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Google has a big new idea for bringing VR everywhere

Google has a bold new plan to take over virtual reality: Android. Maybe you've heard of it?

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The operating system that's already on millions of phones around the world, used by more people than anything else, is going to seed the ongoing virtual reality revolution through a new software and hardware initiative. It's called "Daydream."

The idea is simple: Google is integrating a "VR mode" into the next version of its operating system.

Google Daydream
Google

Any phone that uses Android and exceeds the minimum horsepower requirements for Daydream can also operate as the screen for a virtual reality headset. 

Like Google's previous, ongoing VR effort — Google Cardboard — Daydream utilizes your existing phone as the screen and computer powering a virtual reality experience. By putting your phone inside of a headset enclosure, it becomes a window into virtual reality.

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Once inside that virtual reality, you'll see Google Home:

Google Home (Daydream)
Google

That's the main menu and the main way you interact in Google's new VR platform. You may have already spotted the icons for Google Play — Google's main app storefront — and YouTube — which Google says it's "rebuilt from the ground up" to work with VR headsets. There's also a Google Street View app, which enables a somewhat bizarre form of virtual travel, and Google Play Movies, which sits you in a virtual cinema for big screen thrills without all the big theater smells.

Within Google Play, you'll get the kind of stuff you can get in Google Play on your phone: games, apps, and news. Google's already partnered with the likes of Hulu and HBO Now, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. No doubt it won't be long before you see Tech Insider and our cohorts at Business Insider and Insider doing 360-degree videos, too! A variety of game developers are also promising to bring games to Google's VR version of Google Play, from biggies like Ubisoft to mediumies like CCP Games.

Beyond the software end of things, Google has a recommended headset design and controller it's offering to developers for free. Here's the headset:

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Google Daydream headset
Google

The controller is very similar to that of Facebook's Oculus Remote. Here's Google's controller design:

google daydream virtual reality controller
Google/YouTube

And here's the Oculus Remote:

Oculus Remote
Facebook

Indeed.

The Google remote has a clickable touchpad (for scroll, swipe, and click) and two clickable buttons. It's also a motion controller, of course, and thusly contains "orientation sensors." It can tell where you're looking, or if you're turning. Here's how it looks in action:

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Google says it'll have Daydream integrated into "Daydream ready smartphones" starting this fall, as well as partners who are making dedicated VR headsets based on its reference design. Its smartphone partners thus far are the expected players in Android: Samsung, HTC, LG, Huawei, etc. 

It's unclear at this point if Google's going to make a reference design for what it thinks is the ideal VR headset, but it wouldn't be out of character; the company does as much for phones, tablets, set-top boxes, and other devices. Regardless, Google's reference design is already being shared, the company says, with "several coming to market...the first available this fall." 

We'll get a look at Daydream sooner than later, it sounds like.

On February 28, Axel Springer, Business Insider's parent company, joined 31 other media groups and filed a $2.3 billion suit against Google in Dutch court, alleging losses suffered due to the company's advertising practices.

Google Virtual reality Android
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