Ian
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- Feb 23, 2002
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Becky upgraded her phone a few days ago to the Samsung S7, so I went straight out and bought the Gear VR so I could have a dabble with the Oculus VR software 
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I've used the low cost Google Cardboard VR headsets many times before, but the Samsung Gear VR is a leap ahead in terms of head tracking and usability. There's a trackpad on the site so that you can interact with whatever is on screen, plus an intertial system that is much more responsive and accurate than the one on most smartphones. £80 seems pretty fair (although not cheap) for the improvements it brings.
I was really surprised at how good it is. The are a few demos in the Oculus app which really show off how good the head tracking is. Being dropped in the middle of the jungle to look around at dinosaurs behind you is quite surreal - but more importantly it's quite believable as the image syncs extremely well with head movement. There are some big improvements to be had with the resolution, as even though the S7 has a great pixel density, it's easy to see individual pixels when you're not immersed. Another draw back is that there is no interpupillary distance calibration (certainly none in the hardware, and I couldn't find any in the software) - this wasn't a problem for me, but made it less comfortable for Becky.
If you've got an S6/S7, I'd really consider trying one of these out. I was pretty sceptical about how well VR would succeed with current technology, (i.e. 3DTV useage) - but I really do think VR is going to be huge over the coming years.
. I've used the low cost Google Cardboard VR headsets many times before, but the Samsung Gear VR is a leap ahead in terms of head tracking and usability. There's a trackpad on the site so that you can interact with whatever is on screen, plus an intertial system that is much more responsive and accurate than the one on most smartphones. £80 seems pretty fair (although not cheap) for the improvements it brings.
I was really surprised at how good it is. The are a few demos in the Oculus app which really show off how good the head tracking is. Being dropped in the middle of the jungle to look around at dinosaurs behind you is quite surreal - but more importantly it's quite believable as the image syncs extremely well with head movement. There are some big improvements to be had with the resolution, as even though the S7 has a great pixel density, it's easy to see individual pixels when you're not immersed. Another draw back is that there is no interpupillary distance calibration (certainly none in the hardware, and I couldn't find any in the software) - this wasn't a problem for me, but made it less comfortable for Becky.
If you've got an S6/S7, I'd really consider trying one of these out. I was pretty sceptical about how well VR would succeed with current technology, (i.e. 3DTV useage) - but I really do think VR is going to be huge over the coming years.
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