The other day we’ve told you that Samsung may be working on its VR headset. That apparently was more than a rumor with Engadget folks cornering someone from the team developing this device.
According to their sources, the Korean giant has teamed-up with Oculus to make this happen. As part of the deal, Oculus will get Sammy’s latest hi-res OLED displays to use in its VR glasses while Samsung will get Oculus’ technology, including the early access to the mobile SDK and UI design expertise.
Unlike the Oculus Rift, Samsung’s product won’t have its own screens, and will rather rely on a smartphone to display content in front of users’ eyes. It’s worth adding this isn’t new idea but this time it’s coming from a big company that could put it in hands of millions of users around the world. Samsung wants to be the first company with this sort of product on the market and in that sense it’s better off teaming-up with existing player rather than making its own product and developing its own technology from the scratch.
The developer units Engadget sources got to play with rely on Samsung Galaxy S4, though we’re sure the unit that will eventually hit the stores will support Galaxy S5 as well as newer models from the range. The smartphone is used to handle all the processing required while motion-tracking is offloaded to VR headset’s built-in sensors.
It is said that even this in-the-works unit delivers “shockingly good experience,” allowing for immersive gaming experience when a game controller is added to the mix. Likewise, the media playback is also described as awesome.
The headset supports both voice and motion controls, while also sporting standard Android buttons like Home, Back and Recent Apps. It’s unclear how the final UI will look like; nodding for selecting certain option isn’t a strong contender for the final software, though.
Chances are Oculus’ partnership with Samsung was made long before it was acquired by Facebook. We’re not sure how that changes anything, and we’ll rather have to wait and see what comes out of this. Meanwhile, we’re eager to know – who wants to buy Samsung’s VR headset?