Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. is doubling down on its push into virtual reality (VR) and is designing its own standalone VR headset, according to the company’s head of research and development for software and services Injong Rhee.

As quoted by Variety, Rhee revealed the plans at a developers conference during the week, saying that the headset will incorporate positional tracking similar to the technologies now available on higher-end headsets like the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive.

“We are working on wireless and dedicated VR devices, not necessarily working with our mobile phone,” Rhee is quoted as saying.

Samsung is also said to be exploring hand and gesture tracking, however, Rhee added that it may be several years before such extras are available from Samsung, or any other company in the virtual reality market.

Rhee said that ultimately they would like to get to the stage where the Holodeck of Star Trek, The Next Generation is recreated, adding that “You enter a holodeck, you’re actually in a virtual world, interacting with all the virtual objects as if you’re living there. That’s the kind of reality we’re trying to create on these virtual-reality headsets.”

Untethered

When Samsung says it’s working on a standalone virtual reality headset, it’s not simply referring to a device similar to those such as the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift, but a proper standalone headset that doesn’t require tethering to a high-end computer to use, as is currently the case with the two aforementioned units.

How Samsung is going to this is another matter, and that’s why it may be several years until they actually deliver something; the ultimate ask is that they’d have to find a way of building high-end computing power into the headset itself, or alternatively find a way to deliver a similar experience via lower end computing power which, as it stands, may be small enough to fit into a headset as well.

The one outstanding question following the announcement is whether Samsung plans to fully develop this headset alone?

Samsung’s Gear VR headset was designed in conjunction with the Facebook-owned Oculus, but would the partnership continue on to a standalone Samsung VR headset that would be a direct competitor to the Oculus Rift, or would Samsung go it alone with the design and software implementation?

Only time will tell.

Image credit: andrikoolme/Flickr/CC by 2.0