Google stand ready to bring VR to the mainstream.

Since it was first announced at the tenth Google I/O, the tech giant's initial VR play Cardboard was clearly just a toe in the water.



The simplistic cardboard viewer, made for most compatible smartphones, was there to ease Android users into the world of Virtual Reality apps and content. And now Google is following up with something a little more robust and sophisticated: Google Daydream.



More information came our way during the launch of Google's



In this article, we'll cover off everything you need to know about the Daydream platform, and why we believe it's a real game changer for the VR industry. Since it was first announced at the tenth Google I/O, the tech giant's initial VR play Cardboard was clearly just a toe in the water.The simplistic cardboard viewer, made for most compatible smartphones, was there to ease Android users into the world of Virtual Reality apps and content. And now Google is following up with something a little more robust and sophisticated: Google Daydream.More information came our way during the launch of Google's Pixel smartphone . The platform will be called Daydream, and the viewer will be the Google Daydream View In this article, we'll cover off everything you need to know about the Daydream platform, and why we believe it's a real game changer for the VR industry.

Beautiful Design



The idea behind the Google Daydream platform is a simple one: marry up VR and mobile. This is certainly a deliberate ploy in order to tap into a mass-market from the word go.



The Daydream viewer will therefore have to accommodate "Daydream-ready" smartphones, which are powerful enough to run the platform. It will also ship with a very simple, yet powerful, hand-held controller, which will be essential for entering into Google's world of VR.



Its User Interface (UI) will be similar to that of Oculus Home, with Clay Bavor (Head of Google VR) claiming that his team have created the 'Google Play of VR' - a directory chock-full of the very best available VR apps and content. What's more, the Daydream Home menu screen will interface with Android N so that the user will receive important alerts and notifications.



From the off, you can expect staple Google services such as Play Movies, Google Photos, Maps (Street View) and YouTube to have dedicated VR apps. And the Play Store will include motion intensity ratings, just in case some of the virtual experiences make you feel a little queasy.

Smarter Smartphones



The previously mentioned Pixel is the first handset that has been announced for the Daydream View. A 5-inch and 5.5-inch version will be released, and both will work with the headset.



The smartphones will ship with full HD 1920 x 1080 displays and between 32 and 128GB of storage, leaving you with a crystal clear screen for quality VR experiences, and plenty of storage for your apps and games.



'Daydream-ready' will be a phrase bandied about in the run up to and immediate aftermath of the Daydream View's launch, and it basically means that the Smartphone (be it Pixel or any other Daydream-ready phone) will have high quality sensors, low latency, low persistence, no ghosting, and a high quality system on a chip perfect for rendering at 60fps.



The Android Nougat OS on Daydream-ready smartphones will also be as VR-friendly as possible, with a special high performance VR mode designed to run Virtual Reality apps. And the OS will use the phone's built-in sensors to make the most of its new head-tracking algorithms, leading to an even smoother VR experience.



We will also see Daydream-ready Android N phones from the likes of Samsung, HTC, and LG in the not-too-distant future.

Price Point & Release Date



The Daydream-ready phones are likely to cost around the $600 mark, while the Daydream View headset will be priced at £69 / $79.



Google has therefore positioned its headset as cheaper than the Samsung Gear VR, which is currently priced at £79.99 / $99.99. What's more, the Gear requires the purchase of additional controllers, whereas the Daydream View's controller is included in the price.



The accessibility of smartphone VR was certainly hammered home with the initial release of the $15 Cardboard viewer, and the price of the Daydream View follows this trend. Serious gamers and developers may overlook it in favour of the pricier and more powerful Oculus or HTC Vive, but for the rest, the Daydream headset is the ideal opportunity to get to grips with Virtual Reality without breaking the bank.



The Daydream View and platform will be released in November 2016, with Google's own store joining US retailers Verizon and Best Buy and UK retailers EE and Carphone Warehouse in selling the headset.

Partners and Developers



At this relatively early stage, there appears to be a few options open to Google with regards to partners.

They could follow suit with the Cardboard viewer and take something of a hands-off approach, or they could mimic their Android Wear tactic of only using a handful of partners.



Confirmed app partners at this stage include The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Netflix, HBO, Hulu, and IMAX. CNN, USA Today, Major League Baseball, and the NBA have also thrown their hats into the ring.



Google will also partner up with influential YouTube stars, video game producers, and other sports leagues to produce 360-degree videos for Daydream.



And when it comes to development, Unity, Epic, and Unreal Engine have all announced support for Daydream, therefore smoothing the way for developers to create engaging and enthralling content for the platform. CCP, Ubisoft, EA, Otherside, Minority VR, Resolution, nDreams, and Turbo Button are just some of the other gaming partners who will bring content to Daydream.

Google Daydream - Changing the VR Game



So, with all this in mind, why do we think Google Daydream will change the VR industry?



Well, it's all down to something we touched upon earlier: accessibility.



For Virtual Reality to become truly successful (and achieve these revenue projections) it has to break free from the margins; it must be seen as something more than niche; and it must become the next must-have piece of tech.



Ironically, if it's to achieve the same level of buzz as the Smartphone, it will need to piggyback on the smartphone's popularity and proliferation. The number of Smartphone users worldwide is projected to be 2.1 billion in 2016. And as these phones are updated and upgraded, many of them will be VR-ready, and specifically Daydream-ready, putting Virtual Reality experiences within touching distance of a staggering number of users.



The perfect storm of accessibility, great content, and a more-than-reasonable price point will place the Daydream View in the hands of many. And, unsurprisingly, gaming will be at the heart of Google's strategy. The company aims to populate the Daydream platform with original titles rather than current games retrofitted for VR.



With TV & movies, sports, and (especially) games all ready to be enjoyed within a virtual environment, and all at an affordable price, it looks like Google has mass-market VR all but sewn up. And we couldn't be more excited.