Google's Cardboard 2.0 virtual reality device is a triumph for humanity, said no one sane, ever To many, Google's Cardboard VR headset is just a novel paper-and-plastic toy, but the Chocolate Factory is taking it seriously enough that it has given it a revamp and is pushing to have it more widely adopted. Cardboard product manager Clay Bavor unveiled Version 2 of Google's cheapo goggles at the company's annual I/O …
No. There seems to be a bizarro trend to produce devices that are high-tech and extremely gaia-rapingcapital intensive but then avoid going the last mile so that an awkward contraption can be manually assembled with bits of 100% natural products by low-skilled but non-alienated workers.
I don't know why either, but there you are.
Not 360 degrees, and not colour until the early 1900s, but actually, yes, they did have stereoscopic 3-d film before the end of the century. The bowden cable mechanism that synchronised the viewers' eye to the image must have been impressive...
http://stereo.nailed-barnacle.co.uk/#!album-10-19
Really, they had 360° colour stereoscopic 3D video back in the 19th Century?
My imagination has 360° colour stereoscopic 3D video, and I believe they had that back in the 19th century.
It's also free, always available, and leaves my phone free for, y'know, phone calls.
I know the technophiles think people today can't do anything if it's not mediated by some shiny personal-computing device, but I suspect the kids would do OK without this crap. Perhaps by reading books or going places and looking at things.
My thoughts exactly - the way to make this one work is produce a 360 degree cardboard template for 16 of those disposable things you get from Boots - what are they, about £7 each? Oh, and a shitload of confusion when you go through the faff of getting the old-school film developed and they get mixed up.
Still, that would kybosh the standardisation of 'critical' stuff about field of view etc.
All the snobbery just because it is cardboard. So what? It's a great idea, very simple practical and cheap. If you'd rather go out and get yourself an expensive piece of plastic to experience VR then do so, but I'm sure there will be plenty of people with more sense than money who will appreciate this DIY cost effective approach.
Photography took off when Kodak started the Box Brownie - which originally was also made of carboard.
I'd love an Oculus Rift (we had one at work, and had a lot of fun with it), but I can't justify the cost. I'd love Microsoft to release it's weird device - but I probably won't be able to afford that.
This is priced at the point where folk may get it just for a laugh - and at that point we start getting the crowd feedback about such things, and the experience improves.
The big problem for me is that I have 7 inches, which is just too much for these devices/
All the snobbery just because it is cardboard
Oh, please. I'd still think it's dumb if it were made out of platinum and finished with fine-grain unicorn leather.
this DIY cost effective approach
Pro tip: "DIY" means you do it yourself. Not "do it by assembling a handful of parts that came in a box". An IKEA bookcase isn't DIY either.
Google doesn't actually sell your data
Their entire reason d'être? Yeah. Yes, I know, they do no evil either.
and its flagship Chrome browser comes with incognito mode built in
Yeah, and who wrote that? It may protect you from the sites you visit, but is it safe from *Google*?
"
There must be cheaper/better ways than spending a grand and a half on gopro heros to put in your cheap 3d printed holder.
"
I can think of several better ways - but then I am not selling GoPro cameras. The simplest I can come up with after 10 seconds of thought is a camera pointing directly upwards with a 45 degree mirror directly above its lens. Rotate the mirror in steps, taking a photo at every step. OK, so not all the images will be taken at exactly the same time, but you could perform each complete rotation as fast as the camera is capable of taking and storing each frame. I dare say you could cobble together a suitable frame for the device out of cardboard ...
It looks as though someone has already built something for GoPros that would work (though their Kickstarter fulfillment looks to be only half-baked): http://www.eye-mirror.com/ $249 for a mirror/lens to fit a GoPro
They would also need to release an app to use the image in a device such as Cardboard
VR capture for everyone
Google is taking steps towards making VR content generation. Which is very nice, and the Jump is very impressive. However, in doing so, they are moving towards expensive gadgets.. A time will come when expensive VR devices will be mainstream, but it is far. At least be a few years..
The real wave Google managed to make is because of the fact that Google Cardboard managed to offer VR experience for peanuts. And to reach to the regular users, it cannot be $500 gadget, but a solution that just works. We are working towards similar goal.. I invite Android users to give our app a try (name below).
[I'm afraid that's all we've got space for – moderator.]
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