Like most people I’ve had several defining moments in my use of technology when you try something new and it clicks in an amazing new way.
Whether it was the first time I slid the mat under the door and used the letter opener to get the key in Zork, the first time I auto-summed a column of numbers in VisiCalc, the first time I used the Xbox Kinect to control a game with my voice and motions, or the first time I used the stargazing app on the original iPad, the hair on the back of your neck stands up as you recognize a whole new area of the magic that can be opened up by technology.
And this past Saturday night I got to try the Samsung Gear VR for the first time, and once again the hair stood up on the back of my neck… it was amazing (thanks Schief!).
The Samsung Gear VR (Virtual Reality) is a $100 headset that you use to hold an Android phone, in the Gear’s case the latest Samsung Galaxy Note and Galaxy Edge phones, to provide an immersive, 3D world for games, movies, exploration and more.
You place your compatible Samsung phone in the Gear VR and it then uses the VR software you download onto your phone in conjunction with controls and sensors built in to the Gear VR. The lenses in the Gear VR turn the images being displayed on the phone into 3D images and the sensors let you look all around you in whatever image, game or movie you are using.
And the results are absolutely amazing.
Everywhere you turn you head you experience the scene or setting as if you are actually there; turn your head to the left, the right, up, down, look behind you and you are fully enveloped in the scene or app.
We got to experience two “apps”, the first being a 3D virtual landscape straight out of a SciFi game and the second a live action movie putting us on a surfboard, in the middle of a breaking tube-ride in Tahiti.
It was the surfing one that really hit me. There we were on a cold, dark, rainy night in Washington and I was transported to the warmth, sun and exhilaration of being on a surfboard in Tahiti. I didn’t want it to stop, I didn’t want to leave, I wanted to stay in sunny Tahiti.
Here is a YouTube video of the making of the Tahiti surfing video but trust me, this doesn’t do it justice. I almost don’t want to include the link here because until you experience these things in 3D VR, you won’t get it.
I can only imagine coming home from work after slogging through a long, nasty commute, putting on a VR headset, and spending 20-30 minutes in a sunny, happy place to change your perspective on life.
While it’s clear we’re still in the early days of VR and AR (Augmented Reality) , these first experiences are beautiful and breathtaking.
All I can say is that if you own one of these compatible phones then run, don’t walk, to you’re nearest on-line or brick & mortar retailer and buy one. And if you don’t own one, ask your friends that do if they have the Gear VR. But on second thought, you won’t have to ask, they’re going to be telling everyone they know how cool this is.
For a more complete review see this article on CNet.
clarkb... 