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Netflix VR

It happened at the back end of September 2015, and it’s available on the Gear VR app platform – yes, really. Already soiled yourself with excitement? Well, hold up. Yep, it’s pretty cool, but it’s still got a way to go.

The Netflix VR app for Gear VR doesn’t suddenly turn the 20cm around your head into an IMAX display. You actually get shown a virtual living room, complete with fireplace, with the equivalent of an 80-inch TV in front of you. Here’s the stinger: it’s an 80-inch, SD-quality TV. Thanks to digital rights restrictions, the Netflix VR app only displays in SD right now. Fingers crossed this gets sorted by the time Oculus Rift and Project Morpheus come out. We’re already saving up quality time to spend with this one.

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VR Headset

These days, VR-capable hardware is everywhere. Tack-sharp displays, powerful processors, and versatile sensors are in everyone’s pockets. And to spur the next wave of immersive entertainment, VR directors and developers are creating the language of a new medium on the fly. Virtual reality is going to be awesome. Then it’s going to get even better. And fast.

So fast, in fact, that the VR systems available today will seem adorably primitive by year’s end. But that doesn’t mean you should wait: Today’s VR options are affordable, impressive, fun, and phone-powered. Here’s what to keep in mind if you plan on taking the VR plunge, from the price of admission to the capabilities of each headset to what you should do with them.

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What is VR

Virtual reality (VR) is a computer technology that uses virtual reality headsets or multi-projected environments, sometimes in combination with physical environments or props, to generate realistic images, sounds and other sensations that simulate a user’s physical presence in a virtual or imaginary environment. A person using virtual reality equipment is able to “look around” the artificial world, and with high quality VR move around in it and interact with virtual features or items. The effect is commonly created by VR headsets consisting of a head-mounted display with a small screen in front of the eyes, but can also be created through specially designed rooms with multiple large screens.