Samsung goes out-of-body with Note 4 and virtual reality

THE out-of-body experience of virtual reality is about to hit Australia with Samsung launching its Gear VR headset.

Samsung goes out-of-body

THE out-of-body experience of virtual reality is about to hit Australia with Samsung last night launching its Gear VR headset.

The Gear VR, a headset that works in conjunction with the new Samsung Galaxy Note 4 smartphone, will sell locally from November 5.

At a Samsung launch event at the Sydney Opera House, I donned the VR headset and swam with the sharks in an ocean before ending up in the jaws of one, watched Cirque du Soleil strut its stuff from the front of the stage, soared in the air beside a helicopter in full flight, and flew over Antarctic icebergs.

What made this different from anything before was that I could look up, down, left and right and even swivel around 360 degrees and explore the environment behind me — as if I was really in it.

The Gear VR, together with wearing headphones, totally blotted out the launch event and I felt I was really exploring the mocked-up environments on offer. It was the 1999 blockbuster The Matrix come true.

But the experience will cost you more than $1000 to set it up. That’s because the Gear VR headset is an accessory to the Note 4, a highly capable 5.7-inch screen phablet-sized smartphone in its own right. It will cost $949. The Gear VR headset adds another $249.

The virtual reality experience is powered by the Note 4, which you insert into the Gear VR. You choose the experience you want from the Note 4, connect the Gear VR and Note 4 by USB, place the Note 4 inside the Gear VR unit, don the headset and headphones, and you’re away.

The headset has a dial at the top front, so I could sharpen the focus of the video I was immersed in. It certainly wasn’t HD quality, but it was compelling nonetheless. I was initially concerned that the setup might be heavy to wear, especially as it includes the phone, but it was actually quite comfortable.

The shark video brought back a memory of diving into a tank of sharks at a tourist centre at Caloundra in Queensland a decade ago, but this time there was no fear factor and I remained bone dry throughout.

The Gear VR is the product of a partnership between Samsung and US virtual reality company Oculus VR, which this year Facebook bought for more than $US2 billion. It is a pet project of Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg.

It means Samsung users will be able to access optimised VR content from Oculus. It includes dynamic 360 degree video, games, educational and experiential content.

Samsung last night launched two versions of the Note 4 — one with a flat screen and a slightly more expensive model with a screen that folds at the right hand edge called the Note Edge. It will retail outright for $1249.

The Note 4 features a large 5.7-inch 1440 x 2560 quad HD display with 515 pixels per inch. The curved screen Note Edge has similar screen quality. In comparison, Apple’s newly released iPhone 6 Plus has a screen resolution is 401 ppi and its display is 0.2 inches shorter.

Samsung also locally launched another smartwatch, a curved screen Samsung Gear S, which can operate by either pairing with a smartphone by Bluetooth, or independently of a phone using its own nano-SIM card.

A new headset, the Gear Circle, can be worn around the head and has a magnetic lock which clasps around the neck.

But the piece de resistance was the Gear VR, which looms as a magnet for gamers. It is likely soon that several gamers each using a Gear VR will be able to interact together in the one virtual environment, just as in The Matrix.

The avalanche of new Samsung devices however does not seem to faze rival Apple which yesterday announced record sales of its iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus smart handsets launched last week.

Apple said it had sold more than 10 million of the two new phones models in just three days following Friday’s launch. That’s roughly $10 billion in gross revenue, based on $1,000 per handset.

“Sales for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus exceeded our expectations for the launch weekend, and we couldn’t be happier,” Apple chief executive Tim Cook said.

Oculus VR is due to release its own stand-alone virtual reality device, Oculus Rift, next year.

VIDEO: Stuart Kennedy reports on the Oculus Rift