Samsung’s Gear VR is well-known for offering a mobile virtual reality experience at an affordable price, as long as you’ve already got a compatible phone, anyway. With Samsung’s upcoming VR headset, though, you won’t need to worry about having a compatible handset.
Samsung is working on a standalone virtual reality headset that doesn’t require a smartphone. Injong Rhee, Samsung’s head of R&D for software and services, teased the device during Samsung’s developer conference today. “We are working on wireless and dedicated VR devices, not necessarily working with out mobile phone,” he said.
Samsung’s new VR headset is expected to include positional tracking, a feature that high-end VR headsets like the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive already offer. Samsung is also working on hand and gesture tracking for VR headsets, but Rhee said that it could be a few years before we see those features in Samsung’s VR devices.
While this generation of VR is still young, Samsung is one of the companies that’s shown a great interest in the technology. Gear VR is a popular headset for offering a good virtual reality experience for $100, and now Samsung is working on an improved VR headset to build upon the momentum that it’s already got going in the VR game. It remains to be seen when Samsung’s next VR headset might debut, but with devices like the Vive, Rift, and Google’s rumored VR headset, it’ll be interesting to see what new hardware Samsung cooks up to compete in the VR game.