Exploring the world in the comfort of your home is one of the biggest perks that virtual reality has to offer. You can now do that with the StreetView VR and a Samsung Gear VR at hand.
The maker of the app, Youtopia VR, first launched it on the Oculus Rift, and it recently rolled out the software to the Samsung Gear VR free of charge.
For the record, it's not affiliated with Google, but it takes advantage of the data from Google Street View, providing users a virtual reality experience in an environment that's the size of the world.
Touted as "the best way to see the world without a plane ticket," StreetView VR is full of features that make users feel like they're really in the places that they choose to explore.
For starters, the developers integrated Wikipedia with it, allowing users to pull up an article from the free encyclopedia regarding any local sight they come across.
It also has voice support, where users can make searches without the need to type in text. For those who prefer to type, though, it does have a virtual keyboard too.
Multiple users can get in on the action together as well, because they will be able to communicate with each other in the same session via the built-in voice chat. That's just plain nifty right there.
Users will also be able to bookmark locations and essentially make a list of places to visit on some other day. Other features include Xbox controller support and the timelapse option that lets users create a panoramic video.
In an effort to make the experience even more immersive, StreetView VR lets users choose an audio preset that matches a certain environment.
To make things a whole lot better, the app is under "active development." That means that the developers will continue to add new features and other improvements regularly.
However, considering that it uses data from Google Street View, it's a safe bet to assume that the images may lack a bit of depth. Nevertheless, the StreetView VR gives everyone a chance to become a virtual tourist, and it definitely deserves a spot in the list of the best VR apps for the Samsung Gear VR.
StreetView VR is already up for download at Youtopia VR's website.
