Today marks the launch of Google's high-end Android VR platform, Daydream, a major step beyond Cardboard and a serious competitor to Gear VR. Google has been playing in the VR space since 2014 back when they launched the Cardboard initiative, a super low barrier starting point for VR which let people pair any modern smartphone with a $15 headset literally made out of cardboard. The company hoped Cardboard would act as a stepping stone to introduce people to VR, but it also proved to be a stepping stone for the company itself to become more deeply involved in the space. Enter Daydream, a reimagining of Google + VR which promises to close the gap between the not-so-great performance of Cardboard and the impressive capabilities of the Oculus & Samsung backed Gear VR. Cardboard still exists, but Daydream is what we hoped Cardboard would be all along: a high quality VR experience that's baked into the core of Android. 'Daydream' isn't a single product, it's Google's umbrella ecosystem for high-end mobile VR, under which falls Daydream ready phones, headsets, and apps. You'll need one of each to unlock the high-end VR capabilities of Android 7.1 'Nougat'. While the company's grand vision is to one day have a healthy set of choices when it comes to Daydream ready hardware, today the only options are the company's Pixel and Pixel XL phone along with the Daydream View headset, the latter of which launches today for $80, undercutting the latest Gear VR headset by $20. Unlike Gear VR, which is controlled optionally via a touchpad on the side of the headset or a gamepad, Google has added a basic motion controller with an accelerometer as the required method of input for all Daydream apps. Summary Google’s Daydream, with Pixel phone and View headset, is a powerful opening act for what the company ultimately hopes will be an entire ecosystem of VR devices on Android. Daydream is, at this stage, a noteworthy competitor to Samsung’s Gear VR which has dominated the mobile VR landscape ever since its launch. The seemingly simple addition of a basic motion controller as a core part of the Daydream experience adds significantly to interactivity and ease of use in a way we wouldn't have guessed. It’s still day zero for the platform, which begins with a humble launcher experience and just a handful of games and apps, but Google has laid a clear foundation for what could turn into a sprawling ecosystem with multiple phones, headsets, and a healthy app marketplace. Of the Daydream games out there right now, there’s nothing truly gripping, but when you consider the incredible immersive experience you’re getting out of a simple controller and a mere phone stuck inside an inexpensive headset, there’s a rather compelling argument to look at Daydream as a sort of game console replacement for the digital native generation who is growing up with smartphones as primary gaming devices. As developers learn to make new and interesting games that take advantage of the simple motion input, we expect to see titles with more staying power. But for now, the full featured YouTube VR app officially from Google makes it easy to browse a growing library of videospheres and a massive library of traditional videos. Many a'virtual viewing hour will be burned inside YouTube VR; we just wish we could invite our friends to join us, as Daydream is currently lacking any compelling social VR experiences. While the headset has some distracting glares (due to the headset’s otherwise smart adaptable design), few other notable visual downsides, and a slightly smaller field of view than its competitor, Daydream View performs admirably, far exceeding Cardboard’s capabilities, and matching that of Gear VR in many ways, including visual sharpness. At $80, Daydream View is a compelling proposition for any Pixel owner, a no-brainer gift for kids who like gaming, and a must-have for Pixel owners who are already VR enthusiasts. Is it worth choosing your phone just on the proposition of Daydream? If you’re already an Android user, it’s definitely a compelling tug in the direction of the Pixel, but Samsung’s draw to a Gear VR compatible phone could be overriding thanks to a more extensive content library at present. If you’re on iPhone, Daydream isn't enough to jump ship for the other side just yet, but you might catch yourself looking over in envy. Not enough detail for you? Enjoy our 3,600 word deep dive below. Setup & Experience With the Pixel XL in hand, getting started with Daydream and the View headset took just a few minutes. After unboxing the headset and controller, I launched the pre-installed Daydream app which ran me through a few updates to some VR services and other background software, and helped me effortlessly pair the Daydream controller and then gave it a wireless software update to the latest version. From there, launching Daydream is as easy as placing the phone into the headset (which is automatically detected thanks to an NFC tag), and pulling shut the elastic latch to launch into the Daydream experience. Putting the headset on, you'll be greeted with a 'home' space which takes the form of a Daydream app launcher set upon the background of a cartoon forest with a distant waterfall, flowing stream, and chirping birds. If you're like me, you'll immediately hit the Play Store button to start exploring what Daydream apps are available. At launch, Google is releasing five first-party Daydream apps, with another five coming from third-parties. At present we're actually seeing 19 Daydream apps available, but it isn't clear if some of them are early-access. If not available to all right at launch, those extra nine apps will be launching soon anyway, among some 40 additional apps that will hit the platform by the end of the year. Navigating through the Daydream app store with the headset on was a breeze; it's amazing how much—with the addition of a simple IMU-based motion controller—more natural the user-interaction is with the simple point-and-click interface of Daydream, compared to Gear VR's awkward head-mounted touchpad (or even a gamepad). With the Daydream controller in hand, you get a simple laser pointer with which to make your selections, and a touchpad to quickly swipe through lists and text. The 'Daydream app store' is actually just the same Google Play Store that everyone on Android is already familiar with. This is great because it's the same content channel that users know, and comes with the same capacity for reviews, descriptions, and a robust updating system to allow developers to improve apps over time. In VR, the Play Store looks a bit different of course, but you'll definitely recognize it and breeze through the app install process which is as simple as 'see app, want app, install app'. At the outset, Daydream apps are varied, but the choices are little thin. The ecosystem will come into its own as more Daydream apps become available, which should happen in significantly greater numbers in early 2017 as Google opens the door beyond select partners to all developers. Launching apps is a similar affair; a tap of the Home button on the controller returns you from the Daydream Play Store to the main launcher where you can see a list of recently used Daydream apps or open your entire library. To launch, just point and click. The Daydream experience is a massive step forward compared to Cardboard; everything runs better, the graphics are richer, the controls are more intuitive (and so far, much more consistent in their functionality), and the entire experience is pulled together in a more cohesive way under the umbrella of Daydream, compared to Cardboard apps which can't be downloaded or launched from within VR. Continue on Page 2 "Hardware" Hardware Design The Daydream View headset is cleverly designed to be inexpensive without feeling cheap. The device hides an extremely simple plastic skeleton structure which holdes two basic lenses (not far removed from what you'd expect from a Cardboard viewer), all shrouded in premium feeling fabrics. Unlike Gear VR— which has an on-board IMU, touchpad, fan, and microUSB port—the View is almost entirely devoid of anything but plastic and lenses, save for the simple NFC tag hidden in the front cover which allows phones to detect when they're placed inside. The headset has no battery and doesn't even need to plug into the phone. This approach kept costs down and made headway to include the Daydream controller—which is a bit more complex than the headset, with a battery, touchpad, several buttons, and an IMU—yet still both come in at $20 less than Samsung's $100 Gear VR headset. Daydream View's design simple keeps it light but the headset still feels resilient. While Gear VR feels like something to be worried about bumping, bruising, or cracking the View feels like it would be happy tossed into a bag (so long as it doesn't get crushed). The View is also designed to be adaptive to any Daydream ready phone. Different models of Gear VR have varying phone compatibility among a few different Samsung phones, but Google's vision for Daydream is that all Daydream headsets will work with all Daydream phones, now and in the future. [gallery type="rectangular" ids="55633,55632"] To make that happen, the headset's front cover is largely open. Rather than snapping a phone into a carefully fitted structure, the headset relies mostly on some high-friction pads which sandwich the phone thanks to pressure from a spring-loaded hinge below and an elastic hook above. The spring-loaded hinge allows the View's front flap to expand to fit phones of varying thickness, and the open top and sides make the headset adaptable to phones of varying height and width. There's also two special black capacitive pads that touch the phone's screen which the phone uses to align the virtual view with the lenses; that way you don't have to obsess over getting your phone exactly aligned in the headset. Just set it down and latch the thing shut and you're good to go in a few seconds. It's a smart design for adaptability across what Google hopes will be a vibrant ecosystem of Daydream ready phones, but comes with a major drawback (see Hardware > Light Leak and Lens Glare section). Did I mention the headset looks good? Google clearly made the choice to try to disassociate the connotation of VR as 'futuristic gadgetry' and instead aimed to give it a familiar and somewhat fashionable feeling of clothing. A smart choice I would say, and well executed, for a headset that's the start of a VR platform that the company hopes will go far beyond tech-centric hardcore gamers and gadget lovers. Controller The Daydream controller is a fairly simple device that adds a lot to the experience. Even though it's a '3DOF' (rotational tracking only) device, being able to bring more 1:1 movement of your body into VR makes it that much more natural. Being able to point and click is so much more simple and intuitive than Gear VR's approach of using a side-mounted touchpad that can easily lead to confusion between commands like 'up, down, left, right, forward, and back'. The design of the Daydream controller is extremely minimal, except maybe a bit too minimal, as the trackpad area is ill defined, save for an incredibly shallow bowl shape. When you're in VR and can't see the shape, you should be able to easily feel it, but it's harder to feel than it should because the trackpad uses nearly the exact same texture as the rest of the controller; which is weird, because the two face buttons are well defined by feel: one is a (more severe) concave shape, and the other is flat with a raised tactile line. The trackpad redeems itself though by being not only useful, but also having a satisfying click that feels like just the right amount of pressure. There's also two handy volume buttons on the side of the controller so you don't have to try to mess with your phone's volume rocker while it's mounted in the headset. The controller is quite compact. For those with hands/fingers on the larger end of the spectrum, it may feel a bit smaller than desired, especially the small trackpad area. The whole thing is powered from an internal battery that charges with a USB-C cable. The Daydream view headset doesn't actually ship with one (probably to keep costs low), but Google is assuming you'll have one from whatever Daydream ready phone you bought. The controller works well and is a simple but smart addition to the mobile VR experience which adds a lot, but there's one niggle that rather irks me. 'Remote' style controllers (those which are long and flat, and must be 'pointed' at their target), are not comfortable for long durations of pointing because they require you to cock your wrist at an entirely unnatural angle. Try this: reach out your hand like you're gripping a remote that's in the shape of a small cylinder (like a roll of quarters). Now imagine that in order to use that remote, you need to point the top of the cylinder at the thing you're controlling; try that action and see the position in which if puts your hand—that's the sort of cocked wrist motion that gets uncomfortable quickly. It's fine to hold your arm up to point your TV remote to change the channel for 5 second every 10 minutes, but if you're channel surfing, you aren't going to keep your arm held up or your wrist cocked continuously to keep the remote pointed at the TV. With Daydream, you'll want to keep your hand rested in your lap, which works fine, except when you need to point below the horizon (which is frequent), because then you're pointing down into your leg, or required to hold the remote up uncomfortably. [caption id="attachment_55629" align="aligncenter" width="640"] The Daydream controller stows neatly inside the unused headset so it's always with you[/caption] A major component of this issue (pointing below the horizon) could be corrected by significantly tilting the angle of the virtual pointer so that the line doesn't come directly out the top as if it was a TV remote with an IR blaster that literally needed line of sight to the receiver. It seems in some experiences the line is indeed tilted, but only by a few degrees. Tilting it down much further might field weird at first, but would likely be significantly more comfortable. There's a reason that the barrel of a handgun is pointed at an extreme angle compared to the handle: because it's way easier to aim. Comfort Daydream View is light and compact, but a big phone like the Pixel XL adds a significant 168 grams to headset, and puts it far away from your face, making it even more noticeable. Although the total View package of phone and headset weighs less than a smartphone-equipped Gear VR, the View doesn't have a top strap, which leaves only your face and the back of your head to distribute that weight, and you'll probably notice. Without that top strap to alleviate some weight, the relatively small surface area of the View's facial padding comes to forefront of the comfort conversation; you'll no doubt be cognizant of the weight of the headset that's focused mostly around your eyes, and wish (as I did) that the surface area of the facial padding was greater to better distribute the pressure. Once I dialed in the tightness of the strap and found the ideal spot on my face, this wasn't a dealbreaker for long term use, but Gear VR has a clear edge in comfort (despite being heavier), at least for my face. Since the facial interface seems to be a cheap piece (it's held in with velcro and can be removed for hand-washing), I have my fingers crossed that Google can tweak it easily during the production of the View, or maybe folks like VR Cover will step in and offer a more comfortable third-party alternative. Speaking of the strap, since there's just one, you'll end up wearing it up around the top of the crown of your head to keep it from sliding down. This takes a little getting used to compared to top-strap headsets, but it works. Google eschewed the velcro-adjustment that we see on most other headsets and instead uses two plastic sliding loops on the elastic which tighten or loosen as you push them closer or further apart. The adjustment is quick and easy, but I felt like I had to re-tighten it every time I put the headset on, which left me wishing they just stuck with a velcro adjustment which wouldn't shift on me between sessions. Performance Field of View Google says Daydream's field of view is 90 degrees (which may vary by phone), which on paper matches the first and second generation Gear VR, but is a bit behind the most recent generation (at 96 degrees). However, field of view measurements are far from standard, and in my experience with Daydream view, it feels to have a slightly smaller field of view than the first two Gear VR headsets; if we're calling that 90 degrees, I would estimate the View's field of view to be 80-85 degrees. It's still enough to immerse you, but you will get a significant sense of binocular view compared to something like the Rift or Vive, which is unfortunately exacerbated by some lens-induced artifacts discussed below. Light Leak & Lens Glare The View is actually great when it comes to enclosing your eyes and preventing any light from getting in around your nose or elsewhere from openings around the facial interface, but due to its design to accommodate many different sized smartphones, there's plenty of room for light in your external environment to leak in from the phone side of the lenses. In the worst cases, an unfortunately positioned direct overhead light will illuminate every piece of dust on the phone's screen and lenses, which is majorly distracting. Moving away from direct light will help, but even significant indirect light will lead to significant glaring. These issues are only significantly bothersome when you're looking at dark scenes, but are otherwise drowned out by brighter virtual environments. Even if you turn all the lights out in your room, you'll still find some glaring issues due to the lenses. In high contrast scenes, especially with white objects/text on a black background, you are likely to see a complete halo of thin light around the edges of your view. That's not only annoying, but it serves to literally highlight the headset's limited field of view. Again, this artifact largely vanishes in brighter scenes, and will be less of a problem if we could convince developers to stop making VR title screens that have bright logos on a black background. A bit of good news on the lenses though: in my brief time testing I had no issues with fogging. Unfortunately fogging is something that happens under specific conditions (with the most important variables being humidity and temperature), so it's tough to conclude if headset is not prone to fogging, or if I simply haven't run into the right conditions for it. I'll stay on the lookout. Image Quality & Latency These factors will vary from phone to phone, but because Google is setting a minimum bar for phones to be able to qualify as Daydream ready, so most of what I'm talking about here applies specifically to the Pixel. Resolution, Screen Door Effect, & Mura With a 2560x1400 AMOLED display (same resolution as Gear VR), you're going to be looking at an even sharper picture than what you'd find on desktop-class headsets like the Rift and Vive. That makes the Daydream View + Pixel great for VR videospheres and photospheres, and other pre-rendered content, but even with all those pixels it won't feel graphically as rich as the Rift or Vive because the phone can't handle the same levels of real time graphics. The 'screen door effect' (visible gaps between pixels) is present, but so tiny that it largely fades away once you stop trying to analyze the pixels and start looking at the VR world constructed before your very eyes. The screen door effect on Daydream View + Pixel is less pronounced than on the Rift or Vive. The mura correction is spot on, keeping pixel brightness highly consistent from one to the next, which aids in clarity, especially in dark scenes. While poor mura-correction is notable disappointment for PlayStation VR, most people probably won't notice it at all on Daydream View + Pixel. Refresh Rate, Low Persistence, & Black Smear The Pixel (and to our knowledge, all forthcoming Daydream ready phones) runs at 60Hz refresh rate in VR mode (same as Gear VR). The latency definitely falls under that crucial 20ms threshold, leaving you with a smooth and convincing image that keeps the virtual world feeling solid around you even as you turn your head. Some people are very sensitive to flickering, which is more noticeable at lower refresh rates than higher ones. I personally can't see any flicker at 60Hz on the View, but your mileage may vary. Low persistence, a technique which reduces blurring during screen motion, doesn't seem to be as effective on Daydream View + Pixel as it does with other headsets. This is likely a function of the lower refresh rate. This is particularly noticeable while keeping your eye on text while turning your head, but it's harder to notice for general scenery, so consider this just a note, not a deal breaker by any means. Daydream View + Pixel suffers from black smear, an artifact which causes dark areas of a scene to briefly smear across lighter areas during head movement. The issue is related to OLED's ability to change pixel colors extremely quickly for all colors except for true black. This is something you'll notice when you find small dark objects set against lighter objects, like dark rocks on a sunny beach shore, or black ships against a bright sky. Continued on Page 3: "Apps & Software" Apps & Software Daydream Home The Daydream home app in VR is very welcoming with its fairytale forest setting, muted earthen colors, and pleasant ambient sounds. Although it's little more than a launcher, Google has done a good job of designing a UI and UX language that makes the app feel interactive. As you point your controller from one icon to the next, you'll see the icon react not only in motion, but also in depth. All of the icons and photos have some depth elements to them that make them feel more tangible than a grid of flat icons. While generally intuitive, there's still some interface work to be done in the app to indicate what can be scrolled, dragged, and swiped. At one point it wasn't clear to me that a long text description of an app could be clicked to be expanded for further reading, but even after I figured it out, I didn't realize I could scroll even further down on the selection with the trackpad. Installing apps is easy, and the VR version of the Play Store surrounds you in a 3D photosphere of whatever game or app you're browsing on the store, giving you an instant idea of what the experience might be like without needed to scroll through flat, 2D screenshots. It's a neat an effective touch. Not so neat or effective is the several button presses it takes to install an app while in VR. The process goes a little something like: launch Play Store > Select App > Select Install > Select Download on WiFi Only > Select Confirm Install > Select Back button to return to browsing. Small complaints for what is a fairly simple process, I think it just feels a little clunky because the background jumps through a few transitions while you go through that process. But you can always install VR apps outside of VR with your phone in your hand instead of on your face. YouTube is Finally in VR Well, technically, it's been in VR for a while thanks to Cardboard, and there was also other ways to pull up YouTube videos in other headsets, but none of that was ideal. Now there's finally a full blown YouTube app for Daydream that not only lets you view YouTube's library of VR content, but also the rest of its insanely massive library of standard videos. The app is fully featured, letting you do most of what you'd expect to as a logged-in YouTube user, including browsing your subscriptions, subscribing to new channels, and searching for videos via text or voice input. [irp posts="55550" name="New YouTube VR App is Completely Re-designed for Daydream"] For flat videos you can increase the size of the screen and move it around to your liking. For VR videospheres you can rotate the front point to keep yourself centered on the action. I anticipate people are going to spend a lot of time in this app. Other Google Apps [gallery type="rectangular" ids="55598,55597,55595,55601"] Google has a few key VR apps out there like Photos and Play Movies that let you see your own captured or purchased content. There's also a preview of the Google Arts and Culture app which currently lets you browse high res scans of famous paintings curated and narrated by museums around the world. Street View goes way off road to take you to places like the Taj Mahal, or deep undergound in caves, but you can still type in an address to see any of Google's huge library of actual street view photos. The Cardboard Camera app lets you snap a 3D 360 degree view which can be viewed using the Photos app, and will be an awesome way to share VR imagery with friends if Google can make the sharing functionality easy and compelling. Games https://youtu.be/-tfR21aockU The games on Daydream (a small number thus far) are not extraordinary, and I struggle to point to anything right now that's truly a standout. At very least, they show some neat possibilities, but still feel like demos. Granted, most of what's available is currently free. However, most of them have shown that the addition of a simple motion controller can add a lot to the mobile VR experience, making the player feel more able to directly influence the virtual world. https://youtu.be/LF1UqwvwaS0 Developers are still learning how to use this new input paradigm effectively, and I expect we'll see lots of iteration and experimentation in the following months. We'll keep our eye out for the best titles as more hit the platform. Missing Social Experiences Right now there's not a compelling social offering on Daydream. There's at least one game that looks like it could be played co-op, but that's just a multiplayer game—what I'm looking for are social experiences that let me hang out with my friends in VR. Even something like multi-user YouTube sessions would be a great starting point to let friends interact together. Alas, there's no major social offering currently, though we're due to see some on the platform soon.