Google Daydream VR no longer requires a phone

Google is making its Daydream VR platform available to standalone devices, the company announced today at the Google IO 2017 conference.

It's doing so via a partnership with chip giant Qualcomm, and the two have created a Daydream reference design VR headset, one that will allow manufacturers to develop their own headsets based on the tech.

The headset is a standalone device, meaning you don't need a cable or inserted phone to experience VR.

Built on Qualcomm's Snapdragon 835 VR platform, the headset will "enable manufacturers to build a whole new category of VR devices", Clay Bavor, vice president of virtual reality at Google, said.

While specifics are scarce, the headset is self-contained, with all the tech needed to power VR in a pick-up-and-go form factor.

The headset will have WorldSense tracking, essentially Google's version of six-degrees-of-freedom tracking, custom-spec'd tracking cameras and sensors with Tango-based tracking.

Because there's no phone involved and all the sensors, gyroscope and cameras are contained in the headset, latency should be reduced, providing for a better overall experience.

The headset, while not for sale to consumers, will allow Google's Daydream VR platform to be incorporated in headsets that don't have a cable. This marks the first time the VR platform is coming to headsets that don't require a wire or smartphone to operate.

The first headsets based on Qualcomm and Google's Daydream reference design will go on sale later this year.