Last week the Samsung Gear VR hit shelves and many faces as well. The product is the first major VR device to go on sale and the first to be shown in a great advertisement.
The ad, for some strange reason, is very good for something coming from Samsung. Usually, any advert from Samsung would be filled with a lot of noise and too many useless actions. However, this particular one comes off more like an Apple ad in more ways than one.
The Samsung Gear VR ad shows a variety of people pulling the smartphone accessory towards their faces where all of them are viewing different things. The whole thing was simple and clean, and we loved the tagline, "Virtual reality just got real."
Interestingly enough, it doesn't come off as too geeky, and rightfully so because Samsung is aiming for mass market appeal for this thing, and not just one section of it. A commercial such as this should be able to entice children along with adults, but there's a minor or major catch, depending on how you look at it.
You see, the Samsung Gear VR is a smartphone accessory as mentioned above. It means it needs a compatible smartphone to work, and the best ones to get are from Samsung itself. However, it cost only $99, so for the folks who are already owners of a compatible Samsung smartphone, the Gear VR should be a great Black Friday or Christmas gift.
Bear in mind that VR goggles are in the early stages, and as such, must not be worn for long period of times. It is said the best option is to wear them for around 120 minutes or less because they can cause disorientation and even motion sickness.
These problems won't go away overnight, but if VR takes off in a big way, more companies will get involved and more time will be spent ironing out the kinks for future versions.
