Ok, so it has volume up and down and a "touchpad". Still, it's extremely overpriced. It could have easily been replicated for far less, Oculus branding or not. I have to respectfully disagree about how well it works versus how well it would work without Oculus involved and/or the volume buttons and touch pad.
There are complete kits with 40mm lenses on eBay for very cheap that let you build your own, and there are also complete head gear (like the VR), that are already built and do virtually the same thing, yes, minus the touch pad and volume controls, but still... In fact, the original Google Cardboard does this, and is surprisingly extremely effective.
Even PC Magazine just yesterday published an article written by Eban Dashevsky, where Dashevsky claims "most people will find that Cardboard offers an experience on par with that of Oculus. And I'm
not alone in that opinion.".
Why Google Cardboard Is the Only VR Headset You Need Evan Dashevsky PCMag.com
The basis of this device is a simple matter of taking two images which are side-by-side in a screen and tricking the eyes to focus straight ahead at each individual image directly in front of that eye rather than trying to converge and focus using the normal brain's expected behavior of determining distance from the eyes using 3d perspective which would result in seeing the screen as one with two images side by side instead of one. It's no different in theory than the item below, created some 175 years ago...
Stereoscope - Wikipedia the free encyclopedia In that page, you see Zeiss was in the game very early on. And of course, there was the "Viewmaster", a toy with 3D images on a circular card.
I have done this already with my phone (WITHOUT ANY GEAR OF ANY KIND), and have played games with it and watched movies and such. It can be done with the naked eye by simply training it to focus on a point in the distance and then bringing the phone into view from underneath, or even with a couple pairs of reading glasses overlayed on each other. In the first example, you see three images but you train your focus on the middle one which is the 3D image. In the second example you place the phone close to your face (similar to how the Gear VR does), and the lenses do the rest.
Here's a very inexpensive version ($33.24) with Bluetooth wireless remote to do the same thing.
Android 4 6 Virtual Reality VR Headset 3D IMAX Video Glasses Blueooth Remote eBay
Here's one for only $4.95, including the NFC tag to make it interactive.
Universal 3D Video Google Cardboard VR Virtual Reality Glasses Headset NFC 1382 eBay
Even Archos got into the game last year with a $30 pair...
Archos unveils VR Glasses inexpensive virtual reality headset Digital Trends
If you want Carl Zeiss' lens technology you could have gotten it then for only $135 on pre-order.
VR-One headset uses your phone to create virtual reality worlds Digital Trends