小米推出廉价版虚拟现实头盔

Xiaomi has joined the virtual reality land-grab with a cheap smartphone-based headset, the Mi VR Play, which pits the Chinese mobile maker against its sometime partner Google and further hampers Facebook’s hopes of dominating the VR market with its Oculus headsets.

中国手机制造商小米(Xiaomi)发布了基于智能手机的廉价虚拟现实(VR)头盔——小米VR眼镜玩具版(Mi VR Play)，与曾经的合作伙伴谷歌(Google)展开对垒，同时会进一步遏制Facebook以Oculus头盔称霸VR市场的希望。

More than 1m consumers have already signed up to test Xiaomi’s headset, available as a beta version in China practically free of cost at Rmb1 ($0.15). It will be tested by “tens of thousands” of users, according to a spokesperson, before a full launch in coming months. Partners contributing content to its Mi VR app include glossy magazine Condé Nast Traveller and Chinese video side Youku.

申请小米VR头盔公测的用户已超过百万，中国用户只需支付1元人民币（合0.15美元）就能获得测试版，这几乎相当于免费。小米资讯发言人表示，小米VR头盔将接受数万名用户测试，几个月后再正式发布。向其小米VR应用贡献内容的合作伙伴包括时尚杂志《悦游》(Condé Nast Traveller)以及中国视频平台优酷(Youku)。

The headset, made of Lycra, requires a compatible smartphone, either iOS or Android, of 4.7in to 5.7in. It is being marketed as an affordable entry-level product.

小米VR头盔采用了莱卡棉材质，需配备一部4.7到5.7英寸的iOS或Android智能手机。其市场定位是价格实惠的入门级产品。

Xiaomi’s low-priced entry comes just days after Samsung updated its headset, and puts it in competition with Google’s efforts to build a VR platform called Daydream.

就在小米推出这款廉价入门级产品的几天前，三星(Samsung)刚升级了它自己的VR头盔，以此与谷歌打造的“白日梦”VR平台(Daydream VR)一争高下。

As recently as May, Xiaomi pledged to build devices that support the nascent Daydream standard, alongside Samsung, HTC and LG. Despite its competitive headset launch, Xiaomi confirmed it still planned to partner with Google to develop Daydream-ready Android phones this year.

就在5月份时，小米还承诺要与三星、HTC和LG一道打造支持新兴的“白日梦”标准的设备。虽然小米推出了与这一标准竞争的头盔，但它证实自己仍计划与谷歌合作，在今年开发符合“白日梦”标准的Android手机。

In China, the VR market remains in its infancy, with a dominant headset maker still to emerge. The domestic market size for Chinese VR is expected to cross Rmb55bn by 2020, according to Chinese research group iiMedia.

中国VR市场处于起步阶段，仍未涌现出一个可以称霸市场的头盔制造商。中国研究公司艾媒咨询(iiMedia)的数据显示，到2020年时，中国VR市场规模有望突破550亿元人民币。