You Can Now Browse The Web In VR

If you’re the proud owner of a Samsung Gear VR you may use it for playing games, or perhaps for watching videos and movies. From today, with the launch of the beta version of Samsung Internet for Gear VR, you can also use your headset for browsing the internet.

We’ve already seen a burst of immersive 360 degree video since YouTube started supporting it earlier this year, and that’s not including all the similar videos hosted on other sites. Internet for Gear VR will support both 360 degree and 3D video streaming along with any HTML5 video content, without having to download anything to the device.

“As a pioneer in the mobile VR industry, Samsung has continually worked to provide our users with a fully immersive mobile experience in the evolving world of virtual reality,” said Chan-Woo Park, Vice President of Product Strategy Team, IT & Mobile Communications Business at Samsung Electronics. “As the demand for 360-degree, immersive video content rapidly rises — Samsung Internet for Gear VR further enriches the VR content ecosystem for our consumers, setting an industry standard for the VR viewing experience.”

Input while browsing with the Gear VR seems to be largely based on voice recognition, along with an on-screen keyboard. Samsung is also introducing something called Gaze Mode, which will supposedly allow users to select menus just by looking at them. If you already use Samsung Internet for Android — the non-VR version — then you can also import your bookmarks into the new web browser.

The beta version of the software will be available from December 2 (as it hasn’t appeared yet, I’m assuming this is in US time) from the Oculus Store. Samsung hasn’t yet specified whether the beta will be available in all regions.

[Samsung via Engadget]


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