Samsung Gear VR wearable officially unveiled at IFA Berlin
Samsung has met expectations by announcing a virtual reality headset for their Gear lineup. The Samsung Gear VR is said to deliver a Galaxy experience unlike what we’ve ever seen before, but really it’s just an Oculus Rift that uses your Samsung Galaxy Note 4 as the display and driving force behind all the virtual reality experiences coming our way.
The Samsung Gear VR benefits from the Galaxy Note 4’s Super AMOLED display. The device’s ability to turn pixels on and off in miliseconds allows smooth motion and action without any ghosting or blur. And, of course, the 2560 x 1440 resolution should make it one of the most eye-popping VR experiences on the market.
Samsung and Oculus Rift tag-teamed this thing together, surprisingly enough, so you can get the best of Oculus’ VR expertise while taking advantage of the best of Samsung’s hardware. One of the first experiences you’ll be treated to with Samsung Gear VR is a virtual movie theater — turn your head behind you and you’ll see a bunch of empty seats, or look straight ahead to see a film playing on the big screen as if you were at the theater yourself.
Samsung Gear VR features a 96-degree field of view, has focus controls for catering to both nearsighted and farsighted people, a 16GB microSD card loaded with 360-degree videos and movie trailers and more. Here’s a list of exclusive content you’ll be able to enjoy from the new dimension should you decide to splurge on one:
- Step inside Tony Starks’ Lab inside the Avengers’ Tower experience
- IMAX samples of Hollywood films and documentaries
- DreamWorks VR Characters
- Pacific Rim Jaeger Pilot
- Cirque Du Soleil’s Zarkana filmed in 360-degree fashion for Samsung Gear VR
- Music videos from Vevo that can be viewed within the virtual movie theater
- Protocol Zero game from DENA makes you kick*** infiltrator with Sam Fisher-like thermal and night vision goggles
Samsung wasn’t interested on giving any information on release date and pricing for the Gear V$, only mentioning “later this year” as its launch window. They did confirm that it’d be available from their online channel and directly through select carriers, though, so there should be no issue getting your hands on one whenever it does launch. Would you forego an Oculus Rift or another VR product for this? Let us know in the comments below!