Google Cardboard Turns Your Android Phone Into VR Headset
Google held its annual I/O developers conference on Wednesday (June 25th), and the company revealed a decidedly low-tech approach to virtual reality, fashioned from cardboard.
The device, which is literally made out of cardboard, is meant to turn an android smartphone into an immersive virtual reality headset, in line with the Oculus Rift. Google handed out the cardboard kits to some attendees at the conference, and posted instructions online for interested parties who wished to make the headset themselves. The kit is paired with an app, appropriately named cardboard, which is available in the Google play store.
Gizmodo got their hands on one of the cardboard kits, and they gave it an overwhelmingly positive review. Brent Rose, who tested the headset, explained that after the cardboard viewer is appropriately constructed, an android phone is attached to the back with Velcro. Users scroll back and forth by turning their head, utilizing the gyroscopes in the phone. While Rose’s review of cardboard pointed out that some of the phone’s resolution is sacrificed by virtue of the binocular nature of the display, he conceded that this minor issue will be solved as phones evolve. “We are very, very impressed considering it’s a couple cents worth of cardboard, a pair of plastic lenses, a magnet, and a washer,” Rose stated, adding that “VR is about to get very, very cheap and ubiquitous.”
The idea for cardboard emanated with two Google employees in Paris, David Coz and Damien Henry, according to The Huffington Post. The pair reportedly developed the concept as a part of Google’s “20 percent time” program, which encourages employees to use 20 percent of their time at work to focus on their own, individualized projects.
Virtual reality headsets are a rapidly growing sector of technology. As The Inquisitr previously reported, Facebook spent a staggering $2 billion in order to purchase the start-up company that developed the Oculus Rift headset. It comes as little surprise that Google is also interested in approaching the technology.
On its developer page, Google highlights some suggestions for unique uses of cardboard:
- “Earth: Fly where your fancy takes you on Google Earth.”
- “Tour Guide: Visit Versailles with a local guide.”
- “YouTube: Watch popular YouTube videos on a massive screen.”
- “Exhibit: Examine cultural artifacts from every angle.”
- “Photo Sphere: Look around the photo spheres you’ve captured.”
- “Street Vue: Drive through Paris on a summer day.”
- “Windy Day: Follow the story (and the hat) in this interactive animated short from Spotlight Stories.”
“By making it easy and inexpensive to experiment with VR, we hope to encourage developers to build the next generation of immersive digital experiences and make them available to everyone,” Google says, indicating that cardboard is just the beginning of the company’s virtual reality endeavors.
