Forget Daydream: Google Working on New Merged Reality Headset
Back before Google announced the Daydream View headset, there was talk of the company working on a standalone head-mounted device that would offer some form of mixed reality. According to Engadget, that dream is very much alive, as people working on the project have surfaced to share a few details about the device.
Unlike Daydream View, this new headset will operate independent of a smartphone or PC and will use eye-tracking and integrated sensors to create a 3D map of a room in real time.
Not only would this standalone headset allow wearers to safely navigate the mapped area, there will also be some level of augmented-reality interaction involved for a merged-reality experience. It would apparently be similar to what Microsoft is working on with Hololens.
MORE: Best VR Headsets
Google isn't the only company with its eyes on a wireless, independent headsets. Earlier in the year, Intel showed off the prototype for Project Alloy, which offers hand tracking and its own take on merged reality. Oculus is also working on a standalone device codenamed Santa Cruz that utilizes cameras positioned on the headset to track movement in a process called inside-out tracking.
And lest we forget, Apple is also dabbling in the AR/VR space. If tech blogger Robert Scoble is to be believed, the folks in Cupertino are hard at work on an all-glass iPhone 8 with merged reality ambitions. The phone would plug into a headset and project holograms on the real world.
For better or worse, augmented and virtual reality have barely become mainstream, and it looks like the major tech powers have set their sights on merged reality as a middle ground.
See also : Best Augmented Reality Apps
