Google announced today that the Google VR software development kit (SDK) is finally moving out of beta, so developers can start working with it for building apps specifically for Google Daydream, which is the company’s high-quality mobile virtual reality (VR) platform. With the SDK going live, app developers can now apply to become part of the new Daydream Access Program (DAP), and they won’t have to wait until 2017 to submit applications to get with Daydream.
The Google VR SDK – or you may know it from its earlier form which was called Cardboard SDK – was updated to dovetail with Daydream, announced at this year’s Google I/O Conference. “Our updated SDK simplifies common VR development tasks so you can focus on building immersive, interactive mobile VR applications for Daydream-ready phones and headsets, and supports integrated asynchronous reprojection, high fidelity spatialized audio, and interactions using the Daydream controller,” Google VR product manager Nathan Martz wrote in the official blog post.
So as Google has promised, the Google VR SDK now features native integration of the Unity game engine, which the binaries are available from Unity’s website. There has also been an update to the native integration feature of Unreal Engine game engine, so it looks like Google is prepping for some pretty awesome VR gaming with Daydream.
There is still no announcement as to which phones will be able to handle the Daydream app, although phones which come with Android Nougat out of the box – like those upcoming Pixel phones and the LG V20 – are sure to have Daydream capabilities baked in. It’s just a matter of having the hardware to run it.
SOURCE: Google
