream controller for what’s still the best game on the platform.

Virtual-Virtual Reality

Perhaps VR’s most underrated app so far, Virtual-Virtual Reality is a surreal journey through a distant future in which humanity has become dependent on the various realities VR throws us into.

V-VR is one of the most polished and well-written VR apps on any platform, not just Daydream. It’s rollercoaster tour of the future constantly keeps you guessing and sees you through to the end long before you wish the ride was over.

Rez Infinite

Rez is a rare example of a high-end PC game porting over to mobile with very little sacrificed in the process. This is still the same great on-rails shooter you’ve been enjoying for decades now, but now you can take it just about anywhere.

With the new Area X intact, the Daydream version of Rez Infinite is a hugely enjoyable assault on the senses. Don’t miss it.

Lola And The Giant

Climax Studios’ Lola And The Giant may well be one of VR’s most charming adventures. This storybook journey has a young girl team up with a massive rock monster that will melt your heart. You venture into bright worlds, solving brilliant puzzles.

Here’s another game that makes great use of the Daydream controller but also tells a thoughtful story in the process. There’s more wonder here than you’ll find in many other VR apps.

Untethered

The developers of That Dragon, Cancer return with this strange, fascinating episodic game with some of VR’s most interactive and enjoyable environments. Set across two episodes, you follow a strange mystery in a coastal Oregon town.

Simply put, there’s nothing quite like Untethered, and it deserves your attention.

Keep Talking And Nobody Explodes

If you haven’t already played Keep Talking And Nobody Explodes across one of the many headsets it’s already released on, then make sure not to miss it on Daydream. This is one of VR’s most innovative party games, getting one player in the headset to diffuse a bomb by cooperating with others reading from a printable manual. Frantic hilarity ensues.

Mekorama VR

Mekorama is one of those games that already existed before the age of VR, but makes a very nice transition to Daydream without any fundamental changes to its design. You guide a small robot through 50 levels, rotating the world to reveal hidden paths. It’s a beautiful experience and probably the best choice for puzzle fans with a Daydream headset right now.

Earthshape

When a developer like Thomas Was Alone creator Mike Bithell releases a new game you usually hear about it, but EarthShape was a fairly low-key launch. That’s a shame, because this new puzzle is one of the most delightful games on the platform. As an astronaut terraforming the universe, you use the controller to draw lines on a grid that then bounce seeds into goal zones. With each seed you’ll grow a plant on a new planet.

Wands

Fans of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, or any form of fantastic magic, will want to do themselves a favor and pick up Wands. The game first released on Samsung Gear VR, but now on Daydream, it adds support for the headset’s tracked motion controller. Casting spells with the flick of your wrist as you battle other mages in intense duels is a match made in heaven for VR.

Tagged with: Daydream, Games, google, VR

November 22, 2017

Best VR Experiences to Introduce Your Family to Virtual Reality Over Thanksgiving

Image based on photo courtesy Steve Voght (CC BY-SA 2.0)

The turkey is in the oven, the cranberry sauce is in the can, and your VR setup is in the box ready to be shown off to the family at Thanksgiving. Since you’ll be doing a fair bit of VR evangelizing on the big day, an important question remains before you can plug your unwitting relatives into ‘the final computing platform’: what do you show off first?

Assuming you aren’t actually hosting Thanksgiving, undoubtedly the easiest VR systems to lug around would be the selection of mobile VR headsets currently on offer, namely Google Daydream and Gear VR. With a little careful planning though, you can pack up your PS4 console and PSVR, or your entire Vive/Rift/Windows VR system—just make sure the house has adequate space (and electrical outlets!) for room-scale gaming. Unless otherwise requested, you should probably also keep sessions short and simple for VR newcomers.

Here’s a few recommendations for getting Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle Ted, Aunt Rachel and your little cousin Skippy McDingus into VR for the first time:

Gear VR

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Smash Hit (2016): With its constant forward motion and a simple objective (smash the glass), almost anyone can understand Smash Hit. The game’s futuristic setting and great soundtrack also help give off the “woah, I’m in the future” vibe.
Minecraft (2017): Little Skippy will do and learn anything to play Minecraft in VR. Set up a station in the corner, put on a 10-minute timer and get all the Little Skippies taking turns.
Oculus Video: Load up a movie and toss your Uncle Ted in for his own private cinema. Yes, Ted. You can watch *other things* too.
Within: Let’s face it – most 360 video is crap. Within however offers a wide selection of curated content that looks pretty darn good considering both mono and stereoscopic (3D) 360 video still isn’t where it needs to be technically speaking. Still very much worth a gander.

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Mekorama VR (2017): A quiet puzzler for Aunt Gracie, Mekorama VR tasks you with guiding a wibbly little robot pal through a series of 3D puzzles – of course with ever-increasing difficulty.
Bait! (2017): Somebody in your family loves fishing. I’m not even going to make up a pretend name. (also on Gear VR)
LEGO BrickHeadz Builder VR (2017): Ok. So it’s not Minecraft, the delightful little building app comes in second place with the ability to build LEGO structures without the need for clean up.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2017): While pretty thin in the gameplay department, the overall “wow” effect is big with this little Harry Potter Universe game that lets you explore the film’s world and even do a little magic too.

PSVR

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Farpoint (2017): While it’s an intense trip for sure thanks to the immersiveness of holding the PS Aim controller while actually having to locomote across the map, there’s somebody in the group who’ll appreciate the ability to walk distant planets and shoot the ever-living shit out of the native inhabitants.
Allumette (2016): Sit grandma down for a story about a young orphan girl who lives in a fantastical city in the clouds. It’s a tear jerker, so make sure to give gam-gam a big hug from us all.
Fruit Ninja VR (2016): Just like the popular mobile game, Fruit Ninja on PSVR is easy to understand. Fruit goes up. Fruit gets sliced. Have a competition to see who can get the highest score!
PlayStation VR Demo Disc 2 (2017): PSVR’s updated demo disc is jam-packed with upcoming games and crowd favorites. Most are short enough to plug in a person for a quick 10-20 minute play session. Oh, and definitely play Moss.

Rift & Vive (and Windows VR)

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Google Earth VR (2017) – Oculus and SteamVR: The controls may take some explaining, but giving a loved one the opportunity to travel, especially if they aren’t physically able, is going to really be a special moment. Travel the sights and revisit distant places you never thought you’d see again in the flesh.
Space Pirate Trainer (2016) Oculus and SteamVR: Han Solo doesn’t have anything on your Auntie Rachel. While it’s fundamentally just a wave shooter, it’s by far one of the best-looking and feeling out there.
Bigscreen Beta (2016) Oculus and SteamVR: Pop on a video and get your relatives reeling at the future possibility of never having to buy a TV ever again.
Coco VR (2017) – Oculus: Pixar’s first VR experience is absolutely astounding. Ideal for the first timer of any age, the experience can last anywhere from 15-30 minutes per player. check out our hands-on here. Vive and Windows VR headset users have had varying levels of success with Revive, so it’s definitely worth a poke.
The Lab (2016) SteamVR: Valve’s collection of mini-games and photogrammetry scenes are top notch, and warrant more than just a few minutes of you time to explore ever single bit of what’s on offer. Kids and adults a like will love the Longbow, Core Calibration, and Xortex.

Don’t Miss

Superhot VR (2017): PSVR, Rift, SteamVR
Job Simulator (2016): PSVR, Rift, SteamVR
Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes (2016): Daydream, Gear VR, PSVR, Rift, SteamVR
EVE: Valkyrie (2016): PSVR, Rift, SteamVR

The post Best VR Experiences to Introduce Your Family to Virtual Reality Over Thanksgiving appeared first on Road to VR.

November 21, 2017

Rez Infinite: Kultspiel für Google Daydream erschienen

Der Polygon-Shooter Rez Infinite hat seit seinem ersten Auftritt auf der Dreamcast im Jahr 2001 kaum etwas von seiner Faszination verloren. Die VR-Umsetzung erschien mit einem zusätzlichen Modus zum Launch der PSVR und gilt trotz des Alters des Originals bis heute als eine der besten Erfahrungen. Nun sind Besitzer einer Daydream-Halterung von Google dran und dürfen sich auf eine einzigartige Reise in die abschaltwillige AI begeben.

Rez Infinite für Daydream ist da

Bereits im August kündigte der Entwickler Enhance Games an, dass das Kultspiel Rez Infinite noch dieses Jahr für die Google Daydream erscheint. Nun, viel ist vom Jahr nicht mehr übrig, aber das Studio hat Wort gehalten: Der VR-Titel ist ab sofort für Google Daydream-Halterung erhältlich. Der Download ist kostenlos, spielbar ist dann aber nur das erste Kapitel. Für 10 Euro lässt sich das ganze Spiel freischalten – ein Schnäppchen gegenüber den anderen Versionen, die zwischen 25 Euro auf Steam und 30 Euro für die PSVR kosten. Neben den fünf Original-Stages der Dreamcast-Version enthält die VR-Fassung auch die neue Area X, in der sich der Spieler frei bewegen kann.

In Rez Infinite seit ihr als Hacker unterwegs, um die künstliche Intelligenz davon abzuhalten, sich selbst abzuschalten. Das dem Maler Wassily Kandinsky gewidmete Spiel überzeugt vor allem durch die treibende Musik und die Symbiose aus Klängen und pulsierender Grafik. In Japan durften Besucher das Spiel in einem 4K-Dome live bewundern und mit dem VR-Spieler in die technoide Welt von Rez Infinite eintauchen. In Deutschland führten wir VR-Nerds ein ähnliches Experriment in Lübeck mit Lucid Trips durch und waren von der passiven Erfahrung ebenfalls recht angetan.

Der Beitrag Rez Infinite: Kultspiel für Google Daydream erschienen zuerst gesehen auf VR∙Nerds. VR·Nerds am Werk!

November 1, 2017

HTC may reveal its China-bound stand-alone VR headset later this month

Reports suggest that HTC may officially launch its stand-alone VR headset for China this month during its developer conference in Beijing. That could also mean HTC's Android-based version for the United States nears.

The post HTC may reveal its China-bound stand-alone VR headset later this month appeared first on Digital Trends.

October 29, 2017

Google’s AR/VR Chief on Ambient Computing, Conversational Interfaces, & AR/VR Strategy

At Google’s big October 4th press conference, the company announced a new Pixel 2 phone and a range of new ambient computing devices powered by AI-enabled conversational interfaces including new Google Mini and Max speakers, Google Clips camera, and wireless Pixel Buds. The Daydream View mobile VR headset received a major upgrade with vastly improved comfort and weight distribution, reduced light leakage, better heat management, cutting-edge aspherical fresnel lenses with larger acuity and sweet spot, as well as an increased field of view of 10-15 degrees more than the previous version. It’s actually a huge upgrade and improvement, but VR itself only received a few brief moments during the 2-hour long keynote where Google was explaining their AI-first design philosophy for their latest ambient computing hardware releases.

LISTEN TO THE VOICES OF VR PODCAST

I had a chance to sit down with Clay Bavor, Google’s Vice President for Augmented and Virtual Reality to talk about their latest AR & VR announcements as well as how Google’s ambient computing and AI-driven conversational interfaces fit into their larger immersive computing strategy.

YouTube VR is on the bleeding edge of Google’s VR strategy, and their VR180 livestream camera can broadcast a 2D version that translates well to watching on a flat screen, but also provides a more immersive stereoscopic 3D VR version for mobile VR headsets.

Google retired the Tango brand with the announcement of ARCore on August 29th, and Bavor explains that they had to come up with a number of algorithmic and technological innovations in order to standardize the AR calibration process across all of their OEM manufacturers.

Finally, Bavor reiterates that WebVR and WebAR are a crucial part of the Google’s immersive computing strategy. Google showed their dedication to the open web by releasing experimental WebAR browsers for ARCore and ARKit so that web developers can develop cross-compatible AR apps. Bavor sees a future that evolves beyond the existing self-contained app model, but this requires a number of technological innovations including contextually-aware ambient computing powered by AI as well as their Virtual Positioning System announced at Google I/O. There are also a number of other productivity applications that Google is continuing to experiment with, but the screen resolution still needs to improve from having a visual acuity measurement of 20/100 to being something closer to 20/40.

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Music: Fatality & Summer Trip

The post Google’s AR/VR Chief on Ambient Computing, Conversational Interfaces, & AR/VR Strategy appeared first on Road to VR.

October 25, 2017

Chromecast For Daydream Leaps Ahead Of Oculus Support

Earlier this year Oculus announced support for Chromecast around the same time Google’s Daydream revealed it too would be adding the feature.

In case you are unfamiliar, Chromecast is a feature from Google included in many recent televisions that makes it easy to broadcast to the TV from phones, apps and computers. If your TV doesn’t have the feature it can be added with a $35 dongle you plug into an open HDMI port. With VR, this feature can turn solitary experiences into social ones by letting people outside VR see into the virtual world. And just like mobile VR itself, it is very convenient because the feature works wirelessly.

It’s taken a while for me to get around to testing casting for both Gear VR and Daydream View, but it turns out the Oculus implementation is lacking while the Daydream version of the feature is practically a must-have addition to the platform. This is to be expected given it is Google’s technology, but the difference also highlights a potential limit to how far Facebook can take VR while building on another company’s platform.

As an example of this gap, this week I wanted to play the role-playing game The Well with my kid. This is a beautiful Oculus-funded title that perfectly represents the depth of Facebook’s investments into quality content. It also seemed like a great game to enjoy this way. My daughter could tell me where to go in the virtual world and advise me how to fight the many creatures I’d encounter, and I could share the headset with her for a few brief glimpses into that world. Unfortunately, the moment I tried turning the feature on I discovered doing this deactivated the audio in the game not just on the TV but in VR as well. Without sound, I felt the game was essentially unplayable and it quickly ended my plans.

This was in stark contrast to Daydream’s support for casting. With Daydream, casting your view to the TV can be activated from inside VR. With Oculus, the feature needs to be activated before placing the phone inside the Gear VR headset. With Daydream, the entire television screen is filled with a view of the virtual world. With Oculus, the screen is shown as a small square in the center of the screen with large black bars on either side. In addition, Oculus shows a distracting red dot inside VR whenever casting is activated. My Wi-Fi at home is not robust and I noted occasional frame loss on the TV when using Daydream to cast my view, but this was only a minor note with an otherwise extremely convenient way to share a VR experience. We played Virtual Virtual Reality with my wife sitting on the couch wearing the new Daydream View. The Pixel 2’s robust speakers blasting out sound gave everyone in the room a small sense of the immersion she felt, and let us all enjoy in the experience together. Because her ears weren’t blocked by earbuds we were able to keep talking to her throughout. It was some of the most fun we’ve had in VR together and it was made possible by the convenience and quality of Chromecast streaming.

I reached out to Oculus for details on whether they plan to fix the audio problems and got an interesting reply from Oculus CTO John Carmack.

We can do better on Go with OS changes.

— John Carmack (@ID_AA_Carmack) October 25, 2017

Google of course is the company behind Android, Chromecast and Daydream View and that position could give it the control required to optimize the experience. On the flip side of that, though, this might be a sign of Oculus brushing up against the limits of what it can do building on top of another company’s technology. As suggested by Carmack’s reply, the forthcoming $200 standalone Oculus Go might represent Facebook’s chance to exert that same control and optimize the VR experience much further.

As it stands today, the Chromecast feature is such a great addition to Daydream I’d say it is a must-have add-on if you are looking at buying the new Daydream View headset for one of your phones.

Tagged with: Daydream, oculus

October 20, 2017

Google Daydream View (2017) review

Got a Samsung Galaxy Note 8? LG V30? Pixel 2 XL? Interested in virtual reality? Google’s Daydream View (2017) headset lets you quickly jump right in to play games, watch 360-degree content, and more. It costs a little more, but boasts considerably better build quality than its predecessor.

The post Google Daydream View (2017) review appeared first on Digital Trends.

October 17, 2017

Felix & Paul Studios Launch The Confessional VR Comedy Series on Daydream

Award-winning creator of cinematic virtual reality (VR) experiences Felix & Paul Studios has announced the launch of a new comedy series called The Confessional, available on Google Daydream and YouTube.

Created in collaboration with comedy festival Just for Laughs, The Confessional is a seven-episode series featuring comedians and YouTube stars, including Lilly Singh, Trevor Noah, Judd Apatow, Howie Mandel, Jim Norton, Moshe Kasher, Natasha Leggero, and Grace Helbig & Mamrie Hart.

The Confessional Lilly Singh

Filmed over the course of 2017’s Just For Laughs comedy festival in Montreal, the series puts viewers in a confessional booth, face to face with one or two comedians, who then ‘confess’ their most awkward, humorous and embarrassing stories.

“When we approached Just For Laughs about creating VR’s first premium short comedy show, it was amazing how quickly we realised we had a shared creative vision – to create a new form of comedic experience by fusing VR’s capacity to create a strong sense of proximity and intimacy between viewer and talent, with the extraordinary quality of presence and performance of the best comedians. Think of ‘Comedians in Cars’ or ‘Between Two Ferns’, but in the highly immersive, intimate and personal medium of virtual reality where the viewer essentially becomes the host,” said Paul Raphaël, Co-Founder and Creative Director of Felix & Paul Studios in a statement. “We are thrilled to launch our first VR experiences on the Daydream platform and look forward to future collaborations with both Google and Just For Laughs.”

“We’re really excited to be partnering closely with talented creators like Felix & Paul Studios and Just For Laughs to bring innovative VR content to YouTube and Daydream. The Confessional series pairs their VR expertise with popular comedians like Lilly Singh and Trevor Noah, resulting in a fun, compelling new VR format for comedy. It’s an opportunity for viewers to connect with their favorite comedians like never before,” said Julia Hamilton Trost, Business Development Manager, Daydream.

Available to stream for free on YouTube, and YouTube VR on Daydream, you can check out the trailer and first episode featuring Lilly Singh below. For any further updates from Felix & Paul Studios, keep reading VRFocus.

October 5, 2017

Hands-on: Google’s New Daydream View Headset With Pixel 2 & Pixel 2 XL

Google today announced the next iteration of their Daydream View headset for virtual reality on Android. We highlighted the changes and improvements in our announcement article, but how does it handle in practice?

After watching Google unveiled a range of new products during an event in San Francisco today, I got to check out the new 2017 Google Daydream View headset running with both the Pixel 2 and the Pixel 2 XL. For background you may be interested to read our 2016 Daydream View review.

Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL Differences

Off the bat, let’s quickly talk about the phones—while they’re mostly identical on the inside, the Pixel 2 XL has a higher resolution display and a larger screen (6″ @ 2,880 × 1,440 vs. 5″ @ 1,920 × 1,080). The result is a sharper image and a larger field of view when used for virtual reality. The Pixel 2 is fully capable of Daydream VR, but will sacrifice some image clarity and field of view. Oh, and yes, the original Pixel and Pixel XL will work fine in the new Daydream View, and the new Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL will work fine in the old Daydream View (2016).

Lenses

Onto the headset. It may look largely the same, but there’s actually some significant changes to the new Daydream View (note that Google isn’t calling this the ‘Daydream View 2’). The most obvious is the new lenses which are larger and have moved to a Fresnel design.

The result is a noticeably larger field of view (Google says by about 10 degrees over the original Daydream headset) which compares more favorably to Gear VR. Fresnel lenses have the potential to introduce ‘god rays’, an unsightly visual artifact that’s particularly noticeable during high contrast scenes (like white text on a black background). In my time with the new Daydream View I didn’t notice any that stood out, but they will be more or less pronounced depending upon the content, so I’ll need more time to do a deeper analysis. Usually Fresnel lenses are used to increase both field of view and the so-called ‘sweet spot’ (the area where the image through the lens is the sharpest); I’ll also need to play more to get a good feel for how large the sweet spot is, but, at least in my 15 minutes with the headset so far, I didn’t have any trouble finding a sharp view.

Display

Looking through the lenses, the Pixel 2 XL has an effectively identical PPI as the original Pixel XL (538 PPI vs. 534 PPI), so don’t expect to see a sharper image. The screen door effect (the spaces between the pixels) is somewhat visible, but more distracting than that was the somewhat poor mura correction (pixel-to-pixel brightness & color consistency). On the original Pixel XL, the mura correction was decent and not too distracting, but on the Pixel XL 2 the mura seemed to stand out, causing the appearance of a faint linen-like texture to cover the scene. Here’s an idea of what that looks like:

Click to enlarge. Mura is similar but distinct from screen door effect. This approximated example shows what poor mura correction can look like (left) compared to good mura correction (right).

The problem with mura is that, like the screen door effect, it’s ‘stuck’ to your view, which means it moves when you move your head, which impacts immersion. I was surprised to see what seemed like a reduction in mura correction on the Pixel 2 XL (compared to the Pixel XL); I’ll need to double check to against a fresh device out of the box to make sure it wasn’t just a one-off issue (hopefully I’ll have a chance to do so soon).

Ergonomics

Then there’s the ergonomic changes. The obvious one is the new top strap which extends from the top of the lens enclosure, over the top of your head, and connects to the horizontal strap. This helps distribute the weight from your face to the back of your head. If you don’t like the top strap, it’s easy to remove. The facial interface (foam that touches your faces) has gotten beefed up a bit as well.

I could definitely feel the top strap taking some weight off of my face, and between that and the new foam, I hope the long-term comfort issue I had with the first Daydream View (too much pressure on the cheeks) will be taken care of, but with just 15 minutes in the headset I can’t yet say.

Phones Run Better in Daydream (yes, really)

Another major change is the heat sink that’s smartly built into the headset’s front flap. Google says this improves the phone’s thermal dissipation so much that it runs better inside that headset than out of it. That means the phone can maintain peak VR performance without having to dial back its power in order to prevent overheating. And to be clear, all Daydream ready phones, not just the Pixel phones, benefit from this.

The slit in the top of the front flat is the opening to the heat sink | Photo by Road to VR

Obviously I haven’t been able to test this for long term use, but Google claims they’ve tested the thermals in a range of conditions and have found that, with the new heat sink, the phones continue to operate at optimal performance even while continuously running the most demanding VR apps. They promise that users will no longer be bothered by reduced performance due to heat (though I’m going to assume that’s only true as long as developers follow best practices for making sure their apps don’t push the phone too aggressively).

Daydream View with the foam padding removed | Photo by Road to VR

Aside from these changes, it’s pretty much Daydream as usual—the software experience doesn’t really change (except perhaps running with more consistent performance thanks to the heat sink). You can also still pull the facial interface out of the headset and hand or machine wash it to keep it clean.

And while the design is pretty similar, the new material feels a little more refined and mature; Google definitely gets props for the external fit and finish of the headset, which looks and feels abundantly more welcoming than the ‘gadgety’ style of Gear VR (granted, the external looks don’t matter much when you’re inside!).

– – — – –

So when can you get your hands on one? Good question. The only release date Google has provided so far for the 2017 Daydream View is “later this year.” Though they have announced the price: $100, which is $20 more than the original.

The post Hands-on: Google’s New Daydream View Headset With Pixel 2 & Pixel 2 XL appeared first on Road to VR.