Daydream is a discontinued virtual reality (VR) platform which was developed by Google, primarily for use with a headset into which a smartphone is inserted. It is available for select phones running the Android mobile operating system (versions "Nougat" 7.1 and later) that meet the platform's software and hardware requirements. Daydream was announced at the Google I/O developer conference in May 2016, and the first headset, the Daydream View, was released on November 10, 2016. To use the platform, users place their phone into the back of a headset, run Daydream-compatible mobile apps, and view content through the viewer's lenses.
Daydream was Google's second foray into VR following Cardboard, a low-cost platform intended to encourage interest in VR. Compared to Cardboard, which was built into compatible apps and offered limited features, Daydream was built into Android itself and included enhanced features, including support for controllers. Daydream was not widely adopted by consumers or developers, and in October 2019, Google announced that the Daydream View headset had been discontinued and that they would no longer certify new devices for Daydream.
At the Google I/O developer conference in May 2016, Google announced that a new virtual reality (VR) platform called "Daydream" would be built into the next release of their Android mobile operating system (OS)—Nougat (7.1). Daydream was Google's second foray into VR following Cardboard, which was a low-cost standard that utilized a cardboard viewer with plastic lenses that could hold a smartphone. Whereas Cardboard was used by running compatible apps and was accessible on most smartphones, Daydream was built into the Android OS itself and only worked on select phones that met the platform's standards, such as having specific hardware components. In January 2017, Google opened the Daydream program for all third-party developers.
Android Nougat introduced VR Mode, a low-latency, "sustained performance mode" to optimize the VR experience for Daydream.