Otaku Dome had the opportunity to speak with Cmoar, the creators of the headset device of the same name. A lot of questions are asked about the device’s functionality, including some that may clear up the confusion of those interested in it the interview was done by CEO Damian Boczek :

1. How did the Cmoar come about, what’ steps did you take to help develop the device?
[Damian Boczek Cmoar Ltd. CEO] – Everything started over a year ago when new HMD gained huge popularity. Nevertheless, I didn’t merely want to observe the revolution – I wanted to become a part of it. It didn’t take me long to understand what feasible potential do the smartphones have. Particularly now, when the first mobile with 2560×1440 screen has started to be on sale. I was discovering new possibilities everyday and for the first time I decided to combine all the already existing projection goggles and pack their good points into one device. The result that you can see at this point took us over a year of hard work!

2. Why so many options in one unit? What gave you the idea to bring Virtual Reality & 2D/3D together, and is there any way to combine the VR with 3D, etc?
[D. B.] – There’s one really simple reason behind it. I wanted to create one device with all the features where the user would choose what feature he currently want to use without a need of buying several different devices. Cmoar provides you with this possibility. Virtual Reality as such is in 3D obviously allowing you to enter the game world. The difference between VR lenses and 3D cinema screen lenses is mainly in the size of the screen you see and the quality.

3. How did you manage to get approval for Playstation 4 and Xbox One support? Seems like a great alternative for those waiting on Project Morpheus and Oculus Rift.
[D. B.] – To make it clear what Cmoar Smartphone Viewer does it streams the image from PC or console to your smartphone screen. In result when you use a smartphone with OLED screen you get an image with incredible color depth and contrast, just like you were watching the image on your OLED TV in your living room. I’ll explain it in details below.

4. Can you explain how streaming and watching video with the Cmoar works?
[D. B.] – As you probably know until now nobody really needed that feature. So streaming the picture from the console to your smartphone. In result that means currently there are not many technical possibilities to do that. Still we were able to achieve that goal. Thanks to Cmoar and 2D cinema screen lens it is possible to enjoy games from your PC or console just by a simple image streaming (without head tracking feature in this particular case). To do that a streaming app is needed (to stream the picture from PC) that you install on both your smartphone and your PC. And to stream the picture from your console you’d need one additional device with HDMI output. All the details can be found on our official website www.cmoar.com under the games and applications tab, where streaming feature is exactly explained.

When it comes to watching 2D movies it’s even easier. It’s enough to have one on your smartphone, hit play, put your smartphone into Cmoar, use 2D cinema lens and you’re all set! With 3D movies those need to be in SBS technology (Side By Side image) but that’s the only condition. We don’t need any image converging app or anything like that. Moreover we are also providing Cmoar buyers with a special Virtual Cinema app that allows you to feel like you were in a virtual movie theater!

5. What are the key differences between the Smartphone version of Cmoar and the PC/Console version?
[D. B.] – Yet again to clarify things a bit. Cmoar Smartphone Viewer is a one device and one device only. There is no a separate one for PC and a separate one for console. You can stream games from PC or from console using one and the same Cmoar. And each version of Cmoar uses smartphone as it’s the heart of the device.

6. Are games that will be supported by Project Morpheus and Oculus Rift also going to be supported by Cmoar?
Unfortunately not. We will do our best though to make Cmoar work with VR games straight from PC in the future.

7. Can you give us a placeholder idea on when the Cmoar device is expected to launch?
[D. B.] – If the Kickstarter campaign is successful very early birds and early birds backers will get their devices in December. Until then we will of course work on improving the look and the quality of Cmoar to make it even more advanced that it is now. Then around February/March 2015 Cmoar Smartphone Viewer should be officially launched on the market.

8. Will there be games exclusive to the Cmoar?
[D. B.] – Yes. Today we are launching the already mentioned Virtual Cinema app thanks to which you will be able to get a full cinema experience including your choice of a seat. Here’s the link to the app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.Cmoar.CmoarVirtualCinema&hl=en
And in the upcoming days we’ll be launching a Zombie Forest game and Augmented Reality demo. More information can be found at www.cmoar.com, games and applications.