If you’d like to dip your toe into the virtual world ahead of the coming consumer launches of Gear VR, Valve and HTC’s Vive, and the Oculus Rift, the Gear VR Innovator Edition for Galaxy S6 is available today. You still need $200, and either a Galaxy S6 or S6 Edge, and a willingness to forgive bumps with a product designed specifically for techie early adopters, but it’s definitely a good way to jump the line if you’re impatient.
The Gear VR headset uses Samsung’s smartphone as part of the brains of the operation, as well as the display. Samsung says users should get better performance out of this VR experience vs. that created with the original Gear VR for the Galaxy Note 4, in part due to the use of the new Exynos Octacore mobile processor in the GS6. Continuous power via USB also means you can use this one for longer immersive sessions, if you find the real world is too lame.
It’s probably a good idea to pick one of these up if you’re a company thinking about developing for mobile VR environments, but most people are probably better off waiting – at least until Samsung and Oculus reveal what they have in store for a consumer Gear VR product later this year.