South Korean technology giant Samsung has become one of the biggest names in virtual reality (VR) technology with the reveal of its Gear VR smartphone-based head-mounted display (HMD). Made in partnership with Oculus Rift HMD maker Oculus VR, the device runs with Samsung’s own Galaxy Note 4 smartphone and is expected to release at some point in 2014, even with that gap quickly narrowing. The device and VR in general are set to be a big focus at the company’s upcoming developer conference next month.

The Samsung Developer Conference 2014 runs from 11th – 13th November 2014 in San Francisco, California and features no less than six VR talks throughout the week. Specifically, 12th November is packed with VR events, getting underway at 11:00 PDT with a ‘Creating Realistic Sound for True Spatial Immersion in VR Applications’ talk, followed by a ‘Creating Realistic VR-Animated Videos’ session at 13:00. Then at 14:00 is ‘VR Design: Transitioning from a 2D to 3D Design Paradigm’ with Samsung’s Alex Chu and ‘Getting Started with the Oculus Mobile SDK’ at 15:00.

The day ends with a talk by Henry Fuchs, Federico Gil Distinguished Professor titled ‘Virtual Realitty and Telepresence: 50 Years from Dreams to Reality’ at 16:00. The final talk, titled ‘The Human Perceptual System in Virtual Reality’, is hosted by Oculus VR’s Richard Yao and takes place at 10:00 on 13th November. All in all there seems to be plenty for VR developers to gain from the event, then, especially with members of the Oculus VR team hosting some presentations.

As for Gear VR itself, the wait for release information continues. Perhaps these details could be revealed at the Samsung Developer Conference, though nothing is confirmed. When it does launch it will be as an ‘Innovator Edition’ designed for early adopters and developers. VRFocus will continue to follow Samsung’s progress in the VR space, reporting back with any further updates.