VR Headsets: State of Art

Hi! Happy Sunday!

Samsung Gear VR, Tigger Model

Okay, Welcome! and Well met! to the Wonderful Tech Emporium. I'm your editor, curator and host, Mybrid Wonderful.

Today: VR Headsets. Perhaps you've seen Facebook posts about Google Cardboard, a VR headset,  or read articles about  VR and are curious.

This week I upgraded my HTC One phone, an excellent phone I might add, to the new Samsung S7.

Costco was throwing in a $99 Gear VR Headset for free with the purchase of a Samsung S7. The phone was selected on other merits but when it came time to pick the distributor then we chose Costco because of not only a free VR Headset, but also a free external battery and free 64GB Micro SSD card. Yummy!

Question: Am I missing out? 

Answer: No. Not yet.

1. The good stuff is not out on the market yet, but is coming available this year in 2016. Oculus Rift comes out in April and Sony Playstation's VR comes out in October.
2. Phone VR Headsets are gimmicks. Google Cardboard is $7. It will do the same thing as the $99 Gear VR assuming your phone has the 3D chops. The only difference is paper vs. plastic. Technically the VR Gear can play games with any Bluetooth game pad tethered to your phone. Technically. The reality is the selection of games suck as well as the fact phones do not have enough CPU horse power to play any game of significance. If you look at the minimum graphics card and horse power the Oculus Rift is requiring then you realize that your phone's graphics are nowhere near adequate enough. So, being able to "play games" on the phone is a non-starter: no selection and insufficient graphics. 
3. Phone VR Headsets are for watching movies. I will discuss this further below.
4. Phone VR Headsets overheat the phone. All the graphics required to render 3D stereoscopic images utilizes 100% of the phone processing all the time. This causes the phone to get hot. My phone was every bit as hot after watching a TV show for 30 minutes the same as if the phone is charged using a 2 Amp power source. Heat kills electronics. Unless you want to kill your phone, watching movies on your headset should be a novelty. 

Question: What are people using VR Head sets for?

Answer: Watching movies.

Currently the only VR Headsets on the mass market are phone headsets such as Google Cardboard and Gear VR for Samsung. Primarily these headsets are for watching 2D video in a 3D setting.

Why? A couple of reasons.

1. First, larger view. You really do getting a bigger aspect relative your TV at home. But at a price. That price being the quality of the video itself decreases significantly. The video is very pixelated. 
2. Second, privacy. I can see VR Headsets being used on airplanes. I may even take mine on my next flight. Realize the battery in the phone will probably be only good for 3-4 hours of video. The 3-4 hours will easily fit on the SSD card. If you bring a spare battery then you can double your viewing time. One advantage the Gear has over Google Cardboad is an external micro-USB port on the headset for charging the phone while viewing.

Question: What's The Future Hold?

Answer: It's going to be awhile.

The biggest obstacle to 3D will be content, not technology. I've been taking in 3D movies for over a decade now and watch them every chance I get. Guess what? The 3D content still doesn't have any compelling difference with 2D movies.

Given the state of 3D entertainment is going nowhere fast and  realize 3D games are much more difficult than 3D movies then 3D content is going to take awhile.  Even if the industry figures out 3D content the content will be very expensive early on.

Business Opportunity

There is a real business opportunity with 3D phone calls.

Microsoft's soon to be released Holoportation is a 3D phone call environment. Holoporation is what Microsoft is calling their 3D phone calls. Two groups of people on different sides of the planet can converse in immersive 3D.

Now that's a money maker. Figure to charge at least $300/hour per call.

The reason the business will be necessary is the amount of set-up and technical expertise required to get the 3D environment just so. As with any photography and video the expertise for lighting, sound and stage will require real know-how.

Of course you need virtual locations on both ends. But, given you partner up with franchises throughout all the world's major cities and you'll have something to sell at weddings, funerals, baby showers, etc.

3D phone calls. That's a winner.

Cheers!
-Mybrid