The review mentioned it did, but I don't understand why they have a virtual room. Why not just display the video at full resolution?
Why do I have to have my head and face oriented toward a virtual screen? Why would I want to look down at a virtual coffee table, or up at a virtual ceiling, or behind me at a virtual couch while the movie is playing at some fraction of the device's resolution in a different virtual direction?
1. Video Goggles have existed since the 90s, they want to differentiate themselves from that dead technology. So being able to look around a screen is actually pretty neat.
2. The screen simulates your full range of vision. So to fill it edge to edge would be impossible to watch. You would have to pick an arbitrary fraction of the screen to show at a time. Why not set up a virtual space where you can move closer or further away from the screen or move around like you can in real space? Self configuring!
Moving closer or further is an interesting idea - except I expect I'd be watching video either sitting in a chair or lying down, and thus quite stationary.
As for it adding to the experience, for optimal viewing in real life, we turn off the lights precisely to avoid the surroundings from distracting from the experience...
You can, but the experience is often like watching a giant standard-def TV set - none of the consumer grade VR headsets have the resolution to do this well yet. I personally find watching a film on an tablet or phone significantly better, unless the isolation offered by strapping a VR headset to your face is more important to you.
