VR for tiny children (by Samsung)
There’s an app called Samsung Bedtime VR Stories that’ll connect you with your small child in a remote location – and it’s amazing. This app has you wearing your Samsung Gear VR and your child wearing either another Gear VR or any smartphone with a Google Cardboard headset. Both of you join in on a single story at the same time in virtual reality. You’ll be able to see them (sort of) and they’ll be able to see you (so to speak).
You’ll be reading a story to your child in virtual reality – you’ll be able to hear them, and they’ll be able to hear you. Like magic. Or like what you might know now as a Skype video call – but in a different sort of way.
Above you’ll see a video from Samsung that explains both ends of the app in very, very simple terms. Fast forward a bit to see the app in action – the first bit is mostly about the setup.
If you’d like a glimpse of the story in 360-vision with YouTube, open the following YouTube video in your YouTube app on a mobile device YouTube Link Go! or just view it here on your desktop machine in your Chrome web browser:
They’ll have several different Google Cardboard mask/headsets available at some point, too. So weird. So amazing. So immersive for all the children!
Unfortunate for those of you that want to try the full Samsung Gear VR virtual presence experience as described in the first video above, you’ll have to wait. It’s not quite ready yet. Samsung has a sign-up page ready now – head down to the bottom to enter your email and make it happen.
Tips: How to Watch Kids movies on Gear VR via Samsung Galaxy smartphones
The Samsung Gear VR has plenty of potential, but it is limited by a sparse content store out of the box. The positive is that Samsung and Oculus have made it easy to import and watch your own kids movies (even 3D) in virtual cinema mode. So how do we accomplish this?
The short answer is to import your movie files (the Gear VR by default supports most common file formats including MP4, AVI, and FLV) into the “My Videos” folder on your SD card. You can’t deny that there is a possibility that your 3D movies are not supported by Gear VR. In this case, you need to convert these 3D content to 3D MP4/MKV for Gear VR. You can use Pavtube Video Converter Ultimate (Mac). It can rip all Blu-ray/DVD and work in 4K/SD/HD video, TV shows and music dramas. It can accept H.265, MP4, AVI, FLV, MKV, ASF, etc and then change them to 3D SBS MP4/MKV/MOV for Gear VR. It offers three kinds of 3D effect: SBS, TB and Anaglyph. it can transfer AC3/DTS audio to AAC/MP3 audio file accepted by Gear VR software without quality loss.
Learn how to convert movies to Gear VR for children with Pavtube Video Converter Ultimate.
Other Download:
– Pavtube old official address: http://www.pavtube.cn/blu-ray-video-converter-ultimate/
– Cnet Download: http://download.cnet.com/Pavtube-Video-Converter-Ultimate/3000-2194_4-75938564.html
Once converted your kids movies, there is an additional step, and it’s not entirely straightforward. The following will allow for perfect 3D playback of videos set up in a side-by-side (SBS) format (the left and right video channels are contained within the same file and appear as a near-mirror image when played back using a standard media player). To view your SBS 3D video files on your Gear VR, follow these steps: (here takes Note 4 as an example, now Samsung Gear VR is compatible with Galaxy Note 4, Galaxy Note5, Galaxy S6, S6 edge, S6 edge+- Galaxy S7, S7 edge)
1. On your MicroSD card file directory, navigate to Oculus > Movies > Your Movies
2. Create a new folder within “Your Movies” and label it “3D”
3. Import or move your side-by-side 3D videos into your newly created “3D” folder
Once you have created your 3D content folder and imported compatible video files, insert your MicroSD card into your Galaxy Note 4 (if it isn’t already), dock the phone in your Gear VR, and don the virtual reality headset. Then:
1. Navigate to Oculus Cinema from the main menu
2. Navigate to “My Videos” from the Oculus Cinema content library menu
3. Select the 3D video you wish to view (if you followed the above steps it should have a “3D” label in the upper righthand corner)
4. Choose the cinema mode to begin playback
The software is coded to automatically convert any video in the “3D” folder for 3D playback. While the included documentation and tutorials don’t make the process completely obvious, the answer is buried in the literature accompanying the Gear VR’s Oculus Mobile SDK along with plenty of other tips on importing your own content for viewing on Samsung’s virtual reality headset. We’ll be sharing more of these helpful tips and tricks in the coming days.
More guide on how to use Samsung Gear VR here.
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