According to Google's François Beaufort, the Chromium team is working on a "VR shell" to let users browser the web using Google Cardboard or Daydream-ready VR headsets with a smartphone slotted in.
Chrome for VR is currently an experimental feature and can be activated by going to "chrome://flags/#enable-vr-shell" in the URL bar.
As reported by Road to VR, the Chrome in VR isn't fully functional yet even with it enabled. It's slowly rolling out to Chrome developer channels, so be patient if you don't see it yet.
As Google gears up for its big VR push with Daydream-ready smartphones, headsets and controllers, the company is no doubt preparing software and content to launch with it.
At its I/O developer conference this year, Google announced a VR version of the Google Play store for users to download and discover new VR content. YouTube, MLB.com and HBO Now were some VR apps unveiled.
The Daydream Home VR interface.
IMAGE: GOOGLE
Developing Chrome for VR is practically a must. While it may not be an out-of-body experience that literally puts you in the Internet, users will, in theory, be able to launch and view 360 video and VR content directly from within the VR browser.
Last year Road to VRtook a look at Samsung's Gear VR internet browser. A VR Chrome browser could provide a similar experience.
Game and app developers already working inside of virtual reality will be able to port existing apps and games to Google's brand new Daydream platform, if they are building on Unreal Engine.
Epic Games appeared on the stage of Google I/O to unveil Unreal Engine 4's compatibility with Daydream, which was announced on Wednesday.
Since Daydream is a virtual reality platform that supports several different Android-powered mobile phones, it will allow more people to access VR in the next few years, said Nick Whiting, VR and AR Technical Director for Epic Games. The biggest benefit will be the required controller — every Daydream user will need it to jump into VR — so developers all can code for the same specifications.
"Once you’ve interacted with motion controllers it’s really hard to go back, like going back to [Oculus] DK1," Whiting told Mashable. "You see the magic of being in game, but then you look down and the illusion is broken when you don’t have hands."
The Epic Games team built its own tech demo to show off the controller's capabilities in Daydream. In the dungeon crawler game, players can wave a wand, attack monsters, point at menus and drink potions, all with two buttons, a clickable trackpad and the included sensors.
"Almost everyone can wave their hands around and use a trackpad. It’s very simple so it’s very hard to do something wrong," Whiting said. "Many people grab Oculus Touch or Vive and they aren’t gamers, it’s amazing how many buttons are on them. It's good to have a simple, natural interface for people."
Daydream will sell virtual reality games and apps through the Google Play Store. There isn't a release date yet, but Unreal Engine 4 access will appear when developers get their hands on the platform, presumably before wider consumer release.
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Google's Project Tango is ready for prime time.
Conceived back in 2012 as a way to enable our devices to see like we do, Tango has evolved from prototype to prototype, and now is on the verge of its first real-deal release. Lenovo will unveil the world's first Tango-enabled device on June 9.
It's a big milestone for the computer vision project, which aims to give smartphones and tablets sensor-enabled superpowers. A Tango phone will be able to, among other things, take precise measurements of rooms, "remember" environments and track how objects have moved, and even create moving, virtual characters that can interact with the real world. It's one of the most complete examples of augmented reality in tech right now.
But on the heels of all the announcements Google made at its I/O developer conference, Tango's imminent coming-out party feels a bit anticlimactic. Google has been developing Tango in plain sight for a couple of years — the developer kit, which includes a tablet with Tango sensors, has been available for some time — and the impending Lenovo release feels more like punctuation than a statement. Tellingly, Tango was barely mentioned at all in the I/O keynote.
What's more, Tango appears to have been overshadowed by other projects at Google, in particular Daydream, Google's platform for properly bridging VR with Android. Daydream includes a new spec for Android phones to rate them as VR-ready, meaning they'll be able to create virtual worlds and objects that users will be able to interact with, with minimal latency.
The home screen in Google Daydream.
IMAGE: GOOGLE
Virtual worlds colliding
Wait a sec… virtual objects? Interactivity? Rigorous hardware and software specs for manufacturers to ensure a smooth user experience? That sounds a lot like a certain augmented reality project that rhymes with "mango."
Certainly, Daydream and Tango have a lot in common, and not just broadly. The motion tracking that's endemic to Tango would seem to be directly applicable to the VR experiences of Daydream. It feels like a no-brainer to combine these two technologies, perhaps creating a Tango-powered headset that provides a 360-degree augmented reality experience instead of a full virtual environment — like Microsoft HoloLens, but smartphone-powered.
Don't hold your breath for such a device. Even though Google VR chief Clay Bavor strongly hinted at a similar device (virtually the only mention of Tango in Wednesday's keynote), Tango leader Johnny Lee told Mashable that comparing Tango and Daydream is apples and oranges — at least for now.
Tango was in development years before Daydream, Lee said, and the spec is entirely different. Whereas Tango is mainly about positional tracking, Daydream prioritizes visual performance. The Lenovo Tango device doesn't meet the Daydream requirements — in particular the display, latency and sensors. Not to mention Daydream phones will need specific headsets built for them, and there's no planned controller or headset for the Lenovo device, Lee said.
Could Daydream-ready phones also be Tango devices?
Okay, but what about going the other way: Could Daydream-ready phones also be Tango devices? It's possible, certainly, although Lee told us none of the Daydream phones currently in development has the required sensor hardware to enable Tango-powered experiences.
So it seems these two related technologies will stand apart for now, even if — as Bavor hinted with his keynote comments and cameo appearance at a Tango session at I/O — they will inevitably someday be married. With Microsoft taking a strong early lead with HoloLens, and Facebook's stated plans to get into the augmented reality business, Google has to be thinking along the same lines.
A second crack at Glass
A Daydream Tango device might not even resemble a smartphone, tablet or VR-style headset. Augmented reality tends to work better with the actual real world in the field of view, not a screen. Logically, then, the right device to deliver a Tango-Daydream experience is a pair of smart glasses.
A rendering of the Google Daydream reference design for a headset and controller.
IMAGE: GOOGLE
Whoa, Nelly. If Google is working on that, they have good reason not to talk about it. You may remember a little gadget called Google Glass. While that wasn't true augmented reality, it nonetheless certainly seared Google (and the public) on smart glasses. If Google is working on such a headset, it has good reason not to talk about it, at least for now.
Until then, each of these technologies needs to prove themselves on their own. When Tango arrives, its practical abilities will likely be appealing to parts of the enterprise, but it's unclear it there's an audience beyond that. Daydream, however, is aiming higher — its goal is no less than to give mobile VR a mass consumer audience.
If Daydream succeeds, Google will have all the tools in place to take augmented reality mainstream, perhaps finally creating a device that delivers on the promise of that first concept video for Glass. The only question then will be: Will we actually want to wear it?
Huawei has announced it will be one of the first smartphone manufacturers to support Google's virtual reality platform Daydream.
According to the company, there will be announcements about Daydream-ready phones, headsets and controllers by the end of the year.
"Huawei looks forward to working with Google and other global industry leaders to build an ecosystem and bring rich and compelling Daydream experiences to users through transformative innovations in VR devices, applications and content," the company wrote in a press release.
The Chinese smartphone giant's phrasing regarding timing is a little vague. The company said it "will have Daydream-ready phones, headsets, and controllers to be announced by the end of 2016." Whether that means announcements would be made by the end of the year, or we'll see actual products by then, remains unclear. We've reached out to Huawei to clarify, but have not yet heard from them.
Google's Daydream is an Android N-based platform for virtual reality. At the main Google I/O keynote Wednesday, Google said it would include support for several Google apps, as well as offer access to VR content from HBO, CNN, Hulu and Netflix.
Contrary to rumors prior to the event, Google did not show a new VR headset at the keynote. Instead, we've only seen a drawing of a headset, with Google explaining it's a reference design on which manufacturers — such as Huawei — can base actual devices.
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