3 Ways To Check If Your Phone Supports Virtual Reality (VR) Headsets

A virtual reality (or VR) headset is a device that you wear over your eyes like a pair of goggles. It blocks out all external light and shows you an image on high-definition screens in front of your eyes. The goal of the VR headset is to immerse you in a game or make you feel the virtual world around you.

Recently, Smartphone producers started producing phones that supports VR headsets (goggle-like display device) while most other phones doesn't support the gadget. Assuming you want to buy a new phone, you need to check if it have a virtual reality compatibility. Therefore let's see how to if your phone supports Virtual Reality headsets.

But before we continue, let me reveal that this is the future of technology but as it stands now, some people are still scared of using or having the VR experience. I was watching a documentary on BBC about VR and a lady was so scared when she saw herself flying around the city of London via a Virtual Reality headset. Back here in Nigeria, a Nairaland member (MizMyCol) reveals how scared she was when she experienced it. In her words;

"I first experienced VR tech on a device called VSUN. It was a scary thing for me. Honestly, I hate virtual realities. So when I saw that VR is also enabled on my Camon CX via google services, I didn't bother setting up. Those that like it can do it if it's enabled on their device, but for yours truly? It's a No No!

REQUIREMENTS

Before you check VR compatible smartphone, you should know the basic requirements for a phone to support virtual reality headset. A
source indicates that the phone should have Gyroscope sensor for any VR apps to work in it. The Gyroscope is a sensor that provides orientation information with greater precision. Other important things are Magnetic Field Sensor and Internal Compass. The Magnetic field sensor is capable of sensing the magnetic field of the earth ( by using Halls effect) and helps in determining the Direction. Using the navigation app with magnetic Compass turned on, the navigation will be more precise.

COMPONENTS OF PHONES THAT SUPPORTS VR HEADSET

• Gyroscope
• Magnetic Field Sensor
• Internal Compass (recommended)
• NFC (optional)

HOW TO CHECK IF YOUR PHONE SUPPORTS VIRTUAL REALITY HEADSET

These are few ways to check if your phone supports virtual reality.

• Freely VR: Freefly VR is a website which has compiled the list of smartphones which are compatible with VR headsets. You can check this website to see if your smartphone is listed there. In case, your smartphone is not listed, you can still have a chance. So, try the next way.
• Google Cardboard or other apps to check: Download Google Cardboard from playstore. This app comes with a demo of VR. If your phone is compatible this app, your phone will support virtual reality headset. You can also test with other third-party apps like SensorBox, EZE VR and VR Checker.
• Ability To Play 360-degree Videos: Another great way to check it is if the phone has the ability to play 360-degree videos. If your phone supports 360-degree videos on YouTube and Facebook, your phone will most likely support virtual reality headsets. 

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These are the ways you can check if your phone supports VR headsets.