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Anyone try out Google Cardboard?

Flandy

Member
I'm tempted to order a pre built one off Amazon so I can use it primarily to watch TV/Movies. Anyone have any experience with the cardboard? Going to use a Galaxy S5
Saw two apps on the playstore that both advertise as a cinema size screen.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.funghisoft.sbsvideoplayer
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.Cmoar.CmoarVirtualCinemaPro

Anyone know if they're any good? Would be pretty cool to have a fake imax screen in my house :lol

If you don't know what it is:
https://developers.google.com/cardboard/

Wasn't sure if I should put this in Gaming or OT since it kinda fits both
 
just bought an $8 kit from amazon for my 6+. Can anyone recommend some really good apps for it? I'm looking forward to testing the VR waters until either Sony/Facebook releases their sets.
 

androvsky

Member
I'm tempted to order a pre built one off Amazon so I can use it primarily to watch TV/Movies. Anyone have any experience with the cardboard? Going to use a Galaxy S5
Saw two apps on the playstore that both advertise as a cinema size screen.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.funghisoft.sbsvideoplayer
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.Cmoar.CmoarVirtualCinemaPro

Anyone know if they're any good? Would be pretty cool to have a fake imax screen in my house :lol

If you don't know what it is:
https://developers.google.com/cardboard/

Wasn't sure if I should put this in Gaming or OT since it kinda fits both
I can generally last a minute without getting too sick. It's a thing made of cardboard, you get what you should expect from that. It's for novelty and quick dev testing, don't try to use it for anything real.
 

Lan_97

Member
It was fun to mess around with for a bit, but outside of a handful of demos, there really isn't much compelling content.
 

Waveset

Member
Got one to use with the iPhone 5 and it's been a miserable experience. Struggle to get a 3D effect let alone attain any sort of immersion.
I think the problem may be largely with the assembly, with dimensions being slightly off kilter, it's impossible to find a comfy position with my eyes.
 
Got mine from Tinydeal a week ago after forgetting I even ordered it 7 weeks ago. But it works pretty decently i have a 5,5inch 1080P OnePlus One and it was sharper than I expected there is a bit of screendoor effect but nothing major the narrow FoV is worse.
I've tried Photo sphere photo's they are amazing on it, it's really like you're there.

And can also recommend this cartoon village:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.androidworks.villagevr.villagevr

VR Cinema
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=co.mobius.vrcinema

Got one to use with the iPhone 5 and it's been a miserable experience. Struggle to get a 3D effect let alone attain any sort of immersion.
I think the problem may be largely with the assembly, with dimensions being slightly off kilter, it's impossible to find a comfy position with my eyes.

Think the iPhone's screen is too small, I also tried CardBoard with my old 5inch Xperia Z and i could see the edges of the screen already and it was really breaking immersion. 5.5inch seems to be the sweetspot because it fills the entire FoV of cardboard and just managed to fit inside.
 

spekkeh

Banned
Got one to use with the iPhone 5 and it's been a miserable experience. Struggle to get a 3D effect let alone attain any sort of immersion.
I think the problem may be largely with the assembly, with dimensions being slightly off kilter, it's impossible to find a comfy position with my eyes.

Isn't the iphone 5 really too small?

Tried it with a Galaxy S5. Was all right. Too laggy to really be interesting though, I guess it will take a few more generations for it to become viable.
 
For some reason it just reminds me of this

solideyetobidacid.jpg
 
I tried it for about 5 mins. It was cool and a great glimpse into what VR could be but don't expect to be using google cardboard much. I think most people that get one will try it, think it's cool and then never try it again.

Maybe it was just me but part of the problem is that I have to wear glasses and naturally the google cardboard thing doesn't work well with glasses wearers. If you can get a unit for a couple of bucks you will get some fun out of it but don't expect much from it.
 
I have one. It's fine, but it also illustrates why low persistence screens are so important in a way text could never explain: I find that if I wear it for more than a couple of minutes at a time, turning my head quickly causes weird ghosting and it makes me slightly nauseous. This is on a Nexus 5, btw.

I'm not sure there's a great reason to watch movies through it, either, unless you really really REALLY want the experience of sitting in an (empty) movie theatre.
 
So I got my Google Card Board today. I can't fully use it, because apparently my phone doesn't have a gyroscope so nothing really works the way it's supposed to. Still thirsty for Occulus
 

Krakn3Dfx

Member
Got a knockoff Google Cardboard set from Amazon since they were $7 and some change shipped. Showed up today, took me about 30 seconds to get it assembled watching some dude on Youtube at the same time. Loaded up the Google Cardboard app on my Nexus 5 and a Roller Coaster demo.

Holy shit, this is cool as hell! Ended up taking it around the office and showing it to 7 other people, who were all completely blown away by it and immediately wanted to order their own.

I think I'm going to pony up for a hard plastic version next, I don't see the cardboard version holding up over time. Amazon has a few sellers with good looking black plastic ones for $30-$40, so I'll probably go that way. Also need to pick up an NFC tag to use, since that seems like it would be pretty convenient.

All in all, I'm pretty blown away by what a cardboard cutout and a couple of cheap lenses can get you, can't wait for Oculus.
 

hohoXD123

Member
It's pretty cool, but it's something which loses its appeal pretty quickly rather than something which you'll use often. It's not too comfortable to be watching full movies/tv shows constantly, especially considering there are no straps. You can probably find a cheaper one off ebay, only takes a few minutes to put together.
 

Krakn3Dfx

Member
It's pretty cool, but it's something which loses its appeal pretty quickly rather than something which you'll use often. It's not too comfortable to be watching full movies/tv shows constantly, especially considering there are no straps. You can probably find a cheaper one off ebay, only takes a few minutes to put together.


This one seems like a good option on Amazon, has a cushioned face mount and a nice strap to go around your head. The only thing holding me back is that I wear glass most of the time. I was able to notch out places on the cardboard version that the arms of my glasses slide up through pretty easily, but with a plastic version, I would prefer something I knew would fit off the bat.
 

DorkyMohr

Banned
I've tried it and it works, but it's a proof of concept of low-cost vr. You're not going to get extended use out of it.
 

Chris R

Member
Grabbed a kit, pretty cool but the app selection is rather poor.

Also, the kit I got (from Dodo) doesn't even fit my Nexus 5 (despite claims it would) and might contain the worst set of instructions I've ever seen produced in the English language.

So ya, if you can find a kit for cheap, pick it up, because it's fun.
 

Flandy

Member
I like that nobody replied to me when I made this thread but now it gets randomly bummed long after I decided to pick one up :(
 
I got a couple of kits before Christmas and took it for a couple of parties, needless to say, it was the sensation of the party, its a pretty good glimpse into VR, most people couldnt believe what they were seeing through a cardboard box.

But yeah, after that, its almost never used, not a lot of content being created, I do love to play some of the games for it though, like AAAh! for Cardboard and a breakout style game called Proton Pulse.

I wish there was more content for it created for sure.
 

Nafai1123

Banned
I tried it at my buddies house but the drift totally killed it. It would consistently drift to the right regardless of what app we were using.
 

Flandy

Member
Really need to start checking post dates more. How is it anyway?

It was cool. The youtube demo in the cardboard app is amazing. Makes the screen looks like a movie theater. The youtube demo is pretty barebones though so you can't really use it as your main youtube app :( The roller coast app blew my dads mind away though
 

diablos991

Can’t stump the diablos
I have one on my desk. It works pretty well.

The primary reason for me buying one was to see if this method of VR works with my eye condition.

Happy to say it does and the demos made me very excited for the refinement of this industry.
 
My cousin bought one and showed it to me over break. The interface is kinda neat but then I tried to select something with the magnetic button thing and it broke off. Seems like a decent proof of concept for phone based VR, at the very least
 
This one seems like a good option on Amazon, has a cushioned face mount and a nice strap to go around your head. The only thing holding me back is that I wear glass most of the time. I was able to notch out places on the cardboard version that the arms of my glasses slide up through pretty easily, but with a plastic version, I would prefer something I knew would fit off the bat.

Whats the name of this thing and how much it cost ?
 

Krakn3Dfx

Member
Whats the name of this thing and how much it cost ?

These are the ones from the picture, right at $39 shipped, but they don't include the magnet or NFC, so I ended up passing on them. They also go for quite a bit cheaper on Ebay, I've seen some similar plastic models for less than $20 shipped Buy It Now.


I ended up going with these instead tho, they're leather with a headstrap, the magnet control and an NFC tag and are only $14 shipped right now.

Just in case anyone is on the fence, if you have never used any other VR or only used old VR, just get it now, it is guaranteed to blow your mind, for that price anyone with a capable Android cell phone should own one.

I sat for like an hour over the weekend in the Youtube app alone, using Google voice to search for videos and then watching stuff, it was awesome.

What would be truly amazing is it there was a way to stream Steam games through your phone using Limelight or something like that modified for Google Cardboard and a BT gamepad, basically giving you the straight up Oculus experience with games like Alien Isolation.

Update: Actually, I did a quick search and found this on Reddit, [Guide] How to stream any directX game from your PC to your Cardboard. Dunno how well it works, but definitely going to check it out more when I get home later.
 
Just in case anyone is on the fence, if you have never used any other VR or only used old VR, just get it now, it is guaranteed to blow your mind, for that price anyone with a capable Android cell phone should own one.
 

Crazyorloco

Member
This is awesome. I want to try this out. At first I thought it was some google April fools thing lol
Te amo Google
 

Codeblue

Member
This one looks good.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00U7MTPD4/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Anyone have experience with this one or another with a Nexus 6?

I actually just bought this for use with my Nexus 6. Phone fits in the thing even with a case on. There are light leaks all over the place and I can't seem to get it positioned comfortable on my face though. Certain apps seem impossible to focus while other work fine.

Honestly, it's not bad for the price, but like others have said, I would treat this as a novelty or a cheap way to experience some basic VR.
 
I have an old one from I love cardboard. I've tried it with my Nexus 5, it's pretty good for proof of concept VR actually, surprisingly so.

I duct taped mine to the underside of the brim on an old baseball cap. Looks hilarious, but then again, when doesn't VR look hilarious to others?

I've even rigged it to stream Skyrim, Digital Cybercherries (fucking cool), and Minecraft from my PC using a couple apps, and Trinus Gyre. Also good for proof of concept.

YouTube has some cool 360 videos that work with cardboard, too, and I've watched an episode of a show on VR Cinema from the app store to see what that was like. I could see myself watching movies in VR at some point.

Basically, it'll give you the gist of VR, but it's nowhere near as good as something like Oculus even at DK1 levels. But, it works surprisingly well considering what it is, and it's cheap, and it uses your smartphone that you probably already have, so I think it's genius on Google's part. If you have yet to try VR, I'd highly recommend picking one up. Seriously.
 

T-0800

Member
If I hold a phone a few cm from my eyes I can't see anything but a blur. How are eyes expected to focus to something so close?
 

Seanspeed

Banned
If I hold a phone a few cm from my eyes I can't see anything but a blur. How are eyes expected to focus to something so close?
The holes here where you look through aren't just blank holes. They are plastic lenses(really cheap, crappy ones to be frank) that allow your eyes to focus off into the distance.

AwXSl8f.jpg
 

Dragoshi1

Member
My question is this; Is the ipod touch 5G compatible with GC?

And which prebuilt or kit off of Amazon would fit one?
 

nowarning

Member
I got a kit a while ago, worked fine with my HTC One but my LG G3's screen is just a bit too big for the cardboard headset so I don't use it much these days.

I had it working with HL2, messed around with head-tracking etc. couldn't get the latency down but I didn't really expect it to be great for that anyway, and there is certainly more I could have tried. You can get the kits super cheat, I would say it's worth picking up.
 
I got mine in today. It's surprisingly cool.

Edit: Oddly enough the image is very clear despite me not being able to wear my glasses. Both of my eyes have astigmatism.
 
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