Why Google Cardboard is
AMAZING
Karthik Sankar
Virtual Reality is amazing. It can
let you experience things in 3D as if you were really there. Unfortunately, VR
can be really expensive. For example, the Oculus Rift (a renowned and one of
the first VR headsets) costs about $600. Google Cardboard is google’s product
to make VR more accessible. This is exactly why it is so amazing:
- Cost. It only costs
about 15 dollars and has free shipping. This means it extremely cheap in
comparison to other VR options. They achieve this because the entire
device consists mostly of (hence the name) Cardboard with some plastic
lenses and 2 small magnets. The displaying, processing and sensing are all
done with your phone (currently iPhone and Android are supported).
2.
It’s not proprietary. Other
companies can make devices that work with google cardboard software on your
phone. In addition, non-google developers can write code to work with google
software. This means there is a huge selection of cardboards you can buy and
apps that work with them.
3.
DIY. Part of what makes Google
Cardboard so cheap is the fact that you have to assemble it yourself. As
mentioned before, it only consists of cardboard 2 plastic lenses and 2 magnets.
If you enjoy DIY projects, Google Cardboard is a fun, useful and simple one.
4.
User-friendly. In order to use
cardboard, you tilt your head to move a cursor. Then you push a magnet downward
to click on it. It’s that easy. This means you can experience VR movies or play
so simple VR games without any prior knowledge.
5.
It's so innovative. You
might wonder how a piece of cardboard communicates with your phone. Well, your
phone identifies which cardboard you are using by letting you scan a QR code on
the side of the device. Your phone can detect when you move the magnet in a
really cool way. One magnet is stuck in place on the inside of the cardboard.
The other magnet is kept on the outside of the cardboard and the only thing
keeping it there is the magnetic field from the internal magnet. When you move
the outer magnet away from the internal magnet the field strength decreases.
Since most modern phones have magnetometers for finding North and South, apps
designed to work with cardboard simply have to read the phone's magnetometer
and detect any sudden drops.
No comments:
Post a Comment