The market for light weight and cheap virtual reality (VR) head-mounted displays (HMDs) is growing, as is demand, so it only makes sense that more companies would step up to the plate in order to deliver everything customers need. In this case, customers want small, light weight VR HMDs that their kids can use, at an affordable price so they don’t have to worry about trusting children to use equipment that costs more than a week’s salary. This is where Merge VR step in, and they’ve brought with them the Merge Mini.
We took a look at Merge’s 6 Degrees of Field (6DoF) augmented reality (AR) blaster, in addition to the Merge Mini HMD at CES 2018, Las Vegas. Aimed at children ages 10 and up, it’s a markedly younger market than what other HMDs aim toward, but this makes sense. Merge have been offering HMDs in classroom bundles, indicating that HMDs built for a younger market – and therefore smaller heads – is definitely there.
The Merge websites describes the Merge Mini as such; “Merge Mini is the perfect introduction to virtual and augmented reality! Small, lightweight marshmallow-soft, and compatible with most Android and iOS smartphones, kids 10+ can comfortably explore virtual and augmented worlds.”
What’s nice is that owners of the Merge Mini HMD will be able to visit miniverse.io and see a variety of titles that they can download and use for their new HMD.
Of course, the biggest point here is that the Merge Mini HMD will be on sale for only $30. This is, of course, a HMD that you slide your phone into – it doesn’t have its own display or processor, thus the price – but it’s still competitive with other smartphone HMDs, and of course the form factor is perfect for children, giving them a great introduction to VR technology, while not weighing down the wallets of parents too much.
You can test whether your device is capable of running Merge Mini applications right here, and see the Merge VR website for more information. It’s certainly fascinating, and we’ll have more information on Merge’s Merge Mini as we get it, so make sure to keep reading VRFocus.
via Mint VR