When we caught wind of a little community VR project called โPlevrโ, our first reaction was โget off our lawn with your VR goggles and your complicated shoesโฆ media is for flat screens and decent people.โ But when we tried it out, we were super impressed! โHuh,โ we thought โmaybe thereโs something to this VR thing after all.โ Of course, weโve got a soft spot for any tech that levels up your Plex experience, but we knew this one was special.
A few things standing in the way of making VR truly accessible to everyone have been the requirement for high-end PC hardware, the need to purchase a fancy, dedicated headset, and the determination to make the two work together that only a true nerd can understand. This is why Googleโs Daydream platform is so cool โ you take your Android phone, strap it to your face, grab the cute little controller, and youโre off to the (virtual) races. Itโs a game-changer for VR, and we were just as fired up about it as Alex, the creator of Plevr, and now the latest member of our amazing community to join us full-time in building great stuff for all of you.
Today weโre incredibly excited to announce Plex VR on Daydream. Itโs real, and itโs spectacular. Hereโs what you get inside the box:
- Plex.
- The ability to watch your Plex Media Server videos with friends, in real time, with voice chat!*
- The ability to play local videos on your Android device (including 3D and 360/180 video)!
- A fancy apartment that keeps itself clean, with fully automated, mechanized blinds.
- A drive-in movie theater. The whole thing. For real.*
- Various conflict-free potted plants.
- Bragging rights.
- A kitten.**
We canโt even start to tell you how cool the real-time co-watching is. But weโll try. Once you gather up your friends (supports up to 4, including yourself), everyoneโs avatars will appear together in the selected scene (the sleek apartment, or the drive-in theater). Head positions are updated in real-time, so you can see what everyoneโs looking at, and you can click the remote button to talk to the group. There is a ton of fancy technology behind the scenes, but to anyone using it, itโs just an incredibly engaging and (dare we say?) intimate way to watch videos together, regardless of where in the world everyone is.
Okay, okay, but โTV is always better when weโre together!โ you say. Couldnโt agree more. Except we like to put โtogetherโ in quotes here, because letโs face it, youโre watching โtogetherโ just as much as the guy at the coffee shop who knows your penchant for a double whip nonfat soy latte is your โfriend.โ Itโs the future though, and itโs super convincing, so just go with it.
โSometimes I just want to watch TV on a big screenโ you mutter; well, sure, but what is โbigโ really? We like to say โoccupies a large percentage of your visual field.โ Youโre welcome.
So at this point we know you want in. Head over to the Google Play store, grab the (separate) Plex VR app, strap your phone to your face like the forward-looking citizen of the future that you are, and get streaming!
* Plex VR is available on all Daydream-ready Android Phones. The option to stream your videos in VR is free for everyone, but youโll need a Plex Pass subscription to enjoy co-watching as well as the Drive-in scene. However, since we really like you, youโll be able to test out the โco-watchingโ feature for a week (for free) when you start using Plex VR. Visit the support article to learn more.
** Kitten not included.