Category Archives: Virtual Reality

HOUSTON, TX: The Verizon team recently built and tested an independent GPU-based orchestration system and developed enterprise mobility capabilities that will revolutionize mobility for virtual reality (VR), mixed reality (XR), augmented reality (AR), and cinematic reality (CR). Together, these capabilities could pave the way for a new class of affordable mobile cloud services, provide a platform for developing ultra low-latency cloud gaming, and enable the development of scalable GPU cloud-based services.

5G technology and Verizons Intelligent Edge Network are designed to provide real time cloud services on the edge of the network nearest to the customer. Because of the heavy imaging and graphics that would benefit from this technology, many of these applications will run significantly better on a GPU. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML), Augmented, Virtual and Mixed Reality (AR/VR/XR), AAA Gaming, and Real-time Enterprise are highly dependent on GPUs for compute capabilities. The limited availability of efficient resource management in GPUs is a barrier to scalable deployment of such technologies.

To meet this need, the Verizon team developed a prototype using GPU slicing and management of virtualization that supports any GPU-based service and will increase the ability for multiple user-loads and tenants.

In proof of concept trials on a live network in Houston, TX using the newly developed GPU orchestration technology in combination with edge services, Verizon engineers were able to successfully test this new technology. In one test for computer vision as a service, this new orchestration allowed for eight times the number of concurrent users, and using a graphics gaming service, it allowed for over 80 times the number of concurrent users.

Creating a scalable, low cost, edge-based GPU compute [capability] is the gateway to the production of inexpensive, highly powerful mobile devices, said Nicki Palmer, Chief Product Development Officer. This new innovation will lead to more cost effective and user friendly mobile mixed reality devices and open up a new world of possibilities for developers, consumers and enterprises.

To assist developers in creating these new applications and solutions, Verizons team developed a suite of edge capabilities. These capabilities, similar in nature to APIs (Application Programming Interface), describe processes that developers can use to build an application without the need for additional code. This eases the burden on developers and also creates more consistency across apps. Building on this technology, the team has created eight services for developers to use when creating applications and solutions for use on 5G Edge technology:

With the development of these new innovative technologies and more than a dozen patents pending, the Verizon team was awarded with the Biggest contribution to Edge Computing R&D at the International London Edge Conference. Now you can see some of this exciting technology in person. At Mobile World Congress Americas in LA next week, Verizon will demonstrate some of these new capabilities at the Verizon 5G Built Right booth. Some of the demos include:

The future is now. Were no longer simply talking about the possibilities of 5G and edge computing, said Palmer. The work our Verizon 5G Lab team is doing is pushing the envelope of innovation and leading our industry into a new day where the possibilities inherent in 5G technology are becoming reality.

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Verizon develops new 5G edge technology that will revolutionize mobility for virtual reality (VR) - Verizon Communications

If you wanted to, you could visit some of the worlds greatest museums without ever leaving your couch. You can take a tour of the Louvre, explore the Renwick Gallery in Washington DC, or visit an entire collection of Dutch and Flemish masters that only exist together in digital form in the virtual Kremer museum. If youre wearing a VR headset, its almost like being there.

Museums are using VR in different ways. Here, the Neues Museum in Berlin uses VR to show visitors ... [+] what the stairwell used to look like before it was destroyed in the Second World War. (Photo by Carsten Koall/picture alliance via Getty Images)

These headsets make virtual surroundings seem extraordinarily realistic. It can make the wearer feel as if they are physically stepping off a ledge or riding a rollercoaster, even if those actions are only shown on screen. But can VR headsets really convey the full experience of being at a museum exhibit?

Researchers in Italy and Spain designed an experiment to find out how people respond emotionally to being in a virtual museum compared to a real museum. They took electroencephalographic (EEG) and electrocardiographic (ECG) measurements of a few dozen volunteers while they visited a museum exhibit. Half of the participants attended the 2016 exhibit Dpart-Arrive by artist Christian Boltanski at the Institut Valenci d'Art Modern in Valencia. The other half experienced a detailed reconstruction of the same exhibit entirely through a virtual reality headset, while walking around an empty room.

The researchers noticed that physiological measurements they took, together with survey questions, did not show much of a difference between people who visited the virtual museum or the real exhibit. If anything, visitors thought that the virtual museum was more exciting - but that could have been caused by the novelty of the virtual reality experience. In their paper, the researchers also suggested that there could be a sense of eeriness to the experience of being in a virtual room, which could affect the participants emotions. Still, despite these caveats, it looks like VR can capture at least some of the emotional experience of an exhibit.

But the overall experience of visiting a museum is about more than being in the space and looking around. For many people its a fun day off, a holiday activity, or an afternoon spent with friends. Those things all contribute to making a visit to the museum memorable and that full experience is difficult to translate to virtual reality. If you have a chance, go see a real exhibit, but if there is somewhere youre unable to visit, high quality VR could make for a decent substitute.

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Can Virtual Reality Capture The Experience Of Being In A Museum? - Forbes

The first six new Air Force helicopter pilots to train on virtual reality flight simulators recently pinned on their wings at the Armys Fort Rucker, Ala.

Late last week, the pilots graduated a redesigned course that prepared them to fly the UH-1N Huey, HH-60G Pave Hawk and the CV-22 Osprey six weeks earlier than the 28-week traditional pilot training program run by the 23rd Flying Training Squadron.

Called Rotary Wing Next, the program trims actual cockpit flying by nearly 18 hours and adds 38 hours of VR simulator flights to 20 hours of traditional simulator training.

Students spend 23 hours in VR before climbing into an aircraft, where they can expect to fly 67.3 hours during the course, Capt. Matt Strick, Innovation Flight commander, told Stars and Stripes by phone Wednesday.

By reducing the course length and incorporating new technology, the Air Force saves around $60,000 per student compared to the previous course, said squadron commander Lt. Col. Jake Brittingham by phone Wednesday.

The technology is making better use of instructor and student time, he said.

Where we really made our money was in the virtual reality sims, Strick said. You can really make time stand still. You can work on crew communications, checklists and start-up procedures before ever getting in the cockpit. We teach as [students] are doing the virtual reality flights.

Eventually, Rotary Wing Next is expected to produce new Air Force helicopter pilots in as few as 14 weeks.

Last year, Maj. Gen. Patrick Doherty, then the 19th Air Force commander, tasked Brittingham and other members of the 58th Special Operations Wing at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., to find a more efficient way to train helicopter pilots to meet the growing needs of the special operations units and the new platforms they will be fielding, Brittingham said.

For example, the Air Force plans to replace the Pave Hawk, its version of the Black Hawk helicopter, with the HH-60W combat rescue helicopter as early as 2021, according to manufacturer Lockheed Martins website.

Meanwhile, plans are to eventually replace the 40-year-old Huey, which the Air Force uses to defend missile fields, with the MH-139, built by Boeing.

Traditionally, the Air Force training squadron at Fort Rucker produces around 60 rotary-wing pilots a year, Brittingham said. The squadron was asked to increase its training output to 120 pilots a year by 2023-25, he said.

In fiscal year 2019, the squadron trained 74 pilots and is on course to train 85 in fiscal year 2020.

The Air Force implemented the idea for virtual simulators for helicopter training from its experimental Pilot Training Next program at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas, a relatively new program to train fixed-wing pilots to fly everything from the F-35 Lightning II strike fighter to heavy lifters like the C-5 Galaxy.

That program reduced the time needed to train fully qualified pilots from one year to six months. It graduated its first class of pilots in July 2018 and another in August.

Air Force helicopter pilots begin their training in the fixed-wing T-6 Texan II for six months. They then move into rotary-wing training where they first learn the basics of flight with vertical lift takeoffs, landings and how to hover, Brittingham said.

The students then learn to fly the helicopter in tactical situations low-level flying, landing and taking off on unprepared surfaces, flying in formation and with night-vision goggles.

The recent grads first day of class was May 7 and on May 8 they had their first VR flight, Brittingham said.

By the time the students climbed into an actual helicopter they knew how to talk as a crew, were familiar with the aircraft and had dealt with simulated problems in VR, which means instructors are just fine-tuning instead of starting from scratch, Strick said.

The six new pilots will be divided evenly among the three rotary-wing communities in the Air Force for follow-on training.

They are expected to send feedback about Rotary Wing Next to Fort Rucker. The training squadron plans to start another class in eight months, after the VR simulators receive updated software.

The software update will replace the Bell 412 utility helicopter simulation with the TH-1H primary trainer that is flown in training. The TH-1H is basically a Huey airframe with an updated cockpit like those in the helicopters the trainees will eventually fly.

Additionally, now that the first class of students has completed the course, all students in the schools traditional training course will get 20 hours of virtual reality simulator time, Strick said.

bolinger.james@stripes.comTwitter: @bolingerj2004

Air Force student-pilots work with an instructor from the 23rd Flying Training Squadron during a virtual reality simulator sortie, Oct. 9, 2019, at Fort. Rucker, Ala.U.S. AIR FORCE

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Virtual reality-heavy course speeds up Air Force helicopter pilot training by six weeks - Stars and Stripes

In 2015 through 2017, virtual reality (VR) campaigns were a hot trend that brands were experimenting with, but VR in marketing quickly stalled. A lower than expected adoption rate of VR hardware among consumers is largely thought to have been the culprit. This year, things started looking up for VR in marketing, as the technology has become more convenient and affordable given the introduction of the Oculus Quest headset in May. The big question for marketers to consider is whether VR is now here to stay and if so, how can it be used to drive engagement and reevaluate communication models with the customer.

What you saw happening with VR is happening with every new technology. The [term] hype cycle perfectly illustrates how evolving tech develops over time, explains Nils Wollny, co-founder and CEO at holoride, an in-car VR experience start-up. There is usually a big hype around new technology, so everyone is jumping on it, and then this gap of disappointment comes, where everyone says, Ok, the expectations are not fulfilled by this great new technology. And then [the tech] reaches the Plateau of Productivity and becomes a part of our general life. This is exactly what happened to VR, but its not an unusual development for any new tech. Every new technology has to go through this [process].

As recent as last year, analysts were skeptical about the VR tech utilization among consumers. In the report, Virtual And Augmented Reality Users 2019 eMarketer researchers anticipated that this year, only 42.9 million people would use VR and 68.7 million would use AR at least once per month, prediciting that VR would slow down as AR picks up. Another survey from Perkins Coie showed that 41 percent of respondents felt that the most tangible obstacle blocking mass virtual reality adoption was user experience issues, such as uncomfortable hardware or technical glitches.

The VR/AR experts predictions for 2019, however, were more optimistic. In January, Ricardo Justus, CEO, Arvore Immersive Experiences told AList his expectations for VR in 2019 were steady growth of the home-use space, amazing new location-based experiences and new and surprising device announcements.

Today, brands from diverse sectors are indeed tapping into the technology in more creative ways.

Google recently partnered with the Chteau de Versailles and now takes VR users on a private tour of the French royal residence. Fashion companies have incorporated VR influencers into their marketing initiatives with Chanel, Prada, Vans and Rihannas Fenty Beauty currently leading the pack of established companies that drive brand awareness with VR characters. Balmain even created a whole Virtual Army on influencers.

In the world of auto, Porsche debuted virtual reality technology and Land Rover, wowed the crowds with the new Defender VR experience at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September.

Wollny points out that VR marketing has an important place in gaming and entertainment. Earlier this year, DreamWorks collaborated with Walmart to promote How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World and allowed the fans to dive into the movie world right at select Walmart parking lots during the promotion of the film. Additionally, Universal Studios partnered with Ford on a campaign that started on October 14 at Universal CityWalk Hollywood, where people were able to jump into a Ford Explorer for a Bride of Frankenstein-inspired experience.

It is quite possible that brands that master VR in the coming years will be the most successful at harnessing the mediums creative potential. These brands need to remember, though, that while a fully immersive experience that shuts out the physical world makes a great tool to deliver a companys message, a successful VR marketing campaign, first of all, caters to the customers desire for personalization and delivers a truly exceptional experience that consumers cant find elsewhere.

So, what is the future of VR marketing? According to experts, well soon see the Plateau of Productivity of VR in action, meaning the technology will be more relevant in customers daily lives.

We can already see that with devices, like Oculus Quest, which is an affordable, stand-alone virtual reality device, VR will have greater impact on the daily life of customers in the coming months, bringing new opportunities to marketing. There is also a big opportunity for brands to build stories for interactive experiences that dont feel like a commercial or campaign but [offer] infinite worlds to build on and provide new experiences. Well also see things like product placement but in a smarter way than product placement in a movie, for example, because a product or a brand can be a part of the story people interact with, which feels more natural than simply placing something somewhere and have it captured by a camera, Wollny said.

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Virtual Reality Marketing In The Time Of Oculus Quest - AList

The German team-up of Audi and startup Holoride provides the first in-car Virtual Reality (VR) experience. Together with Universal Pictures and Ford, they're bringing it to California for the general public to see.

The maker of the technology is Holoride, a Munich-based company with Audi as a minority stakeholder. The cross-reality thrill that the startup has developed combines the physics of driving with VR immersion, with the VR environment matching the exact movements of the car -- so, when the car hits the brakes, the VR environment follows suit. Even the route length, driving style, and location are tailored to what the company refers to as "elastic content."

The in-car VR experience is a new attraction open to the general public visiting the Universal Pictures in California from Oct. 14 to Nov. 9. The ride plunges visitors into a reinvented version of the 1935 sci-fi drama "Bride of Frankenstein."

Riders will be seated on the second row of a 2020 Ford Explorer. They will be buckled down and equipped with a VR headset and handed some controllers. After that, it's a 10-minute journey as they ride around the Universal CityWalk in real reality while simultaneously fighting monsters virtually to deliver a message to Frankenstein.

"The thing that excited us was this idea of a procedural experience, the idea that you could build a story created around everyday travel," Greg Reed, vice president of technology partnerships at Universal Pictures, toldThe Verge.

"It really sets it up as an experience that could fit in a vehicle you own, a ride sharing vehicle, or public transportation. Again, this idea that you're adding an experience like this to every day life."

Disney already had a taste of Holoride's in-car VR with their Marvel's "Avengers: Rocket's Rescue Run," a demo of Holorides technology that zipped through a race track as opposed to a public road the one on Universal Pictures.

"This partnership with holoride and Ford highlights NBCUniversal's ongoing commitment to collaborate with the most innovative technology companies and consumer brands to create unique and forward-thinking immersive experiences for our audiences," said Greg Reed, the Vice President of Universal Pictures Technology Partnerships.

Other than the PS4 exclusives, it's been a while since the PS VR has received a new major announcement from Sony. Pictured: An attendee wearing a PlayStation VR headset plays a video game in the Sony Interactive Entertainment booth during the Tokyo Game Show 2018 on September 20, 2018 in Chiba, Japan. The Tokyo Game Show is held from September 20 to 23, 2018. Photo: Getty Images/Tomohiro Ohsumi

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Audi-Backed Startup To Offer First In-Car Virtual Reality Experience - International Business Times

In order to scope out the Armys use of virtual reality training, my editor sent me on a mission to find out if the new tech is the real deal or just fun and games.

The area of operations was the Association of the U.S. Armys annual conference in Washington, D.C., a target-rich environment for a humble defense reporter like me to get my hands on the defense industrys latest and greatest technology.

My first taste of virtual soldier life wasnt terribly exciting. I was supposed to embark on a simulated combat assault with the Army Special Forces, but some unexpected tech issues meant I had to hurry up and wait for something else. Ive been told dozens of times by actual troops that flexibility is key, so my photographer, Graeme Jennings, and I mirrored Army values by adapting, improvising, and overcoming our situation.

With some assistance from the Army Special Forces, we reconnoitered a VR shoot-house, complete with a mock M4 rifle, developed by Booz Allen Hamiltons Digital Soldier program. I was excited to try it out, but was skeptical that one of the worlds largest consulting firms had developed a realistic shooting simulation.

Graeme Jennings/Graeme Jennings

Putting on the VR headset I immediately was transported to a shooting range with a dusty, desert motif. A program engineer handed me my rifle, which looks and feels like a real M4 with a rail system for accessories, a red dot sight, and a magazine. The rifle is a combination of form and function. An electro-magnetic system replaces the firing mechanism to give the M4 realistic recoil, while a selector switch gives the option between safe, semi-automatic, and automatic fire. The magazine is actually a battery pack that serves as the virtual ammo, which must be loaded and unloaded like a real rifle.

Having never served in the military nor used a VR headset, I came into the experience with low expectations. Shouldering the rifle, I started picking off the armed dummies one-by-one, albeit with mixed results. Everything was simulated to mirror the real thing; recoil, physics, and bullet ricochet were were spot on.

Graeme Jennings/Graeme Jennings

The experience wasnt perfect. The red dot sight didnt operate like the real thing you had to line up the red dot with the front sight to shoot accurately. Also, I couldnt go full-auto with the rifle during the simulation itself kind of a bummer. Additionally, reloading the magazine was an awkward, clunky experience.

The simulator was fun. Lots of folks lined up at the booth to try it out. As a training exercise, though, its got its limitations. The mannequins dont shoot back, so shooting from cover like you would in a combat situation isnt required. Its also a solo experience with no chatter or background noise you might expect on an active firing range. Still, its definitely more interesting than watching one of the militarys notorious PowerPoint presentations.

Other virtual shoot houses at AUSA took virtual warfare to the next level. The Korean-based Optimus System placed would-be trainees in urban combat, where the enemy fired back. Hits were recorded via sensors on the trainees' helmets. Four-star Gen. Robert Abrams, who commands U.S. Forces Korea, donned the VR helmet, and shot well. So, too, did a pair of Columbian Army colonels, who afterwards mopped their brows and said, "It's very realistic."

Some users can be overwhelmed by the hyper-real experience, said an Israeli artist who is studying VR shoot-houses. "It disorients some people," the artist told the Washington Examiner.

But the Army is convinced these kinds of VR technologies are the future, and is putting them to use.

As for me, I will return to my comfortable existence as a weekend shooter, taking aim at clay pigeons and paper targets. And will call this, "mission accomplished."

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I went on a 'mission' to see if the Army's virtual reality training is the real deal - Washington Examiner

Vinette Tine tries out HouseWorks' VR training. (Mike Macklin/WBZ NewsRadio)

NEWTON, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) Dealing with dementia is a challenge not just for the families of persons living with it, but also for the professional caregivers who treat dementia patients.

Now, Newton-based company HouseWorks is using virtual reality to train caregivers in a realistic, sensitive way.

The VR trainingwhich involves donning dark goggles, heavy gloves, and a headset in a dark room with a flashing strobe lightis designed to mimic the limited sensation faculties that people with dementia deal with every day.

HouseWorks Founder and CEO Andrea Cohen said the training helps bridge the divide that may exist between caregivers and their patients.

"They're living in parallel universes in some ways, and we need to be able to help them connect," Cohen told WBZ NewsRadio's Mike Macklin.

Cohen said the training helps caregivers to have more patience for what their patients are going through.

"Rather than getting frustrated, they realize what the client is struggling with, and they're just more patient," she said. "They're more empathetic, they're more passionate, and they have a better perspective."

Vinette Tine is a certified nurse's assistant who has worked with dementia patients for seven years. She understands her clients' struggles, but after trying the VR training, she experienced virtual dementia firsthand.

"I totally forgot what I was told to do," she said. "I remember bits and pieces. I tried doing it, but it was all mixed. Things we take for granted, picking things up, putting things down, it was the most difficult thing just now. Your mind was like, all mixed up."

Just a few minutes in virtual dementia trying to perform everyday tasks like counting pills gave Tine a new perspective she says will make her a better caregiver.

WBZ NewsRadio's Mike Macklin reports

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Virtual Reality Helping Caregivers Understand Dementia - KFI AM 640

Visitors to the TNRDs Civic Building will soon be able to see the 2141 steam locomotive like they never have before.

The first viewing will take place in the atrium of the TNRD's Civic Building, 465 Victoria St., at 4 p.m. on Thursday.

For preservations sake, the locomotive has been turned into a virtual reality exhibit, constructed in partnership with the Arc/k Project using more than 18,000 photographs to create a virtual 3D tour.

Were now able to take a historic artifact and preserve it for future generations to interact with using modern technology. This is a tool our society can utilize for many different opportunities in which the physical engine would not be suitable, including cinematic and educational purposes, said Kamloops Heritage Railway society vice president Nicholas Adams.

The work is the result of a partnership between the City of Kamloops, Kamloops Heritage Railway Society, the Secwepemc Museum and Heritage Park and the Thompson-Nicola Film Commission.

The VR displays will be presented at the Kamloops Library, 465 Victoria St., on Oct. 25 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. and on Oct. 31 from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., and at the North Kamloops Library, 693 Tranquille Rd., on Oct. 22 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and on Oct. 30 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

To reserve a spot to experience the 2141 in VR, along with Icelandic glaciers and the Syrian city of Palmyra, call the Kamloops Library at 250-372-5145 or the North Kamloops Library at 250-554-1124.

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Steam locomotive can now be toured in virtual reality - Kamloops This Week

VR will thoroughly enhance the overall surgical training experience. Source: Shutterstock

EFFECTIVE surgical training, in particular, is critical to practicing surgeons its what makes them lifelong students.

With revolutionary advances in surgical tools and technologies, theres a continuous need to learn and be trained. As a result, there is a growing gap in surgical experience and skills development among doctors and medical students as a result.

Lack of objective assessments, standardized forms of training, and experimental opportunities could be contributing factors and virtual reality (VR) could provide a strategic solution.

VR technology can be programmed to simulate a surgical theater that is digitally tailored to give doctors and students a realistic experience.

When trainees are able to truly immerse themselves such an experience, theyll be able to track their ongoing progress as they perform, making their training more practical and authentic.

A study discovered that general surgeons are not ready to perform surgeries independently after completing the training which is why immersive training is useful.

Immersive training not only helps with retention of procedures but also help closely look for improvements.

Using VR, surgical training can be improved, giving current and future surgeons a standardized form of training, formalizing their experiences, and allowing a wholly objective assessment of surgical procedures performed.

A recent study revealed that surgical trainees performing a standardized procedure to repair a fractured tibia have improved the overall performance by 230 percent as a result of using VR technology.

Further, VR-equipped training resulted in trainees correctly completing 38 percent more steps than in traditional training settings.

Trainees were assessed against a procedure-specific standard and those utilizing VR were found to finish the surgery faster than those who were traditionally trained.

These new findings are significantly insightful as VR is proven to be a critical substance in surgical training, making it more effective and impactful.

Further, if VR is properly deployed in future training, medical students will be able to join the medical workforce with more confidence. VR makes elaborate and authentic hands-on training possible, shifting the dynamic in medical practice and surgical procedures for both new and experienced doctors.

Medical advances are usually evident with surgical tools and equipment that evolve with technology. Such advances have improved treatment procedures, patient care, and clinical processes.

Now, through research, technology evolution is proven to be beneficial and effective even in medical training. As more studies are set to explore the effectiveness of VR in medical training, it is hoped that a global initiative will be launched to scalably employ more VR technologies.

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Here's how virtual reality can help train doctors and medical students - Tech Wire Asia

Google is giving up on its Daydream virtual reality efforts.

On Tuesday, the Silicon Valley tech giant announced a slew of new products, most notably its new Pixel 4 phone and it also took the opportunity to quietly discontinue Daydream, a virtual reality product that was powered by inserting users' smartphones into headsets.

In an emailed statement to Business Insider, a Google spokesperson acknowledged that consumer adoption of the product was weak, and that it faced other issues. "There ... hasn't been the broad consumer or developer adoption we had hoped, and we've seen decreasing usage over time of the Daydream View headset," they wrote. (Variety previously reported on Daydream's discontinuation.)

Smartphone-powered virtual reality always felt lacking compared to more fully fledged, dedicated virtual reality hardware a contrast only heightened since the launch of Facebook's Oculus Quest headset, an all-in-one VR device that can track users' locations in three-dimensional space and requires no external hardware.

Daydream, and other phone-powered headsets like it, featured far less sophisticated functionality, and its discontinuation is an explicit acknowledgement from Google that consumers failed to warm to the budget format.

Despite billions of dollars of investments from big tech firms, in 2019 virtual reality is still struggling to break into the mainstream, and for most remains a novelty rather than a mature entertainment platform. Smartphone-based VR was an attempt to introduce the tech to the masses for the first time in a relatively low-cost way but in retrospect will be viewed as an abortive stopgap on a sluggish path towards mainstream appeal.

The Daydream app will continue to be available for existing users, Google said, but it is no longer selling the Daydream View the official headset and the new Pixel 4 is not compatible with the tech. The spokesperson confirmed that the discontinuation of Daydream also includes third-party, standalone headsets that were powered by the underlying tech like the Lenovo Mirage.

"We saw a lot of potential in smartphone VRbeing able to use the smartphone you carry with you everywhere to power an immersive on-the-go experience. But over time we noticed some clear limitations constraining smartphone VR from being a viable long-term solution. Most notably, asking people to put their phone in a headset and lose access to the apps they use throughout the day causes immense friction.

"There also hasn't been the broad consumer or developer adoption we had hoped, and we've seen decreasing usage over time of the Daydream View headset. While we are no longer selling Daydream View or supporting Daydream on Pixel 4, the Daydream app and store will remain available for existing users.

"We're investing heavily in helpful AR experiences like Google Lens, AR walking navigation in Maps, and AR in Search that use the smartphone camera to bridge the digital and physical worlds, helping people do more with what they see and learn about the world around them."

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Google abandons its phone-powered virtual reality headset Daydream, admitting almost no-one used it - Business Insider