Ridgefield Park, N.J. – Samsung used its multi-city “Samsung’s Unpacked” event centered at the IFA show in Berlin Wednesday, to reveal its Oculus-based VR headgear called Samsung Gear VR Innovator Edition.
Built in partnership with Facebook’s Oculus, the head-worn wireless virtual reality (VR) headset features the company’s Galaxy Note 4 screen, providing a full 360-degree 3D video experience.
The Samsung Gear VR will be available in Frost White in Samsung’s online store and through various carriers later this year, the company said. Pricing was not disclosed.
Samsung and Oculus worked with NextVR, which is supplying its ultra-HD virtual-reality video-capture technology and content for the Samsung Gear VR headset.
The headset will also include a number of apps from content partners.
Samsung said its Gear VR will provide a range of movies and other videos, games and educational content.
Most of the content has been developed to provide a 360-degree VR experience.
Announced content partners include Disney’s Marvel, DreamWorks Animation, IMAX, Technicolor’s M-GO and Vevo.
M-GO said it will offer in the Samsung Gear VR a new M-GO Advanced app.
M-GO in a statement said its M-GO Advanced app has been designed to “put people in a virtual reality space where they can search, discover and navigate through exciting premium movie and TV show content from major Hollywood studios.”
M-GO said it plans to develop the service into “a virtual video store.”
The store will include “rooms” which house different genres like science fiction or comedy and categories such as new releases or deals, M-GO said.
Each “room” is characterized by the specific genre’s motif; such as futuristic details like glossy panels, metal and technology motifs in the sci-fi room.
VR visitors will be able to access poster art, trailers and still images from popular movie and TV shows.
Vevo said it will offer an app with 100,000-plus HD music videos, live concert events and original programming in theater experience.
The Samsung Gear VR will also ship with a 16GB microSD card preloaded with a collection of 360-degree videos and 3D movie trailers from major studios.
Special VR content will include: a visit to Tony Stark’s lab from “Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron”; a selection of IMAX films in a virtual theater; DreamWorks VR from DreamWorks Animation; Legendary’s “Pacific Rim” Jaeger Pilot, that positions viewers in the center of the action; and Cirque du Soleil Media’s live-action 3D VR experience, with an act from Zarkana.
