What happens when people try new virtual reality technology for the first time? GeekWire hit the streets in Seattle to find out.
Equipped with Samsung’s newest virtual reality headset, the $199 Gear VR Innovator Edition, we had several people try the gadget — which requires an accompanying Galaxy S6 or S6 Edge smartphone — for the first time.
The participants watched a snowboarding video produced by Mountain Dew and immersed themselves on a ride down the mountain. You can read their thoughts and see how they reacted to the virtual reality content in the video embedded below.
Keith Pearson, Natural Gas Company, Seattle: “I felt a little bit dizzy, but I think it’s pretty awesome. I think it’ll just get even better. It’s pretty sweet.
If they could figure out how users can move around without running into stuff, that would be the ticket — if I could move around in the world while wearing it, but not run into stuff.”
Laurie Dye, Leadership Consultant, Seattle: “I don’t really have a purpose for it, but I can imagine going to see movies and entertainment like this, instead of the way it is now, and that would be super cool. Certainly for games, it would be awesome.
One idea would be if you’re trying to train employees that are remote or get them ready to do a job, so they are familiar with a large facility before they get there, for example. It’s a great way to invite people to explore in a way that’s not boring like watching a video, since they have control over a little bit of what they’re looking around at. So I could see a lot of learning applications, not so much hard learning, but an orientation and familiarization type of thing in a business setting.”
Chris Sanchez, Retail Contractor, Tacoma: “I think it’s amazing. It was really seamless, really crisp. It’s really neat to see that from a phone, I didn’t think it would come from a phone. That’s very impressive.
The ability to look around and see behind you is really impressive. Maybe a little bit more resolution would be better, but other than that, it seems pretty good.”
Tyler Foster, Seattle, Natural Gas Company: “I want one. Can you watch movies or something on it? Or play video games? It’s crazy. I’d probably buy one right now.”
