While much of the attention at this year's E3 will be on the latest wave of upcoming games, there will be an equally intriguing showing from a number of VR companies this year. To put it another way, while almost all eyes will be on the likes of Halo 5 and Uncharted 4, a healthy contingent of gamers will be diving headfirst into the Oculus Rift.
As we've said before, the future is only getting brighter for VR and the Oculus team, as the recent acquisition by Facebook has put the company in a position to make some real changes. One of those changes, as we have just recently learned, apparently includes a new VR headset that, instead of interfacing with a computer or game console, actually works with your phone.
While details are still fairly slim, Engadget reports that Oculus is working with Samsung to develop a VR headset that uses a person's mobile phone as an interactive space. In essence, this would be a more approachable form of VR focused on the mobile experience.
Surprisingly, we may see this Samsung-developed headset before we see a final version of the Oculus Rift, as Samsung is apparently more concerned with being first to market than delivering a perfect experience. Right now, they have dev kits out in the wild that use the Galaxy S4, but the hope is to use whatever is the latest and greatest device on the market. Again, specifics are a little unclear but it sounds like the phone plugs into the headset and in turn becomes the VR screen.
While some might cry foul of Oculus partnering up with Samsung, the relationship is reportedly mutually beneficial. Oculus will provide Samsung with the software needed to make their headset work, and Samsung will provide Oculus with unfettered access to their new OLED screens. So, although the Samsung mobile phone VR headset might be lacking, the Oculus Rift will become even better thanks to this partnership.
There's still no release date for the Samsung-developed device, but the company has dev kits out in the wild and, again, they hope to be the first to market. We've said it before and we'll say it again: the virtual eality headset market is only going to continue to heat up, and we can't wait to see what the future holds.
Are you intrigued by the idea of a VR headset that interfaces with your phone? What are you more excited to see: Oculus Rift or Project Morpheus?
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Source: Engadget