Samsung New Gear VR and AR Headsets Similar To Microsoft HoloLens To Likely Debut At MWC 2017 In February [VIDEO]

By Charleston Lim

Virtual reality technology has gone through big leaps and bounds ever since big tech companies, such as Samsung, have climbed onboard to develop it. However, over the past few years, Microsoft has been the only ones focused on developing an augmented reality device, as evident in the previous showcase of their Microsoft Hololens.

Now, new reports reveal that Samsung may be planning to develop their own augmented reality device along with an updated version of their current Galaxy Gear VR headset. Samsung Electronics' VP, Sung Hoon Hong, recently talked in an interview with Wearable Zone and discussed about his company's plans for VR, AR, and their progress in Artificial Intelligence.

Hong revealed that they were soon going to be announcing details about the successor of their Gear VR headset. More importantly, Samsung's VP mentioned that they were very much interested in creating a new augmented reality system as it would likely have better business potential.

During the interview, Hong mentioned that they are currently developing a new technology that incorporates something that they call the "light field engine" which can project very realistic holograms on top of actual objects. As it stands, there still remains to be no commercially available AR product in the market, and even Microsoft's own $3,000 HoloLens, remains to be out of public reach, reports Tech Times.

While there wasn't really much details that were shared regarding the planned product itself, Hong did mention a potential partner for the project, in the form of the startup company, Magic Leap. Samsung is of course, no stranger to development partnerships, as its own Galaxy VR headset was developed in collaboration with Oculus.

It might be possible that the company would partner with other companies to further develop its new device, which is actually expected to appear in next year's Mobile World Congress (MWC) event, scheduled to be held in February.