Unreal Engine 4 to support Samsung Gear VR

Are you intrigued about virtual reality? I know I am. I couldn’t resist splashing out on the $4 Google Cardboard offer the other day. But if you are looking for a sturdier piece of kit, Samsung’s Gear VR headset is the only game in town, as far as Android goes anyway.

However, as well as hardware we need software developers to create VR content. With gaming expected to lead VR development, it’s great to see that the Gear VR has found its way onto Epic’s Unreal Engine 4 roadmap, along with Google’s Project Tango. Support for the Oculus Rift and Sony’s Project Morpheus have already been ticked off Epic’s roadmap.

You may remember the Unread Engine 4 from Epic’s visually impressive Rivalry Demo, which was shown running on a Nvidia Tegra K1 at this year’s Google I/O.

Considering that Oculus and Samsung had been sharing technology which led to the final design for the Gear VR, support for Samsung’s headset shouldn’t be too difficult to implement. But it’s nice to have some confirmation. Project Tango, on the other hand, is more to do with collecting 3D information than displaying it. No doubt Epic has something interesting planned for Google’s hardware, perhaps to aid with 3D model capture or Kinect-like motion controls?

The Gear VR is expected to cost around $200 (£120 or AU$220), although Samsung has not officially listed a price or release date as of yet. Of course you will need a Galaxy Note 4 to act as the display too, which won’t come cheap.

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