SYDNEY: Technology giants are more concentrating on virtual reality headset. The LG’s VR for G3 is an impressive first step but there are no electronics inside, it’s just a plastic frame designed to hold the phone up to your face and lenses in front of your eyes. There’s a divider to ensure that each eye can only see its half if the screen.
The VR for G3 relies on LG’s flagship G3 Android smartphone as the screen. The headset is based on the Google Cardboard concept. As virtual reality steps out from the pages of science fiction, most of the attention has focused on the Oculus Rift headset with built-in screens for each eye. The Oculus Rift is expected to finally go on sale this year, but meanwhile you can experience virtual reality by strapping a smartphone to your face.
That might not be the most glamourous description of LG’s VR for G3 virtual reality headset, but if you’re expecting a fully immersive sci-fi experience then you’re setting yourself up for disappointment. Instead the VR for G3 is more like an old-fashioned View-Master on steroids, offering a window into virtual worlds rather than whisking you away.
While Google’s cardboard frames support a wide range of handsets, the plastic VR for G3 is designed specifically for the G3 smartphone. LG is giving the headset away when you buy the G3 smartphone, with plans to sell it separately for people who already own the phone.
There’s no built-in head strap with the VR for G3, so technically it’s a viewer rather than a headset. There are slits on the side for a strap and I managed to rig one up, but it’s still difficult to get the headset to sit properly on your face unless you’re holding it in place.
There’s no tight seal with your face so the VR for G3 lets in a little light from the sides, although it’s not too distracting once you’re engaged with the content. Unfortunately the hard plastic can dig uncomfortably into the bridge of your nose so some padding might be called for if you’ll use the headset regularly or intend to use it with customers.
The design of the headset leaves room for eyeglasses, which is good because there’s no way to manually adjust the image to suit your eyesight. Even if you just wear glasses for reading, you might find the picture looks sharper if you leave them on.
The lack of a head strap is one of the key differences between the VR for G3 and Samsung’s $249 Gear VR. Samsung’s Galaxy Note 4 phablet acts as the Gear VR’s screen but Samsung’s headset has built-in sensors, whereas LG’s VR for G3 relies on the phone’s built-in gyroscope to detect when your head moves.
Having tested both I’d say Samsung’s Gear VR is more practical and comfortable for extended viewing, but to dismiss the VR for G3 on this aspect alone would be short-sighted. Rather than sitting down to watch a feature-length movie, the VR for G3 is better-suited to short sessions.
The Google Cardboard app is your starting point, with a handful of demos to show off the VR for G3’s potential.
Launch the Google Cardboard app, hold the headset up to your face and you’ll see menus floating in black space. You can turn your head left or right to switch between menu items and then select one by pulling down a slider on the side of the headset. To get back to this main menu you need to turn the headset sideways, which makes a head strap a bit impractical.
While the headset knows which direction you’re facing, it’s not designed to let you walk around. You can’t even lean across slightly to get a better view, you stay in a fixed location in the virtual world.
In this aspect VR for G3 is not nearly as immersive as something like the Zero Latency system I tested last year, which is built around the Oculus Rift headset but lets you walk around in the real world to move in the virtual world. The new HTC Vive headset, on show at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, also lets you walk around.
