Google to release New Virtual Reality Headset

New smartphone-based headset will support improved sensors and lenses housed in a solid plastic casing, according to the Financial Times.

Google has virtual reality ambitions that stretch beyond cardboard. The web giant is planning to release a new Virtual reality (VR) headset later this year, according to a report Sunday by the Financial Times. A successor to the Cardboard VR viewer the company released in 2014, the new smartphone-based headset will sport improved sensors and lenses housed in a solid plastic casing, according to the report. 

The move would further buttress the growing interest tech companies have shown in VR, which promises to transport goggle-wearing users to other 3D worlds. Facebook is on the verge of releasing its long-awaited Oculus Rift headset, while Sony, Samsung and HTC are also heavily invested in the technology. 

Microsoft's HoloLens, meanwhile, is aimed at augmented reality, which adds 3D computer-generated scenes to people's view of the real world. Apple has also reportedly assembled a secret research group focused on virtual and augmented reality. They say it could change the way we use with computers and possibly the way we communicate with one another.

Whether consumers will agree is still unclear. Samsung's Gear VR headset, which was developed in a partnership with Facebook, was released last year. But Samsung has yet to say how well it has sold. Other major devices, ranging from the Oculus Rift to HTC's Vive to Sony's PlayStation VR are all expected to be released sometime this year.

Google declined to comment, but Google CEO Sundar Pichai signaled the company's continued interest in VR during an earnings call last week. "It's still incredible early innings for virtual reality as a platform and Cardboard is just a first step, but we are excited by the progress we have seen," Pichai said during a conference call. "Our partners have shipped over 5 million Google Cardboard viewers and we recently teamed up with the New York Times on a virtual reality experience in which over 1 million Times subscribers received Cardboard."