Samsung Gear VR To Ship With Oculus Social Alpha

Oculus, owned by Facebook, took its first step into virtual reality interaction with the release of Oculus Social for the Samsung Gear VR last month, Road to VR reported. After the initial launch restricted only to North America, the application has been launched worldwide.

Engadget explains that the Oculus Social Alpha allows up to 5 people to watch a Twitch or Vimeo stream in a virtual home theater setting on the Gear VR.

“The official Social Alpha from Oculus is your way to connect with others in VR. Watch Twitch and Vimeo in a social theatre with other people. Enjoy content on the big screen and talk with others”, the description reads.

“By using this app, you publicly disclose what you are watching”, it adds.

The VR movie-watching app lets users select their own avatar and move around a theatre and even interact with other people, as if they are in the actual movie theatre, VC Post explained.

Samsung Gear VR will be launched by the end of the year. The headset is compatible with any new Samsung mobile phone, including the Galaxy S6, Edge, Edge + and Note 5 handsets. Scheduled to launch in the U.S. before Black Friday (November 27), Gear VR will ship with the new Oculus Social app, The Telegraph reported.

“Some people think virtual reality (VR) will be isolating but I think it’s clear it’s going to be a social medium,” Nicholas DiCarlo, vice president of virtual reality at Samsung told The Telegraph.