 Daydream View, Google's new VR headset, isn't very much like any of its competitors. The PlayStation VR, Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Cure VR, or even Google's own cardboard. It's soft, squishy, and feels more like clothing than electronics. But the Daydream Team spent a long time getting to that point. We went to Google's offices in Mountain View to see how they did it. The View is supposed to be one option among many for Google Daydream headsets. But it's Google's way of setting a tone for the entire platform. And to do that, the company looked not to electronics, but to clothes. The headset draws on a lot of different types of soft goods of clothing. For example, the head strap, it adjusts much like you'd adjust a pair of ski goggles. The outer part of the headset, kind of the body of it, it's sort of rigid, right? It's soft, but it also holds its form. So something like a comfortable pair of shoes. And then just the material, which the whole thing is clad in, I think is reminiscent of a super comfortable t-shirt, right? Or something that you just wear out and about. This was the starting point of Daydream View, because technically, it's all you need in a headset. Just strap a phone to one side and put a pair of lenses on the other, and you have something like a very simple Google cardboard. The problem is, this doesn't feel very good. The Daydream Team needed to end up with something more like the Samsung Gear VR, with padding, a strap, and a controller. And they needed to do it without weighing down users' faces or making it too tough to get to their phones. The first step was 3D printed mockups. These were heavy and stiff, but they let the team figure out a shape that would fit the most people, including ones with glasses. Then they experimented with finding the lightest materials possible, ending up with a combination of plastic, foam, and fabric. The View isn't a very complicated piece of hardware, but it's the culmination of lots and lots of little decisions. Like what angle should the strap be to get it to sit right on somebody's head? How do you make sure people can tell that they're supposed to open up the front and put a phone inside? Sometimes the most elegant solutions Google tried, like magnets that seamlessly held the tray shut, turned out to just confuse people. They were much more likely to get that you should just pull a tab to open an elastic band. On the one hand, it's a VR headset, which means you need to line up optical elements and the screen and everything else just so. On the other hand, it's something that you wear. And so we had to kind of learn some new tricks in manufacturing. We weren't just making things out of molded plastic, but we also have sewing machines, right, and other things that you'd find in a place where you're making shirts and clothes and so on. Take, for example, the fabric that's covering the Daydream View. It's got a distinct texture because solid collars made it look too much like hard plastic from a distance. So Google set up a laser system that would let manufacturers precisely align the texture in the right way for each headset. The Daydream View isn't just the headset. It's also a custom controller that works kind of like a VR laser pointer. If Google has its way, all kinds of companies are going to be making their own very unique looking Daydream headsets. But the controllers are all going to look pretty much like this. But it could have looked very, very different. These are all possible shapes that Google thought about for its controller. The Daydream team even had people come by and model their dream VR controller in clay. A lot of the designs look cool and way more futuristic up until you put them into your hand. Then you realize they're actually awkward and uncomfortable. Or they didn't fit into the headset tray, one of the first things the Daydream team decided they'd do. You could almost say the final remote's a little boring compared to all these. But it's the result of constant refining to figure out even little things like how high the buttons should be. Meanwhile, the team was testing the software with something they called the Garage Door Opener, all the guts that made it into the Daydream remote in a big black box. We're usually excited when headsets get high-tech new features, and Google hopes that Daydream will have them in the future. But they'll probably be on the phone, not the headset. One of the things that was very important to us with Daydream Vue was that it's simple. It's easy to get in and out of. And the more kind of active elements you add to the headset, the more complex it becomes in terms of cost and manufacturability. But also most importantly, setup. Imagine plugging lots of little things in and connecting things and so on. We want it to be simple. We want it to be frictionless to get in and out of VR. And the really simple, largely passive headset design really helps with that. Now that Daydream Vue is out in the world, all Google's decisions are getting put to the test. Are wearers going to think it's as universally comfortable as it's supposed to be? Will making it out of fabric help people get over the fundamental weirdness of virtual reality? The answers so far are we don't know and probably not. But Google is taking VR someplace it's never been. If only, as we've just seen, with a lot of stops along the way.
 Daydream View, Google's new VR headset, isn't very much like any of its competitors.
 The PlayStation VR, Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Cure VR, or even Google's own cardboard.
 It's soft, squishy, and feels more like clothing than electronics.
 But the Daydream Team spent a long time getting to that point.
 We went to Google's offices in Mountain View to see how they did it.
 The View is supposed to be one option among many for Google Daydream headsets.
 But it's Google's way of setting a tone for the entire platform.
 And to do that, the company looked not to electronics, but to clothes.
 The headset draws on a lot of different types of soft goods of clothing.
 For example, the head strap, it adjusts much like you'd adjust a pair of ski goggles.
 The outer part of the headset, kind of the body of it, it's sort of rigid, right?
 It's soft, but it also holds its form.
 So something like a comfortable pair of shoes.
 And then just the material, which the whole thing is clad in, I think is reminiscent of
 a super comfortable t-shirt, right?
 Or something that you just wear out and about.
 This was the starting point of Daydream View, because technically, it's all you need in
 a headset.
 Just strap a phone to one side and put a pair of lenses on the other, and you have something
 like a very simple Google cardboard.
 The problem is, this doesn't feel very good.
 The Daydream Team needed to end up with something more like the Samsung Gear VR, with padding,
 a strap, and a controller.
 And they needed to do it without weighing down users' faces or making it too tough
 to get to their phones.
 The first step was 3D printed mockups.
 These were heavy and stiff, but they let the team figure out a shape that would fit the
 most people, including ones with glasses.
 Then they experimented with finding the lightest materials possible, ending up with a combination
 of plastic, foam, and fabric.
 The View isn't a very complicated piece of hardware, but it's the culmination of lots
 and lots of little decisions.
 Like what angle should the strap be to get it to sit right on somebody's head?
 How do you make sure people can tell that they're supposed to open up the front and
 put a phone inside?
 Sometimes the most elegant solutions Google tried, like magnets that seamlessly held the
 tray shut, turned out to just confuse people.
 They were much more likely to get that you should just pull a tab to open an elastic
 band.
 On the one hand, it's a VR headset, which means you need to line up optical elements
 and the screen and everything else just so.
 On the other hand, it's something that you wear.
 And so we had to kind of learn some new tricks in manufacturing.
 We weren't just making things out of molded plastic, but we also have sewing machines,
 right, and other things that you'd find in a place where you're making shirts and clothes
 and so on.
 Take, for example, the fabric that's covering the Daydream View.
 It's got a distinct texture because solid collars made it look too much like hard plastic
 from a distance.
 So Google set up a laser system that would let manufacturers precisely align the texture
 in the right way for each headset.
 The Daydream View isn't just the headset.
 It's also a custom controller that works kind of like a VR laser pointer.
 If Google has its way, all kinds of companies are going to be making their own very unique
 looking Daydream headsets.
 But the controllers are all going to look pretty much like this.
 But it could have looked very, very different.
 These are all possible shapes that Google thought about for its controller.
 The Daydream team even had people come by and model their dream VR controller in clay.
 A lot of the designs look cool and way more futuristic up until you put them into your
 hand.
 Then you realize they're actually awkward and uncomfortable.
 Or they didn't fit into the headset tray, one of the first things the Daydream team
 decided they'd do.
 You could almost say the final remote's a little boring compared to all these.
 But it's the result of constant refining to figure out even little things like how
 high the buttons should be.
 Meanwhile, the team was testing the software with something they called the Garage Door
 Opener, all the guts that made it into the Daydream remote in a big black box.
 We're usually excited when headsets get high-tech new features, and Google hopes that Daydream
 will have them in the future.
 But they'll probably be on the phone, not the headset.
 One of the things that was very important to us with Daydream Vue was that it's simple.
 It's easy to get in and out of.
 And the more kind of active elements you add to the headset, the more complex it becomes
 in terms of cost and manufacturability.
 But also most importantly, setup.
 Imagine plugging lots of little things in and connecting things and so on.
 We want it to be simple.
 We want it to be frictionless to get in and out of VR.
 And the really simple, largely passive headset design really helps with that.
 Now that Daydream Vue is out in the world, all Google's decisions are getting put to
 the test.
 Are wearers going to think it's as universally comfortable as it's supposed to be?
 Will making it out of fabric help people get over the fundamental weirdness of virtual
 reality?
 The answers so far are we don't know and probably not.
 But Google is taking VR someplace it's never been.
 If only, as we've just seen, with a lot of stops along the way.