Why Google Cardboard is AMAZING Karthik Sankar

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:

1. 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.