Google has added a new virtual reality headset to the mix, however this one has a really different really feel from others on the market.

Daydream View, a $79 headset unveiled by the corporate on Tuesday, has the identical fundamental design as many other cell VR headsets. The front opens as much as permit you to slide in a phone—either Google’s new Pixel phone or any of the incoming Daydream-compatible telephones from Android companions. After you strap it to your head, you peer on the telephone through two lenses that assist create the impression of a 360-degree display screen.

The very first thing that sets it apart is the fact that it’s made from supplies you’re doubtless to seek out in clothing—about as far as you may get from the plastic and foam development of its opponents. The headset additionally comes with a distant. The palm-sized system has a clickable contact pad and two buttons, however will also be moved, pointed, and swung for motion-based interplay with the headset. Tapping on the facet of Samsung’s Gear VR headset has never felt significantly snug or intuitive. Google Cardboard really solely has one button, limiting what you can do. This one will make interplay much simpler for oculus rift games and scrolling by means of the headset’s person interface.

The second and by far the most important difference from Daydream View’s opponents is in the cellphone that slips into it and the software behind it.

The gorgeous design, cohesive software program, and app retailer expertise in Apple’s iPhones drove a lot of the innovation in the primary section in smartphones. Google’s Pixel telephone marks the arrival of the following part.

Our phones are now a central part of our lives, however Google has reimagined how they slot in with the remainder of our expertise. Pixel, which starts at $649, puts a virtual assistant at its core. You'll be able to ask it to make a dinner reservation, look up present occasions and calculate the driving distance between the restaurant and the theater. It’s a bot that pulls collectively the intelligence from your whole apps and makes them accessible in one place (see "Google's Assistant Is More Ambitious Than Siri and Alexa").

"AI could possibly be a game changer for VR as it permits us to skip the tedious launching of apps and think about getting experiences delivered to you as quickly as you ask, in a extremely immersive method," says Jon Mann, UX design director at design consultancy firm Artefact.

Alongside Daydream View and Pixel, Google also launched a new Chromecast dongle and Home—a countertop help gadget just like Amazon Echo. It’s one massive ecosystem that allows you to switch to whatever display screen makes essentially the most sense for a particular moment. A VR headset is no longer a novelty accessory which you can decide up and fidget round with by yourself time. It’s a core piece of Google’s new lineup.

So what about Cardboard? It’s unlikely the low-cost VR headset will go away. VR has yet to realize a foothold in every house within the nation, so it’s nonetheless useful for the new York Times and other companies to be able to ship out cheap headsets by the thousands. However Daydream View is such a simple add-on for Pixel and other Daydream-appropriate phones that Cardboard can finally start its descent into irrelevance.