Sit back and Daydream with Google’s VR

If you own a Pixel phone or even a Moto Z, you may have been waiting for Google’s Daydream View, the much-touted virtual reality headset that is supposed to be leading the way to the future of this technology. You can now get the headset on Flipkart for ₹6,499. It’s a bit expensive for a product that at the moment is very much in its infancy, but for the curious, this is what it’s like:

The first thing you’ll appreciate about this Google headset is the material it’s made of. They are clearly on the right track here. It’s a thick and comfortable sweat-proof fabric and if you’ve tried any other headset made of that hard, hard plastic, you’ll like the feel of this one. You slip it over the back of your head but then you’ll find it will slip right off because you’ll have to adjust the broad strap to its tightest to keep it on. There’s no strap on top to keep the device up. From time to time, the back strap loosens and you have to readjust it. I’m presuming enough of a lesson will have been learnt to fix this in a subsequent version, but for now, there’s a design flaw.

You pull open its string and you’ll find the slot to slip in the phone. This is easy to do and much better than other headsets that need to hook into the phone’s USB port and risk damaging it. Once the phone is in, it fires up on its own and the Daydream app, which hopefully you thought to install, and it’s ready for you to now pick up the controller provided in the box. Now, this is easily the best part of the product. It pairs with the phone and then it seems magical to be able to wave it in the air to control things. You have a little touch pad and two buttons and you’ll be guided on what to press as you use different applications.

You can pick up apps from the array provided on the screen in front of you or you can look around in the Google Play Store. Which is where we bump into the next problem: there aren’t that many. And whichever ones are there, are quite expensive. You have to be quite a keen gamer or movie watcher to pay up and experiment with these on the headset. Gaming is a different experience, but hardcore gamers will need their fix of regular gaming.

As for movies, it’s a bit tiring to watch on this headset for long. But moving around virtual worlds is a nice novelty or as long as it lasts. One of my favourite things to do is to see the world using Street View. But comparing the experience to the Gear VR from Samsung, I found that the field of view was very limited.

Someone said that it was more like looking out at the picture using weird goggles. With the Gear VR, you’re not looking at the picture, you feel you are in it. This aspect is worse with the smaller Pixel and perhaps not as much with the Pixel XL but I had really expected the whole scope of the image to wrap around me much more and was disappointed.

With the regular Pixel, light also leaks in from outside and reflects off the lenses, interfering distractingly with what you’re seeing.

Another thing that had me dismayed was that there’s no way to focus the headset. It may well be optimised for regular eyesight, but if yours is not, you’ll have to consider wearing your glasses inside that headset. If they’re the delicate rimless sort, that could mean trouble. And if they’re on the big side, again, you’re out of luck.

Sadly, I’m not done with the Daydream’s problems yet. It heats up the phone to an alarming level and it does so very quickly.

On top of that, there’s no warning. The Gear VR also heats up the phone but instantly gives you a warning to take the phone out and doesn’t resume while it’s still hot. This is a safer practice, obviously.

Daydream View is an interesting product because it’s a doorway to what Google is doing with virtual reality. And we know from the pioneering Cardboard that VR is serious stuff for the tech giant. But for now, it’s difficult to recommend it as a worthwhile buy.

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