Google to join growing VR army

New job listings fuel speculation that a Google VR headset is incoming
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Google could soon be going head-to-head with Oculus, HTC and the VR gang, according to a series of new job listings advertised on the Google careers website.

With Apple having recently hired VR expert Doug Bowman, professor and researcher at Virginia Tech, it would appear that Google is also tooling up. The search giant is currently advertising a number of positions in VR, including a hardware engineering technical leader manager, leaving many to speculate the future of Google's tech arm.

"As the Hardware Engineering Technical Lead Manager for the consumer hardware products, you will drive the design and execution of our ever increasing product portfolio," reads the job description.

Google has already dipped its toes into virtual water, with its low-cost Cardboard VR platform for smartphones shifting over a million units. However, with the imminent release of HTC Vive and Oculus Rift, it's clear that Cardboard won't cut it for much longer.

Essential reading: The top Cardboard apps

Other positions include an electrical hardware engineer and PCB layout engineer, with the former to "lead electrical hardware development for consumer electronic products from concept into production," further hinting that Google is looking to develop new hardware.

The latest job listings isn't the first sign of Google getting serious about VR, following the appointment of Clay Bavor as its first head of Virtual Reality.

Although nothing has yet been confirmed, the development of VR consumer hardware would almost certainly tie in with the unveiling of Project Aura – the proposed successor to the Google Glass.

Could it be that Google and Microsoft end up going toe-to-toe for AR headset domination?

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