Through Cardboard, Google has already exposed more people to VR than every other VR headset combined. Sure, Cardboard doesn’t provide the same jaw-dropping presence of Budget Cuts in the Vive, but it’s still the been the first taste of VR for millions of people.

And now Google is poised to bring native VR support to the hundreds of millions of Android devices worldwide. On top of that, they’re looking to bring a self contained Android powered VR headset which doesn’t require a PC or a phone.

This is a market segment with huge potential growth that none of the major players have even touched.

Image Source: WIRED

They’re going to do all of this with the full support of Google’s army of software developers and engineers. There is no other company on earth that can bring together the sheer bravado and resources necessary across so many different VR use cases.

And that’s not to mention a few aces they might have up their sleeve. There are a couple game changing possibilities which could make AndroidVR the player to beat (at least until Sony drops the PSVR).

Without further adieu, here are our top eight most important things to watch for at this week’s Google I/O. These range from safe bets to our personal tinfoil hat theories. Enjoy!

#8 Android VR brings the world’s most popular mobile OS to VR

Probability: Near Certain

Impact: Huge

This week, Google is (heavily) rumored to unveil Android VR, their virtual reality operating system.

For VR and AR to reach any sort of widespread success, we need a proper VR operating system which allows us to find and launch new applications, manage our devices and otherwise serve as the nexus of all VR activities. Every great computing paradigm has been accompanied by a fundamental rethinking of the ways in which we interact with our.

As of now, the closest thing we have to a VR operating system is Oculus Home, which is functional but does not truly feel like a fully fledged operating system for the VR era.

From the mouse pointer, click and stackable windows of the GUI to the pinch and grab and scroll of touchscreens, each great computing interface not only changes the way we organize information, but the way we physically interact with it.

VR is lacking this design language and the operating system that underlies it. If Android VR can rise to fill this void it will assume the role that Microsoft had during the PC era or Apple did during the mobile era — the lead / default platform for any developer.

What is this VR OS going to look like? No one knows yet and even in this first iteration it’s unlikely that we’ll know for sure. If you want a sneak peak into the future, check out this fantastic video by VR UX researcher Mike Alger, now at Google.

#7 A Standalone Android VR Headset Brings Mid-Range VR Performance to the Masses

Probability: Near Certain

Impact: Game-changer (if it sells)

Not much is known about Google’s standalone VR headset aside from the fact that we’ll see it exists this week. The idea of it being standalone system is an interesting one, and it raises the question of whether or not it will run the same flavor of AndroidVR as phone-dependent headsets.

If their standalone headset offers a high quality immersive experience at a reasonable price, Google may effectively create a new tier of VR systems lying somewhere in between the realm of entry level mobile VR like the GearVR and the high end tier like Vive/Oculus.