Samsung Just Teased a new VR Mixed Reality HoloLens Killer

Samsung may have some more headsets coming out soon. And while the Gear VR remains very much in the company’s plans, it may also turn its attention to augmented reality in the very near future.

That’s straight from a Samsung executive. Dr Sung-Hoon Hong, a vice president with Samsung, spoke this week at the Virtual Reality Summit in San Diego. And according to Digital Trends, Hong suggested his company is working on an AR headset along the lines of Microsoft’s HoloLens.

VR headsets, like Samsung’s Gear VR, plunge you into an immersive experience, where you’re surrounded by a virtual world. But AR headsets create more of what’s called a “mixed” reality experience, placing virtual objects and images in your view while still letting you see the real world around you.

That’s the experience Hong described at the Virtual Reality Summit. He talked about how Pokémon Go players wearing a Samsung AR headset could search for characters. If they happen to see a Pokémon hiding in a actual tree, Hong said, gamers could walk over to the tree, brush aside the real-life leaves, and pluck out the character.

According to Digital Trends, Hong hinted that Samsung’s augmented reality headset will be making an appearance in February at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. It’s unknown what the device is called, how it will work, and what partners it might have. But the fact that a Samsung executive was even willing to hint at the device suggests that the company is about to make an AR push.

Samsung would hardly be the only player in this space. Microsoft has made mixed reality a major focus of next year’s Windows 10 Creators Update, and it’s working with HP, Dell, Lenovo, Asus and Acer to create $299 headsets for consumers.

Though Hong talked up AR, it appears VR remains a part of Samsung’s plans. Hong said that his company is working on a new version of the Gear VR, with an unveiling coming in the very near future. That could be CES in January, or Samsung could unveil the headset at Mobile World Congress a month later.