If you think it’s weird using a mobile device as a screen and processor for a virtual reality headset, so did I. But Ken Price, vice president of sales and marketing for Samsung Canada’s mobile division explained to me that Oculus has been using Samsung SG smartphones in their development kits for Oculus Rift.

It’s no surprise, then, that the Gear VR, developed in partnership with Oculus, was built to power off the processor and screen of the new Samsung Galaxy Note 4. With a Quad HD Super AMOLED screen, it’s got the resolution required.

Certainly my brief experience with the headset, I sampled two demos, was on part with my time with the Oculus Rift at E3 in June.

In a conversation, Price told me that the Gear VR will be available this year. It won’t be a massive roll out, he admitted, but there will be units available for early adopters.

The software development kit for the Gear VR is already available to developers, and on Facebook and Twitter today, Fireproof Games announced it is working on a title for the Gear VR. Entitled Omega Agent, it will have players strapping on a “nuclear-powered jetpack”.

Cross-posted at the Georgia Straight