‘Bigscreen’ Coming to Mobile VR in Q2, Gear VR Alpha Test Starts Today

By
Ben Lang
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Bigscreen is a unique social VR application which lets users bring their desktop screens and all the capabilities of their PC into VR with them. That means friends can come together virtually for LAN parties, streaming sessions, and much more. In Q2, Bigscreen will come to mobile VR headsets for the first time, allowing the mobile VR crowd to join their desktop brethren and get in on the fun. Starting today, Gear VR users can sign up for Bigscreen’s mobile alpha test.

Bigscreen is set to come to Gear VR, Oculus Go, and Daydream mobile VR headsets in Q2, the company announced today. In the meantime, if you own a Gear VR you can sign up for the Bigscreen mobile alpha test here.

Bigscreen founder Darshan Shankar says that Bigscreen mobile will have both singleplayer and multiplayer elements. Even though mobile VR headsets don’t have their own desktop to share, other features like a video player, 3D painting tools, and intriguing PC-to-mobile streaming are planned. The company breaks it down on their blog:

  1. Public & private rooms are supported, with 4–12 players per room. Mobile VR users can join rooms to watch videos and hangout together. Mobile VR users will eventually be able to create their own multiplayer rooms, but not during the Alpha Test.
  2. Mobile VR users will also be able to attend our live movie screenings, like our Paramount Pictures’ Top Gun 3D VR movie night and our Stargate movie night with MGM.
  3. The video player will allow you to watch videos stored locally on your device. We plan to eventually support various streaming services within our video player as well.
  4. PC-to-Mobile desktop streaming allows you to stream your Windows PC’s desktop screen into your Mobile VR headset over WiFi without the need to be tethered to your PC. This allows you to sit on your couch, pull up a movie or videogame on your PC, and see it on a huge screen in your headset.

The Bigscreen mobile alpha won’t have any single player features, but players will be able to join rooms hosted by PC VR users, which support up to 12 players per room. In the future, mobile users will be able to host their own multiplayer rooms.

The company also plans to bring Bigscreen to PSVR later this year.

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Ben Lang
Ben is the world's most senior professional analyst solely dedicated to the XR industry, having founded Road to VR in 2011—a year before the Oculus Kickstarter sparked a resurgence that led to the modern XR landscape. He has authored more than 3,000 articles chronicling the evolution of the XR industry over more than a decade. With that unique perspective, Ben has been consistently recognized as one of the most influential voices in XR, giving keynotes and joining panel and podcast discussions at key industry events. He is a self-described "journalist and analyst, not evangelist."
  • daveinpublic

    Seems like low hanging fruit, glad someone is doing this.

    • Who’s this?

      Yep, now if only VRChat got more functionality like this, it means that we can have those interactive social experiences with our favorite avatars (waifus) and amazingly immersive environments. All of that coupled with shared viewing experiences and we’re set!

  • WyrdestGeek

    Ty for this information. I’ve been waiting for this for… well months.

    It kinda sucks that I can’t host– I mean of course Fear VR can’t handle that, but suppose I have a computer nearby– it would be neat if there were companion software for BigScreen that could run on that and allow *that* to be the host.

    Anyway, I know some folks with *actual* VR setups (i.e. Vive) so I’ll coordinate with them.

    —
    Furry cows moo and decompress.