Google Unveils New Daydream View VR Headset With Better Lenses and More

Google on Wednesday at its Pixel 2, Pixel 2 XL event also unveiled a new Daydream View VR headset. With the new virtual reality headset, the company says it has "kept the best parts of the original and made them even better". The new Daydream View VR headset will be available in several regions later this year. At the event, Google also launched the Pixelbook laptop, the Google Clips camera, Google Pixel Buds, and, two new smart speakers - the Google Home Mini and Home Max.

The new Google Daydream View has been priced at $99 (roughly Rs. 6,500) and will go on sale in India (via Flipkart), the US, Canada, the UK, Germany, Australia, France, Spain, Japan, and South Korea later this year. The Daydream View 2017 is compatible with the Pixel 2, Pixel 2 XL, and any other Daydream-ready smartphone. Like the previous headset, it ships with a motion controller in the box.

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As for what's new, Google says the latest iteration of the Daydream View VR headset has high-performance lenses for improved viewing clarity as well as a wider field of view (roughly 10 degrees more than the original). The headset is also constructed out of "premium two-tone fabric", said to make it soft and light. It will be made available in three new colour variants: Fog, Charcoal, and Coral.

Other new features of the Daydream View 2017 include a redesigned face pad, the addition of a top strap, and a new magnesium heat sink and venting solution. Andrew Nartker (Senior Product Manager, Daydream), in an interaction after the launch revealed to Gadgets 360 that the new headset had a a bigger optical sweet spot. Google tested the headset with over 700 people to get a better fit and more forgiving sweet spot he revealed. The bundled motion controller can now placed on the back strap, instead of inside the goggles.

Nartker also spoke about future announcements due to arrive on the Daydream platform. "We announced World Sense at Google I/O, which is a motion tracking technology that allows a headset to localise I space. It gives you positional tracking. then we announced Daydream support a a platform to build standalone integrated headsets. Both of those things that we accounted, we're actively working on and there will be announcements before the end of the year," he said.

At the event, Google also announced that its Daydream mobile VR platform now has over 250 titles (apps and games) to choose from. There is also more new premium content users can choose, from Ed Sheeran in Austin City Limits Backstage, to Trevor Noah in The Confessional, and offerings like The Female Planet, Discovery's TRLVR, and IMAX 3D support in Google Play Movies.