Google removes Daydream View headset from its range
Google will stop making and selling its Daydream View headsets. The VR headsets that use a smartphone as a display also do not work with the Pixel 4 devices. According to Google, the Daydream View is rarely used.
The Daydream platform has “not been as widely adopted by consumers and developers as we had hoped,” Google told Variety. According to Google, the use of the headset is declining and the company is therefore stopping sales. The headset is also not compatible with the new Pixel 4 smartphones; the same was true for the Pixel 3a models.
According to Google, support for the Daydream platform is not ending. The Daydream app and its associated VR app download store will remain available. However, there seems to be no new version of the headset and Google is not saying anything about new plans around the virtual reality platform.
Google says it saw a lot of potential in VR with smartphones, but also says that over time it has become clear that there are limitations and that it is therefore not a viable solution for the long term. According to Google, users would not be keen to put their phone in a headset because then they can no longer easily access the apps they normally have access to all day.
The Daydream platform was released in 2016 and is basically an environment within Android for VR apps and games. Google made a Daydream View headset, a holder in which a phone has to be put, and opened the platform to other manufacturers. Lenovo made the Mirage Solo, a standalone Daydream headset, but other manufacturers have never dared to do that. HTC announced a similar headset, but never released it.
There are probably not many Daydream users. HBO and Hulu stopped supporting the VR platform this year and Google even stopped its own Google Play Movies for Daydream. Google also stopped developing a camera system for 360-degree video this year. The search giant tells Variety that a lot is now being invested in augmented reality, with applications such as Google Lens and ar display in Maps and Search. Virtual reality seems to be on the back burner within the company.
Lenovo Mirage Solo, the first and presumably only standalone Daydream headset