Oculus CTO John Carmack is a believer in mobile virtual reality

Sep 5, 2014 23:31 GMT  ·  By

Oculus, the company behind the successful Rift virtual reality headset, has offered some more details about its collaboration with Samsung on the newly confirmed Gear VR headset, and how it's contributed with both software and know-how during the development process.

The virtual reality trend has been picking up lots of Steam in recent years, largely thanks to the resurrection of the whole industry from independent startup Oculus, with its Rift device.

The segment is now so popular that Facebook acquired Oculus earlier this year and Sony has also rolled out its own Project Morpheus VR headset prototype.

Earlier this week, Samsung introduced the Gear VR device, which is basically a virtual reality headset that uses the new Galaxy Note 4 phone as its screen.

While that may seem intriguing, what's more interesting is that Oculus is providing software and development support to Samsung for the new virtual reality device.

Now, Oculus' Chief Technical Officer, and famous video games designer, John Carmack, has shared his thoughts on the new device and how the mobile industry may further help the spread of virtual reality.

"The magic of a completely portable and wireless VR headset is easy to underestimate until you have experienced it. We don’t have the raw horsepower of a high end gaming PC (yet), but there are valuable compensations that make it a very interesting trade off, and many developers will thrive on the platform, especially as it improves at the rapid pace of the mobile ecosystem," he explained on the official website.

While existing Rift owners as well as those who are unconvinced of the whole virtual reality experience might scoff at the ambitious device, Carmack is confident that it will soon become a great way to show off the new VR experience to others.

"At it’s very core, virtual reality is about being freed from the limitations of actual reality. Carrying your virtual reality with you, and being able to jump into it whenever and wherever you want qualitatively changes the experience for the better," he said.

"Experiencing mobile VR is like when you first tried a decent desktop VR experience — There is a sense that you are glimpsing something from the future. This is science fiction made real, and it’s only just the beginning."

The Samsung Gear VR will be rolled out this fall, right alongside the Galaxy Note 4, so expect to hear more about it soon enough.

Meanwhile, Oculus has already rolled out the Rift DK2 prototype and is getting ready to announce the final consumer version of the Rift.