With Google’s Pixel phone out the door, the first Daydream-ready phone, the company is now ramping up to launch Daydream View, the first Daydream-ready VR headset. The device is making a cameo alongside the first cable TV ads for Pixel.
Daydream View launches on November 10th for $79. With it, Google promises a new level of virtual reality performance from Android, that which greatly surprases the company’s Cardboard initiative.
Pixel is Google’s first fully self-branded phone, and they’re going big with it, now serving commercials across a wide range of media, including adverts running on major TV networks. While the commercials focus largely on the Pixel, Daydream and VR do get their moment in the spotlight (even if it’s fleeting in a 30 or 60 second commercial).
In the first commercial (heading this article), we briefly see the Pixel inserted into the Daydream View while the narrator tells us that the phone is capable of a “stunning VR experience.” Maybe I’m reading a little too much into this, but the actress that dons the headset sounds genuinely surprised when she says “how is this possible!” compared to other lines delivered by the characters in the commercial. It wouldn’t be too far-fetched to think it might have been the first time she saw VR and that was her real reaction.
The second commercial (above) is largely text-based, so we don’t see the headset itself, but among the qualities highlighted is that the Pixel is “built from scratch for VR.”
Interestingly, both spots refer to it as “VR” and not “virtual reality.” This suggests Google aims to appeal to those who already know what VR is rather than trying to introduce the concept anew; probably a good idea given the scarcity of airtime for TV commercials.
It’s a good thing for the broader virtual reality industry that Daydream is getting some airtime in a mass media ad campaign like this because it helps the mainstream slowly begin to familiarize themselves with this cutting edge technology.