Xiaomi launches Mi VR Play Headset for Rs 999 with Mi Live App

Image Credit: Xiaomi Mi

By tech2 News Staff /  12 Dec 2016 , 15:00

Xiaomi launched Mi VR Play headset on 11 December on Facebook as well as other social media channels like YouTube and the Xiaomi Mi Live App. Mi VR Play headset is the first VR headset by the company and it is priced at Rs 999. It will go on sale from 21 December. The headset is Google Cardboard compatible and will provide an immersive experience to the people wearing it.

Image Credit: Xiaomi Mi

One interesting thing to note is that the headset will incorporate a unique two-way zipper design with the entire thing made out of lightweight Lycra. The company has included Anti-reflective lenses to ensure that the Mi VR Play provides clear images through aspherical lenses. In addition, the headset comes along with a metal button for interaction.

Mi VR Play will support smartphones ranging from 4.7-inch to 5.7-inches. As outlined in the Livestream and later on the website, Mi VR Play headset is the easiest way to experience immersive theatre or cinema experience with compatible smartphones and headphones says Xiaomi.

Image Credit: Xiaomi Mi

In addition to the normal VR apps from third party developers, you can scan the QR code to download the Google Cardboard app and use the app along with Cardboard Camera app to experience new VR content until the time Google Daydream comes to budget smartphones. Some interesting apps that you can experience include YouTube VR app for 360-degree video content almost a host of games like VR Theatre.

Xiaomi also launched the new Mi Live app, a new live streaming app which will use content sourced from local content creators. The content creators will get a chance to showcase their talent to the Mi Live app users. Mi Live will also support VR content with the help of Mi VR Play headset. The company announced that the app will go online in India and China from today. Xiaomi also bragged that Mi Live is the only live streaming app in India to support VR live streaming. Currently, only the Android app is on Google Play Store, there was no announcement for the iOS version of the app.

Lenovo Phab 2 Pro the first Tango capable smartphone will change how we look at AR and here is how

Seeing objects in a room

By tech2 News Staff /  03 Nov 2016 , 12:53

Lenovo Phab 2 Pro is the latest smartphone by Lenovo to go on sale for $499.99. In fact, the device is the first one that is powered by Google Tango framework which relies on depth sensing to create seamless Augmented reality figures on the screen. This company has been working on the technology since last few years with constant videos demoing it right from the early stages.Also, Google announced a Project Tango smartphone way back in 2014 along with Project Tango Tablet released in 2014.

Tango was originally known as Project Tango and looked like a simple concept that maybe used for something. We were not sure about what the depth-sensing will actually do but we got a concrete idea about it after Lenovo announced the smartphone in CES 2016 earlier this year. But Lenovo demoed the capabilities of the tango technology in Phab 2 Pro which made it a serious contender for the most innovative smartphone for the year.

The demos during Lenovo Tech World painted a perfect picture of how capable the platform was and that smartphones were powerful enough to sufficiently track the 3D world and project an augmented reality on the screen. These demos included using Tango platform to measure the dimensions of the room accurately and use shopping apps to virtually redecorate your room before buying furniture or new products for your home.

Other demonstrations included live size models of dinosaurs where you can check different species of dinosaurs  with life-size AR renders. The renders can be changes in scale to comparatively study the entire field with an unprecedented level of interactivity. This can result in newer and dedicated applications for students across different fields, right from students of architecture to medical students.

During the launch, there will be more than 20 apps available for Phab 2 Pro users to experience different aspects of what Tango platform has to offer. These apps range from ‘Augmented reality gaming’ and ‘Augmented reality utilities’ with the gaming apps directly aiming at pure gaming like Pokemon GO but without the battery drain while ‘utilities’ hinting at apps like “WayFairView,” “Measure,” and “Magic Plan.”