Device makers planning 'true VR experiences' on Apple's iPhone this fall

AppleInsider · March 9, 2016 6:48PM

Immersive virtual reality experiences -- well beyond what Google Cardboard can offer -- are expected to begin arriving on the iPhone, with the aid of new third-party hardware, this fall.

Investment firm Piper Jaffray held a series of virtual reality panels this week including 13 companies in the field. One of them --?IonVR -- indicated they expect to have a VR headset for iPhone launching in the fall of 2016.

Analyst Gene Munster said the IonVR product is expected to be much more advanced than current iPhone-based VR accessories, such as Google Cardboard and Mattel View-Master. He believes those basic products, which use the iPhone's Retina display to simulate VR, do not offer "true VR experiences."

But comments from IonVR at this week's panel suggested that the iPhone can, in fact, do proper VR "with the help of third-party hardware," Munster said. He expects those types of iPhone-connected accessories to begin taking off later this year.

The Idaho-based IonVR has created a proprietary optics system it calls "MotionSync," which it claims will greatly reduce motion sickness when used with mobile devices like Apple's iPhone. Integrated hardware in its headset is also said to offload some processing from the phone, allowing it to last longer, while also simplifying the software development process.

IonVR's product is also modular, meaning parts can be replaced or swapped out as technology advances.

It's currently available for preorder for $229 and is expected to ship soon. But representatives from the company told Munster they expect to offer a headset priced between $100 and $200 launching this fall, suggesting a different product could be in the works.

Apple patent illustrating an augmented reality iPhone mapping app.

Munster and Piper Jaffray are bullish on the future of VR, and even claimed last year that Apple has its own team working on augmented reality technology. Last month, Munster predicted that Apple will add ecosystem support for VR to its "Made for iPhone" program within the next two years.

Munster said this week that he believes virtual and augmented reality will prove to be "the next computing paradigm."

In addition to investments from Apple and Google, he also noted that Sony is positioned to help grow VR rapidly, thanks to the existing install base of its PlayStation 4 game console. Its Project Morpheus VR headset is expected to launch this year.

msantti · March 9, 2016 7:37PM

Mobile VR is not "true" VR like what Sony, Occulus, or HTC (Valve) are bringing out. Motion tracking being one thing that separates the two.

Should still do some cool stuff. iPhone users deserve to be able to get in the game as who knows what Apple is doing with this.

I lik forward to getting my Galaxy S7 Edge and trying some VR stuff on it.

Seriously considerig Sony VR for my PS4 later this year.

I do have a game PC powerful enough to run Occulus Rift or the HTC Vive but thos headsets are not particularly cheap.

ireland · March 9, 2016 7:40PM

Skip ahead 6 years. VR proves to be a niche exclusive to some kinds of gaming. Just as 3D is a niche exclusive to some movies. Gravity is 3D was gimmick-heavy. I firmly believe the 3D-ness of it took from the movie. Source: saw it in the cinema.

roake · March 9, 2016 7:52PM

I tried Google Cardboard yesterday for the first time. It's the first and only "VR" technology I have tried. I had ordered an $8 kit and finally decided to use it with my iPhone 6S Plus. It was interesting, but certainly not jaw-dropping. It had a 3-D appearance, but was pretty unrealistic, even the Urban Walk based on Street View. My 6-year-old daughter loved it, though.

While running the demo, I noticed that the phone started to run hot, which surprised me somewhat, since I do not experience that (to this degree, at least) on even the most demanding games.

No-one who tried it, including my motion-sick-prone wife had any nausea or other discomfort.

All in all, I would categorize it as an interesting experiment rather than a cutting edge technology. I'm very keen to see what Apple will do with it, since Google seems to simply be piddling around with it.

msantti · March 9, 2016 7:53PM

Cardboard is as basic as it gets.

Of course, it could be enough to turn some people off.

rotateleftbyte · March 9, 2016 7:59PM

msantti said:

ireland said:

Skip ahead 6 years. VR proves to be a niche exclusive to some kinds of gaming.

What else does your crystal ball say?

Niche is the key word. For the rest of us who don't game we go 'Meh' to all this stuff.

msantti · March 9, 2016 8:11PM

sog35 said:

msantti said:

Cardboard is as basic as it gets.

Of course, it could be enough to turn some people off.

What's crazy is Lebron James is a Samsung spokesman and refused to put on the VR headset as part of the Galaxy/VR commerical.

That just shows that the mainstream isn't ready to embrace VR.

HE gets a little sensitive over stuff sometimes.

msantti · March 9, 2016 8:14PM

sog35 said:

msantti said:

Nerds don't use iPhones?

I always laugh at people that get all bet out of whack at what they think of people wearig 3D glasses or using an iPad. Why in the fuck is it of concern to you?

Oh, and why in the fuck do you only have to be a fucking nrd to use these things.

Who in the fuck are you?

You fucking special or something?

Your shit don't stink?

calm down.

you got it all wrong. I'm a nerd. I like nerdy stuff. I might even get a VR unit. But I know how the mainstream thinks. And the way VR units look, there is no way they take off in the mainstream.

again the mainstream just won't buy something that makes them look like this:

No matter how cool it is.

THe thing is that one needs to try it. You can explain it till you pass out but you can't really grasp it until you try a unit on.

You could just try to walk around with two simple eye patches over your eyes and look silly walking around.

msantti · March 9, 2016 8:19PM

There about maybe 13 million (from what I read) PC's out ther than can run the Rift or the Vive.

There are around 36 million PS4's out there that could run Playstation VR.

Absolutely not iPhone numbers of course.

Will be interesting how Samsung's solution does as they are currently giving headsets away with a pre-order of the new Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge phones.

Oh, I have a 3D TV and actually like it. SOME movies do look pretty cool. Did not go out looking for it specifically but the better sets (mine is a Samsung Plasma) had the feature.

tmay · March 9, 2016 8:25PM

msantti said:

sog35 said:

calm down.

you got it all wrong. I'm a nerd. I like nerdy stuff. I might even get a VR unit. But I know how the mainstream thinks. And the way VR units look, there is no way they take off in the mainstream.

again the mainstream just won't buy something that makes them look like this:

No matter how cool it is.

THe thing is that one needs to try it. You can explain it till you pass out but you can't really grasp it until you try a unit on.

You could just try to walk around with two simple eye patches over your eyes and look silly walking around.

I agree with sog,

AR is going to have much more benefit to society than VR, and it is practical today for mobile devices.

mytdave · March 9, 2016 8:34PM

Not holding my breath.

msantti · March 9, 2016 8:39PM

sog35 said:

msantti said:

THe thing is that one needs to try it. You can explain it till you pass out but you can't really grasp it until you try a unit on.

You could just try to walk around with two simple eye patches over your eyes and look silly walking around.

Problem is most mainstream won't even try it in the first place. Since it makes them look like a walking robo-zombie.

This is just like the Google-Glass arguments I had with Glass-holes 3 years ago. Yes its cool. But it won't go mainstream.

Glass really never appealed to me.

MS's HoloLens things looks inteesting. Still aways off though as the Dev. kit costs like 3 grand.

baconstang · March 9, 2016 9:48PM

msantti said:

baconstang said:

Yawn.

I know.

Its a "yawn" unless Apple is participating.

I get it.

And your all's boy Tim Cook says its intersting.

http://www.theverge.com/2016/1/26/10836066/tim-cook-virtual-reality-apple-not-niche-interesting-applications

I'm sure VR will be as popular with the general public as Google Glass.

peteo · March 9, 2016 10:00PM

"He believes those basic products, which use the iPhone's Retina display to simulate VR, do not offer "true VR experiences."

Hmmm I wonder why every major VR HDM uses OLED for the screens.

Oh Piper the cluelessness abounds

peteo · March 9, 2016 10:02PM

ireland said:

Skip ahead 6 years. VR proves to be a niche exclusive to some kinds of gaming. Just as 3D is a niche exclusive to some movies. Gravity is 3D was gimmick-heavy. I firmly believe the 3D-ness of it took from the movie. Source: saw it in the cinema.

VR is NOT the same as a 3D movie, not even close.

macplusplus · March 9, 2016 10:48PM

sog35 said:

msantti said:

Nerds don't use iPhones?

I always laugh at people that get all bet out of whack at what they think of people wearig 3D glasses or using an iPad. Why in the fuck is it of concern to you?

Oh, and why in the fuck do you only have to be a fucking nrd to use these things.

Who in the fuck are you?

You fucking special or something?

Your shit don't stink?

calm down.

you got it all wrong. I'm a nerd. I like nerdy stuff. I might even get a VR unit. But I know how the mainstream thinks. And the way VR units look, there is no way they take off in the mainstream.

again the mainstream just won't buy something that makes them look like this:

No matter how cool it is.

Actually that one looks quite natural. The ones with joystick are real humour, if not an insult to their audience's intelligence...

One cannot "VR" with a ridiculous joystick. The introduction of a "virtual self" into the VR environment is a must. And that may require sensor equipped suits or straps and alike... No self no VR...

If it is joystick then I already do that on my computer screen, why would I wear the whole display assembly on my head?

bulldogs · March 10, 2016 2:14AM

roake said:

I tried Google Cardboard yesterday for the first time. It's the first and only "VR" technology I have tried. I had ordered an $8 kit and finally decided to use it with my iPhone 6S Plus. It was interesting, but certainly not jaw-dropping. It had a 3-D appearance, but was pretty unrealistic, even the Urban Walk based on Street View. My 6-year-old daughter loved it, though.

While running the demo, I noticed that the phone started to run hot, which surprised me somewhat, since I do not experience that (to this degree, at least) on even the most demanding games.

No-one who tried it, including my motion-sick-prone wife had any nausea or other discomfort.

All in all, I would categorize it as an interesting experiment rather than a cutting edge technology. I'm very keen to see what Apple will do with it, since Google seems to simply be piddling around with it.

First off, Google Cardboard was good enough to save a baby's life. http://qz.com/588552/doctors-used-google-cardboard-to-perform-heart-surgery-on-a-baby/ Second, what do you expect for an $8 product? It was just something cheap and simple that Google used to get it to the masses. So far so good ... 5 million people on Google Play alone - which means it doesn't count people like you or this doctor who use it with iOS - and this is without any real advertising campaign beyond the Star Wars tie-in (which was a limited supply that ran out in like an hour ... who knows how many they would have gotten onto the platform had the promotion ran for like a week or something). Seriously, the better Cardboard-based products like the the original Samsung headset (which was based on Cardboard, not Oculus) or even the Mattel Viewmaster offer better experiences. Another thing: that was Cardboard 1.0. Cardboard 2.0 is going to be introduced at Google I/O and will officially debut a few months later. It will be much more powerful and immersive. It will also actually be VR! (Cardboard isn't VR, but "VR-like"). Which means that the platform is going to have real hardware and software this time (the software will run on Android of course, but the Cardboard 2.0 will still be multi-platform as before). This will mean no more $8 devices though, for good or ill.

Device makers planning 'true VR experiences' on Apple's iPhone this fall

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