At San Diego Comic Con this year, I was introduced to Google's new virtual reality (VR) tool: Google Cardboard. It's made completely of cardboard (plus a magnet as a control) and is super easy to assemble, making for an extremely budget-friendly option at $14.99, compared to the
Oculus Rift, a super-charged virtual reality tool coming out in early 2016.
The Legendary booth at Comic Con used Google Cardboard to promote their new film
Crimson Peak, starring the one and only Tom Hiddleston.
The movie is a horror film, so the experience was both terrifying and awesome. I ended up ordering a Google Cardboard of my own (the basic version), and downloading an equally-terrifying VR app, Sisters. Here's a video of my fiancé trying Google Cardboard (he's going to hate me for posting this, by the way.) Please also notice our sweet pup making sure he's OK.
The Cardboard works using the technology from the VR app you are using combined with the lenses in the tool. The bigger initiative (other than providing an insanely cool VR experience) is to encourage developers to build their own VR apps for Android and iOS. Google Cardboard's
Developer website has several of options and guides to building your own VR, growing their library of experiences for users.
All in all, we're only at the beginning of the innovative experiences Cardboard will offer. For now, it's a great thing to bring to a family get together to break the ice and prevent those oh-so-lovely Thanksgiving conversations. Check out the different
Cardboard options to order, and be sure to download these apps to get started (PS, all of the below are free):
-Legendary Films (VR): The
Crimson Peak one is great to freak out your friends, but personally I thought the
Pacific Rim experience was even better (even if the movie wasn't all it was cracked up to be.)
-Google Cardboard: This has several different options, including a look into the Smithsonian and a trippy kaleidoscope experience.
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VRSE - Sundance Selection: These clips are created purely to blow your mind and can be used with or without Cardboard (of course the Cardboard VR experience is 10x better.)
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Jack White: THIRD-D (Android only): 2015 Coachella headliner Jack White has his own VR experience, and I can only imagine that more artists will follow. It wouldn't surprise me if
Katy Perry or Taylor Swift were next to build their own VR app.
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Sisters: This is absolutely terrifying. Don't do it alone or in an empty room. Actually, the first person to record a friend doing this and
tweets it to me will get a $10 iTunes gift card from yours truly.
Share you favorite Google Cardboard experiences with me
@ekpochop!