Google is making it easy to play ping pong whilst wearing the Lenovo Mirage Solo headset, whether you’re in VR or not.
Alongside today’s announcement of a pair of experimental six degrees of freedom (6DOF) controllers for the standalone Daydream headset, Google also introduced a new pass-through camera system that will be coming to developers soon. The feature uses the Solo’s built-in cameras to show the real world on your display, much like we’ve seen with smartphone-powered headsets such as Gear VR. Unlike Gear, though, Google is using Solo’s tracking features to create convincing depth perception, so you can see the world as it truly is.
But there’s another feature that’s being added on top of this; AR support. When it pass-through mode, users will be able to summon virtual images and project them in the real world, essentially making the Mirage Solo a Magic Leap or HoloLens. A similar feature was recently revealed for HTC’s new Vive Pro, too.
Finally, the company is now officially recognizing a feature we’ve long spoken about; Android app support. Users will soon be able to bring any app into the virtual world via a virtual screen. When the Solo released earlier this year this aspect was somewhat hidden within the kit’s UI, but it’s good to see it getting more official support now.
While Google says developers will be able to get their hands on these features soon, there’s no word on what a wider consumer rollout will look like. Will developers be able to make premium AR apps for sale on Mirage Solo, for example? Hopefully we’ll find out more at the company’s upcoming Made by Google event, which takes place early next month.
