V I R T U A L E N T E R T A I N M E N T A N D M A R K E T I N G

Samsung Gear VR: S m a r t p h o n e
i n t e g r a t i o n w i t h O c u l u s V R
t e c h n o l o g y
Like Google
Cardboard,
Samsung Gear
VR uses a
smartphone,
but it differs in that the phone is
connected to a headset developed by
Oculus VR. Thus, Gear represents
an early VR device whose $200 retail
cost is significantly higher than Google
Cardboard but whose design is more
similar to subsequent, dedicated headsets
such as Oculus VR’s own Oculus Rift.
The benefit for Oculus VR in providing
Samsung with a form of their technology,
then, is that the Gear introduces VR to
developers and consumers before the
release of the Rift. Furthermore, Gear VR
content must be released through Oculus
Home, which is the proprietary storefront
controlled by Oculus VR itself. A more
advanced version of Samsung Gear VR
is reportedly going on sale in late 2015,
but it remains to be seen what impact the
Rift’s own late 2015 release will have on
Gear’s market viability.
Oculus Rift: Dedicated VR headset
with Facebook funding
Oculus VR’s Oculus
Rift was one of
the first publicly
announced modern
VR devices.
In August 2012, the first developer kit was
made available to backers on Kickstarter in
an attempt to drive content development
for the Rift. After the “Crystal Cove”
prototype debuted in January 2014,
Facebook acquired Oculus VR for
approximately $2 billion. This updated
prototype included refinements such as a
motion-tracking external camera, which
provides a form of data measurement
that likely only increased Facebook’s
interest in the Rift’s economic potential.
The most recently introduced version
of the headset is “Crescent Bay,” and it
is believed that the consumer version of
Rift will become available in late 2015
for between $200 and $400. Because of
the Rift’s comparatively longer history in
the contemporary VR space and because
of Facebook’s high-profile acquisition of
Oculus VR, the market performance of
the Rift will determine how Hollywood
studios, video game publishers, and
advertisers approach VR. Facebook, then,
has the potential to establish VR for the
mainstream.
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