Google and LG creates VR AMOLED 120 Hz at 5500 x 3000

> their VR has mostly been focused on mobile so them focusing on the high end market is really interesting

The one consistent thing about Google's VR/AR strategy so far is that it's extremely inconsistent. Different groups within Google are taking a lot of shots on different technologies and form factors with different partners. Some examples include Google Glass (built by Google X, now revived as Glass X for Enterprise) which was supposed to be picked up by Tony Fadell of Nest who then ended up leaving Google altogether, Google Cardboard (a side project by 2 smart Google France engineers for a conference), Google Dream w/ Daydream View, Google Tango (built by ATAP group and shut down after announcement of ARCore), and now ARCore w/ Asus and LG.

There is no discernible Google VR/AR strategy other than - let's see what bubbles up from different dev groups and, when needed, react to market forces (ARCore was a direct reaction to Apple's ARKit). IMO until Google really "focuses" on VR/AR with a dedicated group and strategy this new tech will remain a sideshow without much traction.

I'm looking forward to the next generation of VR headsets immensly. A lot of people have been quick to jump on the "VR is already dead" train, but having picked one up during Christmas this year, it's obvious how much potential is there.

There are a few things that need to be accomplished before widespread adoption:

- Removal of wires. It restricts movement too much and removes immersion. The new HTC headset is a step toward this.

- Higher resolution screens. VR AMOLEDs like this are a step in the right direction.

- Prices for GPUs need to go down, and/or a few more years are needed for average computers to be able to render high frame-rates without breaking the bank.

- Headsets need to be lighter and smaller.

- Removal of sensor placement the room. This will be harder to do, but cameras/sensors built on the headsets themselves could potentially accomplish this.

The way I see it, we're in the iPhone 1 stage of VR right now. Imagine the iPhone X version: lighter, smaller, higher resolution, more colors, higher frame-rate, less hassle. These are all inevitabilities, and at that point it will become much easier to adopt the technology. We're also missing a true "killer app" that will get people to purchase a headset JUST for that. I think it will take some sort of truly massive MMO the likes of WoW to accomplish that.

The future is definitely exciting in this field. I hope hardware vendors don't give up and can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Apart from the issues you list, the biggest problem for me is game quality / support. The VR native titles, aside from few exceptions, feel and play like a tablet games, the non-native titles are usually riddled with rendering artifacts, despicable camera work or really unstable framerates (showstopper for me in VR).

> we're in the iPhone 1 stage of VR

You could immediately do a number of useful (read:productivity enhancing) things with the iPhone 1 - play your music, make calls, browse the web, take pictures, send emails. It deprecated a lot of what needed to be done on traditional phones, desktops, and laptop computers. It would last a day without charging, you wouldn't have to hook it up to a GPU or strap it to your body to use it, and it wouldn't give you motion sickness. Cellular technologies developed quickly to support the bandwidth needed for even better user experiences. Shipments jumped from 1M in 2007 to 20M in 2009.

There are very few polished games or apps available for VR 2 years after the "new" generation of VR headsets was released in 2016 by Oculus and HTC, and total headset unit shipments for the entire market (excluding phone-mounting headsets such as Gear) are probably in the low single digit millions for 2017. It hasn't yet deprecated any traditional dedicated communications technology or functions.

I wish I could get excited about the future in this field, but I really just don't see what the killer app will be for VR. Facebook thinks it will be virtual meetings for the enterprise and hanging out virtually with friends/family for the consumer market...I am very skeptical but want to be proven wrong as VR is one of the last platforms pushing hardware and software innovation forward at the moment.