Xiaomi has joined the virtual reality land-grab with a cheap smartphone-based headset, the Mi VR Play, which pits the Chinese mobile maker¹ against its sometime partner Google and further hampers² 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 glossy³ 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。小米新闻发言人表示，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 affordable⁴ 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 Daydream⁵.

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 nascent⁶ 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 remains⁷ in its infancy⁸, with a dominant⁹ 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。