Is Google taking VR headsets to the next level?
Rumors are rife that Google is developing the first standalone Virtual Reality headset. But is it truly going to be a piece of VR technology, or is Google blurring the line between VR and AR?
Rumors are rife that Google is developing the first standalone Virtual Reality headset. But is it truly going to be a piece of VR technology, or is Google blurring the line between VR and AR?
Google is making fresh inroads into the increasingly crowded field of virtual reality (VR) headsets.
But unlike most other offerings now on the market 鈥� or soon coming to market 鈥� Google is developing a standalone product, without the need for a smartphone or a high-end PC to power it.
The move represents the next step in Google鈥檚 VR evolution, taking it beyond the $20 cardboard offerings that have lately been shipping out to customers, but some believe it moves the company further into the realm of augmented reality (AR), in which computer generated imagery is integrated with real-world imagery.
鈥淕oogle鈥檚 planned stand-alone headset appears to aim for a middle ground: a quality experience not tethered to an expensive PC or game console,鈥� write Jack Nicas and Alistair Barr in The Wall Street Journal, where this story was first reported. 鈥淪till, it is unclear whether many consumers are willing to pony up for another entertainment gadget.鈥�
Virtual reality聽is still a nascent technology. Alongside Google Cardboard, there is Samsung鈥檚 Gear VR, both of which require smartphones. Higher end headsets, such as the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, plug into expensive PCs.
Current rumors describe a truly all-in-one device that would simplify the VR experience.
鈥淭he headset will include a screen, high-powered processors and outward-facing cameras,鈥� reads the report. 鈥淕oogle plans to use chips from startup Movidius Inc. that use the cameras鈥� feeds to track the motion of the user鈥檚 head.鈥�
But this mention of outward-facing cameras has some people questioning whether Google鈥檚 new technology is, in fact, VR, or whether it may be something of a hybrid.
鈥淎lthough the [Wall Street] Journal casts this rumored device as a VR headset,鈥� writes Jared Newman in PC World, 鈥渢he mention of outward-facing cameras and motion tracking sounds like it might try to straddle the line between virtual and augmented reality.
鈥淭o achieve both, it鈥檚 unlikely that users will have all the necessary technology built into their smartphones, which may explain why Google is considering a standalone headset instead.鈥�
Whereas virtual reality聽involves an entirely simulated environment, augmented reality integrates聽views of the real world with other layers of computer-generated information, such as video, graphics, or sound.
In other words, rather than replacing the real world with a virtual one (VR), augmented reality聽works by 鈥渆nhancing one鈥檚 current perception of reality,鈥� as Mashable explains.
But wearable AR is itself a technology only just beginning to emerge, with various obstacles yet to overcome, as Movidius CEO Remi El-Ouazzane wrote in Wired:
Certainly Google, or Alphabet Inc., as the parent company has renamed itself, believes there is a future in this realm, making its initial foray into AR with its recently discontinued Google Glass and naming its first VR chief, Clay Bavor, just last month. And they are far from alone.
鈥淲hat鈥檚 pretty clearly evolving here is a platform war,鈥� said Macquarie Capital analyst Ben Schachter. 鈥淪ome of the smartest people at Google are moving into鈥� virtual reality.聽