Samsung’s Gear VR headset will need a smartphone to work, leak shows

Getting its feet wet in the world of virtual reality headsets, Samsung is quickly moving towards launching the Gear VR that’s currently in the testing phases. According to a recent report by SamMobile, the Galaxy VR will be set up and controlled with a mobile device, which will monitor basic functions and Samsung apps. The website also explains how the virtual reality headset will actually work.   Once connected to a mobile device, a set up wizard takes the user through a step-by-step process, similar to setting up a new smartphone. Sam Mobile has also released the screenshots of the Gear VR app explaining how the setup process would be.   [caption id=“attachment_227983” align=“aligncenter” width=“640”]  Credit: Sam Mobile[/caption]   Once the user launches the Gear VR setup wizard, they are greeted with a welcome screen. Once set up, the Gear VR starts downloading all the core apps from Samsung’s servers, which include VR Panorama, VR Cinema and HMT Manager (Early Gear VR Manager). Finally, the setup wizard thanks the user for completing the setup process and asks the user to mount their Gear VR and enjoy an immersive virtual reality experience.   Samsung claims to be developing a modular design for the Gear VR, which allows the user to dock in a Galaxy device into the Gear VR using USB 3.0.   According to the website the Gear VR has a feature called VR Lock, which allows the user to setup a security lock while wearing the headset, and Warning Alert, which alerts the user every hour while the headset is connected, reminding the user that he is in the virtual world.   Sam Mobile has also revealed that the Gear VR headset will have a touchpad and a back button located on the right side. Once the mobile device (mostly a Galaxy smartphone) gets docked into the Gear VR, the user can only use the headset’s touchpad and back button to navigate through the user interface on their Galaxy smartphone.   [caption id=“attachment_227984” align=“aligncenter” width=“640”]  Credit: Sam Mobile[/caption]   Long-pressing the back button activates the smartphone’s rear-facing camera sensor, while a short-press on the back button gets the user back to the VR world. Samsung is also making use of its S Voice app to allow users to directly launch applications using voice commands.