from the investing-heavily-in-materials dept.
Google has updated its Cardboard VR template. The cardboard frame holds your smartphone and lenses in order to make a simple and cheap virtual reality headset:
Even with the simplicity of the design, the company did make a few changes to Cardboard 2. The base model now requires only three steps to set up with your smartphone instead of seven. The viewports are smaller and circular, indicating that there's more cardboard used to hold the phone in place. Even with the increase of material used throughout the viewer, it's able to hold large phones such as the iPhone 6 Plus and the Nexus 6.
Here's a direct download link. It's about 9 megabytes and contains the technical specifications, "Works with Google Cardboard" - the best practices for third-party Cardboard sellers, technical drawings, and 3D models.
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Google will reportedly release a smartphone-assisted virtual reality headset in 2016 and build virtual reality software features into Android rather than rely on an app. The device will use plastic casing, add extra sensors, and include better lenses than those distributed with Google Cardboard:
We've said a few times now that Google's virtual reality initiative is too big for the company to just be working on Google Cardboard, and now The Financial Times has published a report detailing what seems to be the next phase of Google's VR push. The report says that Google is working on "a successor to Cardboard," creating a higher-quality headset and building VR software directly into Android.
The device sounds like a Google version of Samsung's Gear VR. Like Cardboard, the headset will be powered by your existing smartphone, with a "more solid plastic casing" along with better lenses and sensors. Also like Cardboard, this won't be limited to just a handful of devices, with the report saying that the headset "will be compatible with a much broader range of Android devices than Gear VR."
Such a device sounds like it would occupy a compelling spot in the market. The Gear VR is a great device—the $100 headset is a powerful entry-level VR experience—but it only works with Samsung phones. Cardboard has much wider phone compatibility, but it comes with a huge list of compromises that lead to a subpar experience. Taking the Gear VR model and expanding it to accept most popular smartphones sounds like a solid idea.
(Score: 2) by DECbot on Monday September 14 2015, @11:38PM
.... I'm holding out for at least for Google Rubber, but I might settle for Google Wool.
cats~$ sudo chown -R us /home/base
(Score: 2) by inertnet on Tuesday September 15 2015, @12:15AM
Google Rubber? Think of the children's privacy!
(Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Tuesday September 15 2015, @12:25AM
A google rubber full of privacy holes may result in even more children.
But seriously, cardboard is legit -- The future is now! [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 2) by takyon on Tuesday September 15 2015, @12:31AM
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Ethanol-fueled on Tuesday September 15 2015, @01:34AM
Hahah, I was just joking...but I've actually used the Google Cardboard before. No static "cards" are necessary as there's an app which creates a pseudo-3D view of the camera preview (meaning that you get a 3-D view of everywhere you point the camera).
Very convincing and promising. Hopefully somebody will create a 3-D game using the accelerometers that visually detects your fist punch in the lower right(or left) corner of the screen and splatters that zombie all over the place.
(Score: 2) by VLM on Tuesday September 15 2015, @11:23AM
Hopefully somebody will create a 3-D game using the accelerometers that visually detects your fist punch in the lower right(or left) corner of the screen
Android watch family of products. Assuming you punch with your watch hand, I haven't worn a watch since the 90s and from memory I think "we" usually wore watches on the non-dominant hand, well whatever. I guess you could wear two watches. Hope you don't get too addicted to the game, none of the android watches have a battery life longer than a couple hours.
Would probably need the visual processing for pr0n games. Pr0n being the only thing that advances technology.
(Score: 2) by DECbot on Tuesday September 15 2015, @02:21PM
When I wrote the original, I didn't think of the other meanings of the word rubber outside of my mom's basement. Now that' you've reminded me, let me fix my post:
.... I'm holding out for at least for Google Rubber, but I might settle for Google Wood.
(seriously, I was thinking more of Settlers of Catan more than the back room of the video store when writing the previous.)
cats~$ sudo chown -R us /home/base
(Score: 3, Informative) by stormwyrm on Tuesday September 15 2015, @12:25AM
Numquam ponenda est pluralitas sine necessitate.
(Score: 5, Funny) by gman003 on Tuesday September 15 2015, @02:59AM
You might think this is just the result of a lazy submitter or editor. It's actually a sinister conspiracy to try to trick us into reading the fucking articles! Don't fall for it!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 15 2015, @01:13PM
This would be funner if reading the article was somehow regarded a good thing, when in reality their main function is to serve as an excuse to fire the discussion.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by arslan on Tuesday September 15 2015, @01:25AM
I have a Google Cardboard... for $5 of one of those dropped shipped Chinese website its actually pretty good. Watching 3D movies on it is much better than watching it on my TV although rendering is still a little jaggy.. the immersiveness of the 3D is much better even compared to the cinema given its right in your face.
(Score: 2) by darkfeline on Tuesday September 15 2015, @11:28PM
How's the resolution? Might be time I start working on that full surround VR computer desktop idea.
Join the SDF Public Access UNIX System today!
(Score: 2) by arslan on Wednesday September 16 2015, @11:37PM
The resolution depends on your phone and video encoding..