At its annual developer conference, Samsung has announced that it is working on a standalone VR headset that offers positional tracking. The technology is already available on the HTC Vive or the Oculus Rift, but Samsung is looking to do one better by offering a headset that’s untethered.
From Samsung’s head of R&D for software and services Injong Rhee:
We’re working on wireless and dedicated VR devices, not necessarily working [just with] our mobile phones. You’re going to see a lot of our products coming on the market in the next few years with these capabilities.
Rhee said that the vendor is also working on hand and gesture tracking, with the eventual goal being a Star Trek-style “holodeck:”
You enter a holodeck, you’re actually in a virtual world, interacting with all the virtual objects as if you’re living there. That’s the kind of reality we’re trying to create on these virtual-reality headsets.
The executive mentioned that any finished product is still a few years off, but if Samsung manages to come up with a wireless headset will full positional tracking by then, it will be a major win for the vendor. Also, it’s not known how Samsung’s foray in this segment will affect its partnership with Oculus, which provides the storefront for the Gear VR.