Comfortably Lose Yourself In Virtual Reality With Merge VR

Curtis Silver
, ContributorWriting on Consumer Tech & Social Media with a satirical, cynical edgeOpinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.

Image credit: C.Silver

I lost my teenage son.

Turns out he hadn't gone far. He was immersed in a virtual reality world delivered by his iPhone 6 and the Merge VR headset. Yet, virtually blind to the outside world thanks to the encompassing purple foam headset and headphones, he was drifting around the house visually somewhere else. Quick on the heels of the Google Cardboard design, Merge VR offers a quality and fully functional VR experience without the DIY elements of Cardboard and the eventual price tag of Occulus Rift and
Sony&#039;s Project Morpheus.

With Merge VR, the lenses are already in place and adjusted via knobs at the top and bottom of the headset. When my son and I were testing the device, I constantly had to reset the lenses closer to the center so I could focus. The headset fit nicely over my hipster glasses, though I fear that anyone with larger frames would have trouble fitting any VR headset over them. The only real weight of the headset came from the phone, the light foam construction being both sturdy (we dropped it a couple times) and comfortable.

Merge VR never weighed heavy on my head, and my teenager (pictured at the top of this article) never reported any strain from having the device on his face. Like most teenagers, his posture is already questionable, so not enough time has passed to fully evaluate this factor.

Adjustable straps in the back of the Merge VR headset allow it to fit any head, from my 10-year-old's tiny skull to my large melon. There are cooling vents to keep the lenses from fogging up like swimming pool goggles. Sanitary wipes and a lens cleaner are included, but let's be honest, few people are going to be meticulously cleaning their foam VR headset.

VR is a burgeoning marketplace. There is promise of more self inclusive devices on the market, that don't require a smartphone or apps -- but that is still on the horizon. Merge VR and the eventual slate of similar devices will have a strong place in the VR market. At under $80 (not much more than a new console game) there are already a ton of apps available to immerse you in VR environments. The first thing we did was run with raptors in DinoTrek VR. We solely tested the Merge VR on an iPhone 6, though it does claim to work with any Android or iOS phone released in the past two years.

Walking with dinosaurs was fine for a few minutes, but we wanted to shoot something. With our eyeballs. Turns out, there are already apps for that. We started with InMind VR, a virtual game where you are in the mind of a human with a depressive disorder and must zap the affected brain cells. You do this by moving your head and the targeting reticle moves along with you. This, and most of the apps, is presented in full three dimensional 360 environments so make sure you are either sitting in a rotating chair or standing in a room with no sharp furniture.

As you'll note if you click over to the InMind VR page in the
Google Play store, that app was designed for Cardboard. Any apps designed for Cardboard (which is a concept more than a singular product) will work with Merge VR since the concept and engineering holds true. Merge VR also includes a removable piece of foam in the front of the headset to complement augmented reality apps that use your phones camera. We delved into Merge VR so quickly that we neglected to make the requisite amount of View-Master jokes. Turns out, even View-Master has their own VR device.

One major difference between the Merge VR headset and some Google Cardboard kits is that Merge VR uses styluses to interact with the screen instead of magnets. There are triggers on the headset, which we used in games such as Zombie Warfare and Vanguard V. These shooters take advantage of your movement, the triggers and if you have your headphones plugged in (you better) -- your senses. Merge VR is set to release a handheld controller that works through Bluetooth so you don't have to hold your arms up to your head the entire game to control the triggers. If not for the controller on the way, this would be a solid negative as there are likely to be more shooting apps coming to market and it gets very tiresome holding your arms up to your head for extended periods of time.

Merge VR offers a brightly painted distraction from reality by comfortably encasing your face in whatever virtual reality environment you choose. There was little fumbling when inserting a phone into the device, we found that outside light was nearly completely eliminated and the triggers worked fine on a clean screen. I wouldn't recommend trying Merge VR with an iPhone that you've dropped a thousand times.

Reviewing the Merge VR headset was not a matter of reviewing the available apps, as they ranged from mediocre to very immersive and entertaining. Rather, it is evaluating the comfort, convenience and price of the delivery system. The argument can be made for a fold-able chunk of cardboard at varying prices depending on the manufacturer and specs -- but at the same time, an already constructed and functional device at under a slice of a Benjamin Franklin has very high holiday season appeal. Playable and interactive virtual reality is now a reality, why wait for the more expensive all-inclusive gaming devices when you can use your smartphone and have virtual reality on your face before Thanksgiving?

Here is the full list of apps not mentioned above that we tested on the Merge VR headset:

Discovery VR -- a VR experience where you learn through videos and shows as shown on Discovery Channel.

YouVisit VR -- so far the most visually advanced app out of all apps tested. Very user friendly interface where you get to visit places around the world from Paris to Tokyo.