As expected, Archos is launching a virtual reality headset. And as expected, it’s basically a big, cheap device that lets you strap a smartphone to your face.
Archos VR Glasses will be available for purchase in November for $30.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing. It means that your phone can act as the display and the brains of your virtual reality system. Fire up a compatible app on your phone, slide it into the Archos headset, and you can get the experience of watching a big-screen TV or playing an immersive game, among other activities.
Supported apps and phones will also be able to track your head movement to offer 360 degree videos that move as you change position. And if you pair the device with a Bluetooth game controller, you can play games while wearing the headset (Archos mentions it has its own game controller on the way).
Archos says its VR Glasses will support phones with screen sizes up to 6 inches, and will work with any operating system including Android, iOS, or Windows. That makes sense since, as I’ve already pointed out, Archos VR Glass doesn’t seem to involve any hardware. It’s basically a phone holder that you wear over your eyes.
It’s sort of like Google Cardboard… except it’s made of plastic. I don’t think the developers of the Oculus Rift have much to worry about.
Pass…
The price of the Oculus Rift is more than reasonable enough in the $200-400 range. There’s no need to “slum it” with something like this, which is likely going to disappoint.
How can they depend on developers to integrate the neccessary features into their apps, to deliver the correct experience. They can’t. This will fail, like EVERY Archos product.
At least it doesn’t have firmware for them to develop the promptly forget about.
When do we start seeing the “panaramic” versions of this clever idea, which strap 3 phones in an arc in front of your face? Why? Because you’ll buy anything! 😉
prolly cuz the field of vision isn’t wide enough when you’re this close to the phone screen(s)