According to a new report, Google is working on a new virtual reality headset that won’t require it to be tethered to a PC or have a phone inserted into it. It will feature inside-out tracking.
Last year’s Google I/O developer conference had a focus on virtual reality (VR) , where the company announced Daydream. As with many VR headsets, the company’s Daydream View headset requires that a phone be inserted into it.
In fact, the mainstream market really only includes two different kinds of VR headsets. There are those that require a phone to be inserted, such as Daydream View and Samsung’s Gear VR, and then those that need to be tethered to a PC, such as the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift.
But according to a new report from Variety, Google is about to show off the next stage in VR technology – which is going to be an untethered, standalone headset – at its I/O 2017 developer conference, which kicks off tomorrow. The device will use inside-out tracking, meaning that it won’t require any additional sensors to track your movements.
At Microsoft’s Build 2017 developer conference last week, the company announced that developer kits for its Windows Mixed Reality head-mounted displays (HMDs) are available for pre-order, and those will ship this summer. The final products won’t ship until this fall, and they’ll still need to be tethered to a PC, so if Google does unveil a standalone VR device, it will be ahead of the game.
