Apple has moved one step closer to bringing the world of virtual reality to iOS and has started carrying Mattel’s View-Master Virtual Reality goggles in its online store. Similar in concept to Google Cardboard or the Samsung Gear VR, the View-Master VR headset allows an iPhone user to take advantage of their smartphone screen to experience virtual reality on the cheap.
While Mattel offers sold separately “virtual reality experience packs,” there are dozens of virtual reality apps in the iOS App Store, such as the Google Cardboard Demo app, that are capable with the View-Master VR headset.
Alternatively, searching for #360Video on the official YouTube app for iOS brings up a long list of playable virtual reality videos. Disney Accelerator backed Littlstar is another source for 360-degree videos viewable with a VR headset.
Netflix offers a VR headset mode as well, while Hulu is looking into releasing virtual reality content sometime Spring 2016.
According to the Financial Times, Apple has quietly assembled a not-quite-so-secret-anymore “secret research unit” of experts in the fields of AR and VR headset technology. It’s unknown exactly what type of technology or VR applications this unit is developing for Apple, but Apple did recently hire Dr. Doug Bowman, the director of Virginia Tech’s center for human-computer interaction. Bowman has been involved with the Microsoft Hololens project and is nationally renowned in the fields of virtual and augmented reality.
