Google Working On New Virtual Reality Headset

Google making a new virtual reality (VR) headset as the web giant makes another attempt at breaking in to the VR market, according to the Financial Times.

The headset will be an overhauled version of Google’s Cardboard VR headset that was launched in 2014.

Google’s new device will be constructed from plastic, and will feature built-in motion sensors, according to sources.

The newspaper’s sources said that Google’s device could be a more open competitor to Samsung’s Gear BR device because users can insert a smartphone of their choice into the device’s housing. The sources further claimed that Google will tie Android and virtual reality even closer.

TechWeekEurope has asked Google for comment.

Glass

It was just last week when Google hammered the final nails in the coffin for its Google Glass project, quietly removing the wearable device’s social media accounts from existence.

Google, which is now part of newly-formed parent company Alphabet, deleted its Google Glass social media accounts from Instagram, Twitter, and even its own social media platform Google+. The final post on the device’s Google+ page said: “We’ve had a blast hanging out with you on G+ throughout the Explorer Program.”

Google Glass was the web giant’s short-lived attempt at an augmented reality wearable device. Worn like a regular pair of glasses, Glass was released in 2012 at Google’s annual I/O conference to early developers who were eager to create apps and uses for the device. Google and developers alike were hopeful for the technology, with Google Glass tested in medical and even journalistic environments.

TechWeekEurope spoke to Ben Wood, a wearable devices analyst at market researcher CCS Insight. He said that Google’s decision to remove its social media pages for Google Glass “should not be viewed as the end of the product”. Instead, Wood thinks that Google has a future in store for Google Glass yet.

“We believe it is being sensibly repositioned as an enterprise device for use in workforces where huge opportunities are emerging,” said Wood.

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