VIRTUAL REALITY A STEAL WITH DAYDREAM VIEW
But there’s one catch — you need a Google Pixel phone to use it
As the virtual reality market continues to grow — expected to hit $500 million in 2017 in Canada alone — more companies are experimenting with various offerings in multiple pricing tiers.
At the top, there are premium units such as the HTC Vive or Oculus Rift that will easily set you back more than $2,000 if you don’t have a powerful enough PC computer that is VR-ready. Here you’ll get the best graphics and already a solid library of content.
Below those, there’s Sony’s new PlayStation VR, which will cost about $1,000 if you still need a PlayStation 4 (otherwise take a few hundred bucks off the price). The graphics aren’t as good as the premium devices and its main focus is currently on smaller gaming experiences, but it has huge potential.
Then there is Google, which nearly two-and-a-half years ago introduced Google Cardboard for less than $20 in the U.S. (it only came to Canada earlier this year).
Literally made of cardboard with special lenses, Google Cardboard has the user slide their smartphone into it and holds the device against their face with a small button to press in the top corner. Businesses have even used Google Cardboard as a marketing tool due to its cheap price, giving customers a specially branded Cardboard while telling them to download an app to view original content.
Google Cardboard was a cheap introduction to virtual reality for many, but quickly created an ecosystem of content made by Google, partners, creators and others to power the new-found demand. This content ranges from pulling 360-degree videos from YouTube and Street View in Google Maps to original apps or content designed for VR.
Now that the ecosystem is built up and continues to grow, the tech giant is showing its hand as to why it had been experimenting in this space to begin with. Google is digging its heels into low-cost, high-quality virtual reality with the introduction of its Daydream View virtual reality headset, which released in Canada on Thursday for $99.
The downside? You need a Google Pixel phone to use it (for now).
REPLACING CARDBOARD WITH FABRIC
It is easy to see that Google Cardboard was a consumer-level test for what would eventually become Daydream View. The mechanics are similar in that you place a smartphone into the front of the headset to turn it into the VR screen while a latch keeps it secure into the unit. There is an adjustable head strap though that wasn’t on the Cardboard, which now frees your hands.
Also included with the Daydream View is a wireless remote with a touchpad that clicks, two additional buttons and volume controls. The controller also has motion detection, so you can wave it around like a wand for a variety of applications.
Then there is the headset’s material itself. Gone is the cardboard and instead there is a very soft and hand-washable fabric that gives it a bit of a personality when compared to the competition. For now, it will only be available in a slate colour in Canada.
Considering the $99 price tag, the Daydream’s build quality is surprisingly well done. It’s comfortable and fits over most glasses, and once positioned properly the screen is relatively clear to see things in the most appropriate resolution. If you’re streaming content as opposed to using installed apps, just make sure you have fast enough Wi-Fi or it will scale down to lower resolution.
Daydream View uses the builtin speakers of the Pixel phone for audio, meaning it isn’t surround sound by any means as the phone only has speakers in the one side of the device. That said, the quality of the audio that is there is surprisingly crisp with a lot of range. I didn’t expect the audio to be so loud and clear, yet not jarring for people nearby.
My biggest complaint with the hardware is that you can often see outside of the headset through the corner of your eyes or directly below. This might also cause unwanted light to come into the headset if you are moving around, which can take you out of the virtual experience. Some of the more expensive virtual reality offerings will try to snug headset close enough to your face to stop the outside world from creeping in.
The other complaint is that the software is pretty demanding on the Pixel phone, draining its battery in just a few hours. The phone also gets really, really hot after playing for an extended period of time. Hot as in you don’t even want to hold it after using the Daydream View for a while until it cools down.
However you can still get lost inside the VR content once you accept some of the previously mentioned light leak, and the controller alone is a huge addition for Google and its content offering. It is an impressive piece of hardware for the price.
TAPPING INTO A LARGE ECOSYSTEM OF CONTENT
As mentioned, Google has been slowly building up a library of content over the past couple of years so that when Daydream View launched there would be plenty for users to find. The company has created immersive VR interfaces for many of its services and enlisted popular YouTubers to create original VR videos.
Often these experiences are in a shorter format compared to non-VR content, with many videos only lasting a handful of minutes. Games that you purchase are only a few dollars, as they often aren’t incredibly long. But all of this said, there is plenty to do here and the custom apps are pretty fun whether they are a game or not.
For example, Wall Street Journal has an app that has you sitting in a fancy corporate office and selecting which new VR short documentary to watch. You can also look down to the table in front of you to see up-to-date 3D charts of popular stock prices in a variety of industries such as technology or pharmaceuticals. Other newsrooms have VR content coming to Daydream, too, such as the New York Times and the Guardian.
Street View has curated “tours” of more than 150 places around the world, including landmarks such as the Pyramids, Golden Gate Bridge, Taj Mahal and even cities here in Canada.
You can browse a VR-specific YouTube app to see highlighted videos from creators that partnered with Google (such as Buzzfeed, CollegeHumor and UnboxTherapy).
Google Arts & Culture is a fun experience that lets you tour a virtual museum filled with collections of art from around the world, which you can then zoom in to while receiving narrated audio to tell you about each piece as they hang on the wall.
Then there are the games, which often take use of the wireless controller that comes with the Daydream View. Some games are done in a first-person perspective, meaning you will use the controller like a hand and reach out to interact with objects or people. Often it seems the Daydream games use a third-person perspective though, meaning you look around the world from above while controlling a character below you with the touchpad.
Third-person games might be a little dizzying for some as you can be moving your character to the right while you’re head is looking to the left to see if anyone is following you. Generally speaking though, you get used to it.
Like with other virtual reality headsets, you can also use the Daydream View for watching non-VR video in a cinema mode that creates the illusion of watching on a big theatre-like screen.
OVERALL THOUGHTS (AND STRICT REQUIREMENTS)
The Daydream View is an impressive piece of hardware when considering its context within the virtual reality landscape. The quality of the hardware is excellent for the $99 price and Google does a great job at not trying to directly compete with the premium competitors while still offering a high-quality experience.
However, there is a huge asterisk here. Daydream View requires a compatible Daydream device, and right now the only one on the market is Google’s Pixel phone (though it says more are coming). So unless you have a Pixel phone already, the cost of the Daydream View just jumped up several hundred dollars.
Yes, if you decided to purchase a Pixel for a Daydream View, you would technically get a premium smartphone out of the deal that offers a variety of services outside of the realm of virtual reality. But if you aren’t in the market for a new cellphone it certainly isn’t worth paying close to $1,000 just to get Daydream View.
Nonetheless, looking at the Daydream View strictly as a $99 device, it’s hard to go wrong.