Google will almost certainly unveil a stand-alone Android VR headset at Google I/O next week.
A couple of days ago, veteran tech journalist and entrepreneur Peter Rojas issued a series of tweets about Google’s VR plans. He claimed that a stand-alone Android VR headset would be launched at Google I/O, and that it would fall somewhere between the Samsung Gear VR and the Oculus Rift on the performance chart.
Now Google itself appears to have accidentally confirmed these reports.
As spotted by Android Police, an Android VR placeholder recently appeared in the Pricing & Distribution section of the Google Play Developer Console.
Add this to the fact that the schedule for Google I/O includes lots of VR sessions, and a reference to Android VR in the latest Unreal Engine preview, and the evidence is pretty overwhelming.
Earlier reports have suggested that Google’s stand-alone VR headset will feature a display, cameras and processor from Movidius – a self-proclaimed world leader in “embedded machine vision technology providing artificial intelligence to the next generation of connected devices.”
Related: Google I/O: What to expect
To date Google’s VR ambitions have appeared to be little more modest than the rest. Its cheap-but-limited Cardboard headset has sold 5 million Cardboard headsets and has seen 30 million Cardboard-friendly apps downloaded from the Google Play Store.
Android VR looks set to be a massive step up into the big leagues of virtual reality. We should find out for sure from May 18.
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Are you looking forward to Google’s vision of VR? Let us know in the comments.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
