Google Brings VR to the Masses

If you tried Google Cardboard and thought it had potential, the company’s new virtual reality headset will show you what the medium is all about. Unlike Oculus Rift and Samsung Gear VR, which resemble something Morpheus would wear in The Matrix, the Daydream headset looks more like a friendly gadget in the Star Trek universe.

That design is no accident. Most virtual reality gear is built with the high-tech gamer in mind, but Google wants to bring the medium to average smartphone users. At just $65, it’s one of the cheapest headsets available, competing directly with Samsung, though at a lower price and with less content available at the moment. The fabric design comes in three colors, along with a remote control for using apps, similar to the Nintendo Wii’s nun chucks.

Google Daydream is compatible with the company’s Pixel phones, as well as the Moto Z with other Android models on the way. The content library leaves much to be desired, but there’s more than enough to keep you entertained for the time being. Apps like “Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes,” a bomb-diffusing puzzle, and “PolyRunner,” an arcade-style running game, really bring out virtual reality’s capabilities by utilizing the remote control and 360-degree viewing.

The format also breathes new life into the more mundane apps you’re used to on your smartphone. For Google Maps, street view is now a virtual tour through any catalogued place on earth. YouTube and news sites like The Guardian and The Wall Street Journal are commissioning exclusive VR content so viewers can experience the news from a first-person perspective.