Samsung Gear VR and How it Relates to VR Industry
Samsung Electronics, along with a company called Oculus, developed a mobile headset based on the virtual reality technology and named it ‘Samsung Gear VR’. It was launched in the market in the year 2015 on November 27. It works with all the phones starting from Samsung Galaxy Note 5. With the headset, these phones work like a processor and display while the headset works as a controller. It contains the virtual reality based high view field, an inertial measurement device for capturing the movements. It connects to the handsets using a micro-USB connector and cable. The inertial measurement is a lot better and accurate in the gear VR in comparison to the inbuilt such devices in many devices like iPhones (Samsung.com).
If somebody has to explain the look and feel of Gear VR, it can be described as ski goggles in oversize. The headset has a smart sensor which will turn the apparatus on as soon as the user puts it on their face. More sensors are present in the device like accelerometer and compass which tracks the movements and other motions to create a virtual reality experience. It has the regular control buttons for volume, focus, back etc. including a touchpad (Rossman 1).
The industry of Virtual Reality (VR) is becoming main-stream with estimated size of over $7 billion by the end of 2018. This technology is being used in aviation, military forces, movie industry, engineering, 3D printing, gaming and some more applications. Many companies are targeting this emerging and promising industry with various verticals. Samsung and Sony are two of the main companies who are targeting the mobile and gaming vertical under virtual reality. Thus, the invention and launch of Samsung Gear is a prominent and declarative step by Samsung in the roadmap of working in VR industry and make a mark (Peasgood 5).
Works Cited
Peasgood, S. “Virtual Reality: A Virtual Goldmine for Investors.” Nov. 2014. Sophic Capital Whitepaper.
Rossman, J. “Virtual Reality? Samsung Gear VR looks pretty real to me.” Dec. 2014. The Dallas Morning News.
Samsung. “Gearwear – Redefine what a phone can do.” May. 2016. Samsung.com.
