Back at Google I/O, the Mountainview-based Google introduced its first ideas for a VR-ready future in a way it never had before. In years past Google launched its Google Cardboard initiative to provide VR content for everyone, everywhere on almost any smartphone. While this is a great idea it ultimately provides a sub-par VR experience on most devices, mainly because mobile devices are built more for accessibility and longevity rather than the power that VR needs to be truly effective. Google’s Daydream initiative is the company’s latest take on the VR experience, and it shows a significantly more mature look at VR development and ideals.
Launching as the first Daydream-ready phone, Google’s new Pixel and Pixel XL phones will showcase the Google Daydream experience. Utilizing the company’s in-house headset, called Daydream View, or in the near future any supported third-party headset available, Daydream will automatically launch on a supported device and provide a dedicated interface for interacting with the VR world, and the VR content you’ve already got installed on your phone, straight from the headset. Google unveiled a ton of new content built just for Daydream as well, and it all starts with the blockbuster Fall 2016 movie, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. J.K. Rowling’s newest fantasy world will be available for Daydream users, and will offer a brand new way to interact with the VR world that mobile users simply have never been able to effectively do.
Utilizing the included controller with the Daydream View headset, users will be able to do more than just look around in the VR world or press the single button on the side of their headset. This new content extends to lots of other partners as well, including Netflix and YouTube. These content providers and creators will be providing brand new VR content, as well as content that’s already accessible on current generation headsets, to deliver a great VR experience on your mobile device. Google is showing that it’s serious about VR, including providing a full-featured VR headset for just $79, and is providing an initiative with standards that OEMs need to meet in order to get on the Daydream Ready list of devices.
