Google Quietly Moves Its Head Of Search Design To Virtual Reality
What's clear is that Google has invested a major design talent in VR. As head of Search, Wiley refined the mobile experience, while turning long lists of links simple cards of information.
[Google Cardboard] is the most democratic virtual reality headset we’ve seen yet. Over half a million units have shipped, likely because it's a mere 2% to 3% of the price of its closest competitor, the Samsung Gear VR (also a headset adapter that slots in a smartphone), which runs $250.
Google is very well known for its strong computer science, algorithms, and all the things we do in terms of solving really big hard-to-scale problems. [But] I don’t think quite as much attention has been paid to the other side of Google. We’re really focused on making simple and useful experiences—but also beautiful experiences."
"People are trying to invent the display part, and they’re not yet worrying properly about the UI," John Underkoffler, creator of the famous Minority Report interface, explained in a recent interview, citing a general lack of urgency across the industry. "No one has a UI for it. So that puts VR pretty much in the position of being a playback mechanism."
Users need a whole new language to really interact with it.
See the full story here: http://www.fastcodesign.com/3046369/design-moves/google-quietly-moves-head-of-search-design-to-virtual-reality