By akademiotoelektronik, 02/04/2022
Google Cardboard: everything you need to know about Google's virtual reality headset
Summary
1.
What is Google Cardboard?
2.
How does a Cardboard work?
3.
The Google Cardboard virtual reality headset in detail and in photos
4.
Buy a Google Cardboard
5.
Price of a Google Cardboard
6.
The technical characteristics of the Google Cardboard headset
7.
Advantages and disadvantages of Google Cardboard
7.1.
Google Cardboard: the advantages
7.2.
Google Cardboard: the disadvantages
8.
A virtual reality headset for whom?
9.
Phones compatible with the Cardboard
10.
Choose the right viewer according to your smartphone
11.
Cardboard app: applications and videos available with Google Cardboard
12.
Buy an assembled Google Cardboard, as a kit or make your own VR mask
13.
How to make a Cardboard?
14.
Google Cardboard V1, V2 and after?
15.
Nintendo takes over
16.
The Google Pixel 3A does not support Daydream VR
17.
Google Cardboard review, test and rating
17.1.
5
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The Google Cardboard is more of a reality mask than a headset. Consisting above all of cardboard and a pair of lenses, the Cardboard, launched in 2014 by the American giant of search engines, aims to be the gateway to the discovery of virtual reality. Very inexpensive and requiring only a compatible smartphone, the Cardboard (cardboard box) allows you to discover, in a fun way, the potential of VR.
These are two French, employees of Google in Paris, who are at the origin of the idea of Google Cardboard. They presented, in 2014, their inexpensive product in the wake of the presentation of the high-end virtual reality headset Oculus Rift. The concept is to offer a very cheap alternative to virtual reality headsets and to democratize this technology to the general public. Several million Cardboards have since been marketed... a real hit!
What is Google Cardboard?
Google Cardboard is the virtual reality headset produced by the American firm in 2014. The general public was able to see the product during the 2 days of Google I/O in San Francisco in 2014. This product is used to view videos in virtual reality, 360 degree images as well as apps and games. Its second version appeared in the market from May 2015. This Google Cardboard v2 is different from the first version for its ease of assembly. Read this article till the end to learn all about Google's Cardboard virtual reality headset.
Google Viewer is more than just a cardboard box. The mask is indeed a fairly simple assembly of cardboard, lenses, Velcro strips to attach the smartphone, an elastic band and, for the first version, magnets.
The Google Cardboard is either delivered as a kit or already assembled. It is also possible to easily design your own product yourself by downloading the plans available from Google. A little tinkering and assembly and you've designed your very own viewer. The only difficulty lies in getting lenses.
How does a Cardboard work?
The principle of this device seems simple. Simply insert a smartphone into the slot provided for this purpose and look into the lenses. It's a bit more complicated than that. First, the mounting system holds the phone at eye level. Then the lenses enlarge the image so that it occupies the user's entire field of vision.
However, a normal video or application does not reproduce the 360 degree vision. The viewed content must separate the screen into two spaces and synchronize them. Then, it is the movement of the head that facilitates deployment in space. For this, the applications use the gyroscope of the smartphone. In order to simulate the spatial impression, the images are slightly shifted.
The Google Cardboard virtual reality headset in detail and in photos
The Google Cardboard is the brainchild of two French people from the Parisian Google Cultural Institute, Damien Henry and David Coz. The Google Input/Output event was chosen to present to the public for the first time on June 25, 2014, some time after the announcement of the competition headset, Oculus Rift.
This headset is made of cardboard with a smartphone inside for actual viewing. Moreover, the American giant provides Internet users with the tutorial for its creation on its site. In addition to the cardboard, there are magnets, rubber band, lenses and Velcro strips. However, the second version no longer needs magnets.
Its ultimate use is to see specific media content differently with virtual vision. Thus, it is an entertainment tool at the very beginning. However, professionals have taken advantage of Google Cardboard in another way by using it to promote their products and services. Car manufacturers were among the very first to see its potential. Thus, they used it either to present new vehicles with a 360 degree view or to allow users to live a virtual immersive experience of these products among others.
Buy a Google Cardboard
It is possible to get a Google Cardboard on the Google site but various online shops and stores also offer it. Some online stores also offer an unofficial but improved version, with prints or more resistant materials.
It is also possible to obtain, for a lower price, a kit version of the Google Cardboard to assemble yourself. Finally, it is possible to create your own viewer yourself by downloading the plans and showing your handyman skills. This often raises the problem of proxying lenses.
Price of a Google Cardboard
There is no fixed price for the Google Cardboard, it depends on the store and whether it is an official version of the virtual reality mask or not. We get it for 5 to 7 euros a kit version to assemble yourself. The masks already assembled and ready to use are sold between 14 and 20 euros approximately. Count a little more, up to 30 euros for a version with improved materials (varnished cardboard for example) and nicer prints than the cardboard packaging style.
Finally, note that it is often possible to obtain a Cardboard for free. Many companies or newspapers, for example, carry out marketing operations and offer a map free of charge to their customers or to visitors to a trade show or event. Finally, some brands offer lenses as a gift and a plan to design your own Cardboard kit for free. Mac Donald's and its Happy Meal menu or some cereal brands, for example, have already offered these items.
The technical characteristics of the Google Cardboard headset
Google's Cardboard virtual reality headset is a simple device that anyone can recreate at home. You simply need the elements listed below to do this:
A compatible smartphone,
2 resin lenses,
2 magnets (for version 1),
4 Velcro,
1 rubber band.
Advantages and disadvantages of Google Cardboard
Despite its very affordable price (between 14 and 30 euros depending on the version), the Google Cardboard allows you to enjoy a large number of virtual reality content. The virtual reality mask is much more limited by the characteristics and performance of the smartphone than by its own characteristics. Its main advantages are, of course, its extremely low price and the possibility of discovering a lot of content. It does not require a computer or connections. It is light and portable and remains the ideal solution for getting started with virtual reality.
However, due to its material, the VR mask remains fragile and has a limited life expectancy. Being a mask, it does not have straps to tie it on the head. You have to hold it with your hands, which can spoil the experience a bit, especially on long-term content. Not having either protections, the Cardboard is not very comfortable.
Google Cardboard: the advantages
Google Cardboard, Google's virtual reality headset has many advantages for its users. Its first asset is above all its availability. It is, in fact, arrived on the market while the other manufacturers were simply announcing their launch in this project.
In addition, it costs much less than products in the same category created by competitors. Its price is around 20 euros only. This cost also increases the number of people around the world who can use it to experience the world of virtual reality.
This mask is at the same time open source. Google actually makes the manufacturing instructions available to everyone to create one yourself.
Version 2 of the Cardboard is compatible with even more devices than its version 1. It is also more ergonomic with the addition of a click button. The sensation also becomes more immersive with wider lenses with this version.
Google Cardboard: the disadvantages
The Google Cardboard virtual reality headset is also not the best product in its field. In fact, it even has many drawbacks that you should still be aware of. As a reminder, its body is made of 90% cardboard. It is therefore a fragile device that can tear, soften or worse.
This technology is not yet well perfected and mastered by the great number. Although many people have already been able to experience inexpensive virtual reality with the Google Cardboard, many still do not fully understand how it works. Thus, we see everywhere online that if some are unable to play games with their devices, others are unable to view a 360 degree image for example.
Since it is not a device exclusively produced by Google, other companies are also creating them. However, the quality is often not there with some manufacturers even if the price seems attractive.
A virtual reality headset for whom?
Google Cardboard is, above all, a product for the general public. Thus, you can use it to entertain yourself above all either by playing wildly fun games or by watching videos and images otherwise.
The second target audience is professionals. The latter can take full advantage of the advantages offered by Google Cardboard by allowing users to virtually experience their products or services. Space planning professionals can use it to show their client a new decoration in their apartment, for example. Or why not offer a virtual trip if you are a professional in this field?
In short, the Google Cardboard is intended for both individuals and professionals.
Phones compatible with the Cardboard
Most smartphones on the market today are compatible with Google Cardboard. Officially, it is possible to associate your Apple phone or your Android device with this product. Even Windows Phone owners can hope to use it with currently available apps.
It's not so much the compatibility that matters, but the size of your smartphone with Cardboard. You actually need a screen of at least 3.5 inches, i.e. a minimum dimension of 87 mm by 51 mm. There are also models compatible with phablets (with a screen of 6 inches or more).
The Google Cardboard virtual reality headset is therefore compatible with certain iOS and Android devices.
Choose the right viewer according to your smartphone
It is therefore important to note that not all smartphones are compatible with the Google Cardboard. Certain technical characteristics are required to be able to enjoy virtual reality with your phone. The phone has at least an Android version 4.1 or iOS 8.0. The higher the screen size and its definition, the more interesting the experience will be. The greater the computing power of the smartphone, the better the fluidity of the image.
Apart from this, however, it is imperative that the smartphone has some internal sensors. A gyroscope and a magnetometer are essential for virtual reality on version 2 of the Cardboard. Version 1 additionally requires a magnetometer. In general, recent mid-range and high-end smartphones are compatible.
However, it is important to check this compatibility beforehand because some manufacturers, such as Huawei for example, do not offer all of these sensors on their recent mid-range phones. For example, you can check that your smartphone has the required sensors using an application such as Castro, which in its Sensors tab specifies the values of each sensor.
Cardboard app: applications and videos available with Google Cardboard
The possibilities for viewing virtual reality content offered on a Cardboard are vast and important. In particular, you watch 360-degree and/or 3D videos either on YouTube or by using a suitable VR video player. It is also possible to consult the virtual reality version of Google Earth. The Google Cardboard also allows virtual tourism and even viewing VR porn.
There are also a large number of applications and games compatible with Google Cardboard. You will also find a selection of the best Cardboard apps and games here. Many Cardboard apps are available for free, others are sold at a very affordable price. Note, however, that the free Cardboard apps display a lot of advertisements.
Among the applications and games available for Google Cardboard, you have first of all the eponymous application, Cardboard. It allows access to virtual reality with your smartphone thanks to its pre-integrated demos such as the 360 degree views of Google Eearth. Virtual Cultural Exhibition, Guided Tour (or Virtual Trip), Arctic Journey, and Photo Sphere are among the apps available with it.
Among the most interesting games is Insidious VR. It invites you to dive into the terrifying world of spirits. Fulldive VR challenges you to skydive, while with Fractal Combat X you become a fighter pilot to fight aerial battles.
There are now several thousand Cardboard-compatible applications and games available on both Android and iOS.
Buy an assembled Google Cardboard, as a kit or make your own VR mask
The Google Cardboard store offers a wide selection of Cardboards in the form of masks or glasses. You can find the model adapted to your needs, desires and smartphone model here.
You will also find, on this same page, the plans to tinker with your own Cardboard as well as ideas to personalize your cardboard box according to your tastes. Note, moreover, that now a large number of companies (newspapers, manufacturers, shops, etc.) offer their customers a VR viewer. In this way, they take advantage of virtual reality content that they have posted online.
How to make a Cardboard?
Know that you do not need to buy your cardboard. Indeed, Google has never considered the plans for its cardboard device a secret. You can thus download the plans, as we have indicated to you. Then, you must have the various tools listed in this article.
We start by cutting the cardboard by placing the plan on top of it. With a cutter or a scalpel, we follow the line. A ruler allows you to make very straight cuts. For lenses, you can buy them or make them yourself from a plastic bottle. After having cut out four circles, they are welded together using a soldering iron or a piece of heated metal. With a syringe, water is injected into it.
Then, we proceed to the assembly described on the plan. If you are patient and in love with your cardboard, personalizing it will be child's play.
Google Cardboard V1, V2 and after?
Google launched in 2014 its Cardboard V1 for smartphones with a screen between 4.5 and 5.2 inches. Quickly followed, in 2015, by V2 for phones with a screen between 5 and 6 inches. These two cardboard versions were a great springboard to discover virtual reality for Google.
Even if no announcement has been made on the subject, Google could surprise its world by soon launching a Google Cardboard V3 offering higher quality and more interactivity for the user.
Nintendo takes over
We are in 2019 and the Mountain View firm does not seem to be continuing the adventure around its cardboard helmets. Since then, it has marketed a product close to Gear VR, the famous Daydream.
His all-cardboard mask now looks like a goodie distributed by magazines. companies sometimes use it to highlight a 360-degree filmed video. Clearly, Google is no longer looking to innovate in this area.
On the other hand, this object to build oneself inspires the console manufacturer and video game publisher Nintendo. Indeed, the Japanese group has announced the marketing on April 12, 2019 of the Nintendo Lab VR Kit. This accessory is intended for the home-nomadic console: the Switch.
The manufacturer offers several Kits to introduce children to virtual reality. Cardboard VR headsets in the shape of elephant trunks or cannons are more reminiscent of toys. The different cardboard modules need to be assembled. Then, young players benefit from new experiences: mini-games related to the shape of the object. From the VR Plaza, users access 64 applications.
However, this product intended for children over 7 years old also allows you to browse Zelda: Breathe of The Wild entirely in virtual reality. Similarly, the publisher offers bonuses in VR in Super Mario Odyssey. We will see interest in these features starting April 25, 2019.
On the other hand, we regret the much higher price of Nintendo Lab VR Kits compared to a Google Cardboard. In any case, the Japanese firm has been able to make the most of the project launched by the Web giant in 2014. If the product works, it could really democratize VR among the general public.
The Google Pixel 3A does not support Daydream VR
Update 05/20: Recently marketed by Google, the Pixel 3a is a very interesting mid-range smartphone. On the other hand, if it excels in photography, it is useless for a VR enthusiast. The Mountain View firm didn't even try to make it compatible with the Cardboard V2 successor. The phone would not be powerful enough to display content properly. The lack of news on this side seems to indicate that Google no longer wishes to market a dedicated product.
Moreover, the company has terminated the VR Jump platform, a tool for creating 360 degree videos linked to a sophisticated device. The cloud space will be closed on June 26, 2019. On the other hand, partners like Lenovo continue to innovate and attempt breakthroughs with the technology of the Mountain View firm. Additionally, YouTube VR will be compatible with the Oculus Quest.
Google Cardboard review, test and rating
Installation - 8
Design and ergonomics - 2
Feature - 9
Performance - 1
Value for money - 5
5
Worth its price
Installation: Very easy to set up, just slide your smartphone and tie it with the elastic. Simple but fragile.
Design and ergonomics: A minimal design but very impractical and pleasant. You have to hold the mask in front of your eyes and the discomfort associated with the cardboard somewhat spoils the experience.
Functionality: Very simple and with a very wide range of games and applications available. However, the quality is not always there and the immersion often spoiled.
Performance: The Google Cardboard is really a very inexpensive entry-level product. The performance largely depends on that of your smartphone. The mask itself is the worst thing about it.
Value for money: The Google Cardboard is the cheapest virtual reality mask on the market. Made from tough cardboard so demanding a lot. However, it remains an excellent gateway to discover virtual reality and its potential.
User Rating:
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