Bavor is enthusiastic about the controller, too, saying it will include sensors that give a “sense of orientation” and allow it to work as a pointer. Imagine, he says, using it as a kind of VR “magic wand that you can use to cast spells.”

Just know that the Daydream controller won’t let you reach out and grab things in VR. While pricier VR systems let you lean in close to objects, grab them and sometimes even walk around them, the initial version of Daydream won’t include the sensors that allow you to do that, says Bavor.

Better late than never

Google’s top executives — Pichai, Bavor and Android chief Hiroshi Lockheimer — make it clear VR is a big part of Google’s future. Case in point: VR is an independent unit within Google, and Bavor reports directly to CEO Pichai.

More advancements are on the way. Bavor’s also in charge of Project Tango, Google’s effort to get 3D mapping technology into phones and tablets. “Tango is part of Daydream,” Bavor says, when asked how Tango will intersect with Google’s VR plans. “You can connect the dots.”

Lenovo is set to introduce the first Tango phone next month.

Yet despite the fanfare that’s sure to greet Daydream, Google is behind in VR, especially compared to rival Facebook. Oculus, which CEO Mark Zuckerberg bought two years ago for $2 billion, started taking orders for its $600 Rift headset last month. Current wait time to get your hands on a Rift, which connects to a high-powered PC to deliver immersive graphics, is three months.

HTC, which makes Android phones, also began selling its $800 Vive motion-tracking headset last month. It requires a high-powered PC, like the Rift, and has two motion controllers, two laser-emitting boxes that scan your room to create the boundaries of your virtual play space, earbuds, mounting brackets for the laser boxes, power adapters and lots and lots of cables. CNET reviewer Scott Stein says it delivers the “best VR experience you can have right now, if you’ve got the space.”

And Sony says its $399 PlayStation VR, now due in October, will work with a $350 PlayStation 4 to power it.



