Samsung is hesitant over whether to pursue a standalone VR headset, its president and chief strategy officer Young Sohn has revealed.
Despite the company actively pursuing VR in both forms, Sohn has said that the decision to send a standalone, all-in-one model to market is dependent on a few factors – the major one being VRs success over the next few years.
Sohn believes that VR is reaching a peak in its hype cycle. But despite this he argues the market is yet to prove itself, and until it does, Samsung will hold fire on a VR headset. Previously, Sohn has suggested he doesn’t know whether VR is hype or mainstream.
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He also highlighted several issues that he feels need ironing out in Samsung’s current handsets before the company releases a new VR headset. These include latency needs, display tech as well as battery efficiency. However, he did admit that VR technology would be a driving incentive for Samsung’s other products. These include next-gen displays, as well as possible forays into the medical world.
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Adequate displays are something of a flashpoint in the VR debate. Sohn believes that next-gen VR will need displays with pixel densities of “at least two times” what they are now. What’s more, he suggested that building a 10K display suitable for standalone VR would involve investing $5 billion to $10 billion.
Despite these worries, Samsung still leads the way in mobile VR, with over a million Samsung Galaxy and Note owners using the Gear VR headset. The company is also one of Google Daydream’s first partners, and has an ongoing partnership with Oculus Rift.
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