
Google Cardboard - rburhum
https://developers.google.com/cardboard/
======
corysama
It's very cool that they are doing this. But, for anyone who tries it, there's
something very important to keep in mind: Low latency is critical to VR!
Unfortunately, Android sensors and graphics pipelines have very poor latency.
If you try this and get terrible motion sickness, don't dismiss VR as a vomit
inducer.

In fact, many people have reported that spending time in VR, and taking a
break whenever motion sickness creeps up, actually reduces motion sickness
outside of VR. As in, people are saying "After playing in my Rift for a few
weeks, I can suddenly read in the car for the first time!"

~~~
toomuchtodo
> In fact, many people have reported that spending time in VR, and taking a
> break whenever motion sickness creeps up, actually reduces motion sickness
> outside of VR. As in, people are saying "After playing in my Rift for a few
> weeks, I can suddenly read in the car for the first time!"

Is this because the VR experience is causing your brain to recalibrate your
vestibular system [1]?

[1]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vestibular_system](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vestibular_system)

~~~
electromagnetic
More than likely. Our brains are very adaptable, it would appear this is more
similar to how people have been "recalibrated" to chronic pain and extreme
phobias.

The chronic pain example is that a prolonged duration (about 2 weeks) of being
free of pain medications can cause the body to adapt and recognize it's over-
interpreting pain.

The extreme phobia was if you had someone with a severe phobia of snakes, you
would put them into a room with a few dozen snakes in cages and lock them in
until they recalibrate as their body can only stay in panic for so long.
However... it isn't the most ethical way as it actually is possible to suffer
heart failure from fear.

~~~
ekianjo
> The chronic pain example is that a prolonged duration (about 2 weeks) of
> being free of pain medications can cause the body to adapt and recognize
> it's over-interpreting pain.

Yeah, but the pain never really goes away, though. But the time effect is
definitely true.

~~~
alttab
I've had two low back surgeries, and I can attest that you simply "get used to
it."

------
joakleaf
Seems like Google copied this idea:

[http://www.refugio3d.net](http://www.refugio3d.net)

I actually built something similar myself in December 2013 for iPhone, using
just some cardboard and a couple of magnifiers I bought in a book shop the
same day. It works surprisingly well, and I was really proud of myself.

... Afterwards I discovered Refugio, and I realized it wasn't a new idea at
all. Now it is Google's idea.

~~~
tlrobinson
Also, from the same lab (MxR at USC's ICT) where Oculus originated [1]:
[http://projects.ict.usc.edu/mxr/diy/fov2go/](http://projects.ict.usc.edu/mxr/diy/fov2go/)

[1] "Spun out of MxR’s VR2GO and HMD prototypes, the Oculus Rift is the single
most anticipated piece of VR technology to date."
[http://projects.ict.usc.edu/mxr/diy/](http://projects.ict.usc.edu/mxr/diy/)

~~~
joakleaf
Right. I remember seeing those too.

In any case, not really fair if Google gets full credit for this.

If anybody is wondering about the 3D. I build a simple stereo-image OpenGL
landscape app, and used the gyroscope of the iPhone 5 to determine view
direction.

It is actually really simple, and the lag really isn't that bad.

The biggest problem is that you can't really do anything without a controller.

------
breckinloggins
I just tried it; the latency is much higher than the Oculus Rift but it's
still enjoyable. The demo app mainly has you flying around various places on
Earth, but this comes with an SDK for further development.

I watched some folks in my office put it together and there was a bit of
confusion as to how it was supposed to assemble (also reflected in some
comments here as well).

The three biggest annoyances of the setup are:

\- Higher latency

\- Uncomfortable on the face (cardboard edges rubbing against skin)

\- Unable to really fine-tune the focus

With the exception of latency, the other problems might be solvable with some
more crafting. In particular, it would be good to put some kind of soft rubber
grommet around the edges and then use some sort of head strap so you didn't
have to hold it all the time.

Verdict: not perfect and certainly not going to be a threat to real hardware,
but it _does_ give you enough sense of presence to experiment.

~~~
C0d3r
> In particular, it would be good to put some kind of soft rubber grommet
> around the edges and then use some sort of head strap so you didn't have to
> hold it all the time.

Sounds easily fixable with a bit of sugru

~~~
coldpie
I hadn't heard of "Sugru" before, so I interpreted this as a phone-typo for
"surgery" and was surprised at your dedication to cardboard VR technology :)

~~~
leishulang
just sneak your finger in and double tap.

------
rburhum
This is what the Google IO attendees received on their way out of the keynote.

~~~
joezydeco
That's a huge cutback from everyone getting laptops or phones.

~~~
TarpitCarnivore
They also get a choice of LG or Samsung Android wear device, as well as
everyone will get a Moto360 when they ship.

~~~
arrrg
I don’t really understand why they do that. Isn’t there more than enough
demand? They don’t have to create weird incentives to attract the wrong
people! They want people to attend who will actually get the most benefit
(knowledge about making things on various Google platforms) from it and
benefit Google in turn, not anyone else.

~~~
jrockway
From this comment thread, it appears that giving away free stuff can't please
everyone. One comment complains that some cardboard isn't good enough, while
yours bemoans Google giving away stuff that's too good.

I think the idea is to get devices in the hands of developers; people that
will play with it and report bugs or blog about it, people that will code up a
little app to see how it works on a watch, and so on. It does create
incentives for people that just want free stuff to go to I/O, but it's
probably a lot simpler and cheaper for them to just buy it when it's released.
If you're not a developer, is a smart watch with no third-party apps that
useful to you? Probably not. Being an early adopter is rarely sunshine and
rainbows.

~~~
pyre
I wouldn't say that this:

> That's a huge cutback from everyone getting laptops or phones.

is a complaint that "some cardboard isn't good enough." Google has been giving
away things like phones and laptops at Google I/O for a few years. I think
it's reasonable to say that giving away "only some cardboard" is a huge
cutback, without commenting on whether that's a good or bad thing.

------
timle
Got the cardboard demo app to fire up on my Nexus 4 using a magnet. Waving it
around the headphone port seems to trigger the 'switch'. Was curious about how
it did motion tracking. Seems all the demos use the accelerometer for
tracking. Was sort of hoping they worked out how to use the camera for motion
tracking. Now all I need is lenses, an nfc chip, laser cutter, and proper
weight to strength ratio cardboard!

~~~
hahainternet
> Was sort of hoping they worked out how to use the camera for motion tracking

See Project Tango.

------
doff
I like to imagine that Google Cardboard is an internal company joke at the
expense of Google Glass.

~~~
pertinhower
How can this not be some kind of internal sniping?

------
conroe64
I did something like this using the open source vnc viewer for android. I had
the idea that you could make a 10,000 x 10,000 pixel virtual screen and then
use it for programming. You could turn your head and phone would then show a
different part of the screen. Also I had it so if you tilted your head left or
right it would zoom in or out based on the direction.

It worked well enough, but my phone's resolution was only 1280x800 which is
640x800 per eye. Not enough to really be able to program well.

I just got the quad hd LG G3 though, so I'm going to try it again as soon as I
can get a good setup (I'm in hong kong right now so ordering things online is
a little tricky). If anyone wants the (hacky) source code, and a brief manual,
let me know.

BTW, I just used a hat with cardboard and tape to hold the phone and several
pairs of high strength reading glasses worn on top of each other to get the
lenses right.

~~~
thejash
I'm sort of interested in the source code, and what you're up to now, but I
didn't see an email address in your profile?

------
clebio
Or this little beauty from the game Metal Gear Acid for PSP:
[https://greenhillszone.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/solid-
eye...](https://greenhillszone.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/solid-eye.jpg)

------
mhb
Good lens source (US):

[http://www.surplusshed.com/finder.cfm](http://www.surplusshed.com/finder.cfm)

~~~
luminiferous
Link is broken. I don't think the finder.cfm link is supposed to be shared.
Anyways, I found the correct (I think) lenses on
[http://surplusshed.com](http://surplusshed.com) by going to the lens finder
link and looking up double convex, 40mm focal length, 25mm diameter lenses.
$4.50 each, which is pretty good.

EDIT: The article says to use biconvex lenses, whereas I looked up double
convex lenses. The surplus shed website has double convex as a separate search
option as biconvex, but wikipedia says they're the same thing? If someone has
more knowledge about this I'd really like to know if they're at least "close
enough" to use, since I couldn't find any biconvex lenses on the website of
the correct parameters.

------
matthuggins
Can someone just make the viewer and sell it online? I'm too lazy.

~~~
prbuckley
Done... [http://www.dodocase.com/products/google-cardboard-vr-
goggle-...](http://www.dodocase.com/products/google-cardboard-vr-goggle-
toolkit)

------
prbuckley
I thought people here might be interested in the precut Google Carboard kit we
have for sale,
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7947715](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7947715)

------
zyxley
Somebody should do a Kickstarter to make and ship copies of this kit for $5 or
$10.

~~~
prbuckley
You can order one here...

[http://www.dodocase.com/products/google-cardboard-vr-
goggle-...](http://www.dodocase.com/products/google-cardboard-vr-goggle-
toolkit)

(full disclaimer, this is my company, we make and ship lots of stuff so this
will get delivered, unlike some kickstarter projects)

~~~
dspillett
Do you deliver outside the US? [http://www.dodocase.com/pages/shipping-and-
returns](http://www.dodocase.com/pages/shipping-and-returns) doesn't seem to
say at all. UK here, but people all over the place may want to know.

------
femto113
Poppy is this in plastic (plus a lens splitting mirror so you can shoot 3D
video as well). [http://www.poppy3d.com/](http://www.poppy3d.com/)

------
mattkrea
Really wish I had an Android phone for this. Sat there fumbling with this
cardboard in the lobby for 20 minutes.

------
zizzer
On my Moto G (which is listed as being 'Partially compatible'), it's nearly
impossible to get any of the demos in the app version to respond to the
phone's movement. I'm assuming that's down to the lack of gyroscope, which is
a bit disappointing.

------
JoshTriplett
I'd love to see a version of this without the separate eye-holes that assume
stereo vision. Ideally, that version would have a separate NFC tag to identify
it as such, disabling the stereo rendering but preserving the VR look-around
behavior.

------
hfsktr
No take on the VR stuff. I was looking through the instructions and admiring
how it seemed so plain and someone thought to do this (build this around your
phone). Making the instructions easy for everyone etc.

Usually I hate the pages that use pictures and scroll this way and out of
curiosity I grabbed the scrollbar and started up and down and it was awesome.
I had expected it to jump between a set of images or something, like the
scroll wheel had but it was really fluid.

------
rogweiof
Oh man. Brian May's gonna be pissed. No vertical is safe.

------
jsemrau
Is it April 1st already? Just joking... Cool concept.

------
rbanffy
I wonder if it can be done with a Nexus 7...

Edit: damn spell checker...

------
slashdotaccount
Where's the code? I see mentions of "open" hardware and software [1,2] but
have yet to find any source code.

[1]
[https://developers.google.com/cardboard/](https://developers.google.com/cardboard/)
[2]
[https://developers.google.com/cardboard/overview](https://developers.google.com/cardboard/overview)

------
nickzoic
Ha, I made a thing like this back in 1994 or so out of an old monochrome
640x480 laptop screen, a couple of those plastic fresnel lenses and a whole
bunch of glue and cardboard. It worked about as well as you'd expect.

I was totally into the Virtual Reality hype of the day. It's funny to think
that 20 years later it might almost be useful. Maybe I'll buy an Oculus Rift
to celebrate :-)

------
utopkara
There are many varieties of OpenDive in Thingiverse __. I am glad there is a
chance that this might become a commonly used interface. Looking forward to
using libraries that support displaying on it.

__[http://www.thingiverse.com/search/page:1?q=opendive](http://www.thingiverse.com/search/page:1?q=opendive)

------
whouweling
What is cool: you can also see the 3D image without any aids; just by crossing
your eyes while looking at the 2 images. This way you can see the tracking in
action.

Their appears a 3th image in the middle which you need to focus on and on both
sides a non-depth "ghost" image.

Takes a bit of practice! (Not sure if this is damaging to your eye sight; try
at your own risk)

~~~
rainforest
I don't think you'll get the right effect, if you cross your eyes your left
eye will see the image intended for the right eye (the lenses don't focus on
the opposing image). Still seems to give some sense of depth, though.

------
lucb1e
These two steps do not seem to fit..?

[https://gweb-cardboard.appspot.com/img/seq/17.jpg](https://gweb-
cardboard.appspot.com/img/seq/17.jpg)

[https://gweb-cardboard.appspot.com/img/seq/18.jpg](https://gweb-
cardboard.appspot.com/img/seq/18.jpg)

~~~
agoraphobiae
The bottom flap is flipping, revealing the inside face in the second frame. It
confused me the second time too.

------
philip1209
For those at IO - there is a 10AM session tomorrow about cardboard:

[https://www.google.com/events/io/schedule/session/603fe228-8...](https://www.google.com/events/io/schedule/session/603fe228-89c5-e311-b297-00155d5066d7)

------
lizagub
Guys has anyone tried using lenses with 50 mm focal length? Does it have to be
exactly 45 mm? I measured the distance from the lens area to the screen of the
phone and it is 46mm. I was thinking of using 50 mm lenses. Any ideas? Thanks

------
rahimnathwani
I'm not sure where to buy the lenses in China. Would these work?

[http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=38928988190](http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=38928988190)

~~~
dredwerker
I wonder if these would work [http://www.aliexpress.com/item/LED-44-5mm-
convex-lens-optica...](http://www.aliexpress.com/item/LED-44-5mm-convex-lens-
optical-glass-led-lens/581196796.html)

They look close. I need something in Australia.

That thing on tabao looks so geeky, I am not sure which is worse the cardboard
or the plastic.:)

~~~
rahimnathwani
Yeah, I don't know what the purpose is of the cardboard device on taobao. The
logos are for online video services, so maybe it's so you can watch stuff on a
small screen but make it feel like you're in a cinema :)

In case it's useful for anyone else:

\- Ring magnet 20mm x 4mm:
[http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=23637980267](http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=23637980267)

\- Ring magnet 18mm x 4mm:
[http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=17740389918](http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=17740389918)

\- Ceramic magnet 20mm x 3mm:
[http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=18786950677](http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=18786950677)

Obviously, I only just ordered these so I have no idea whether these items
will turn out to be suitable.

------
johnsteve
The most important thing is that users must have low latency to make the VR
work efficiently... This is a very good initiative taken by Google to let
users design their own VR.

------
Firegarden
[https://twitter.com/GoogleCardboard](https://twitter.com/GoogleCardboard)

------
elpollo
I have a problem I try to install it vía Play Store but it says Cardboard demo
filme missing :(

Could someone tell me why?

GRACIAS AMIGOOOOS

------
mbrzuzy
I wonder what the effects this kind of VR stuff has on the health of your
eyes.

------
brianbreslin
That's the best use of parallax yet.

------
lizagub
has anyone ordered from knoxlabs.com? they seem to be selling it as well.

------
seshakiran
I am amazed by Google more and more each day.

~~~
thescrewdriver
I'm more amazed by the level of vague content-free comments hero-worshipping
Google.

------
amjaeger
lenses are $250??

~~~
mccr8
They are now listed as unavailable on Amazon in the US. When I looked, the
lenses were only about 8 Euros in Europe, so presumably the $250 was some
scalliwag attempting to cash in on the Google Cardboard hype.

~~~
mikeash
Could be pricing algorithms gone wild, too. For a really extreme example of
this, see:
[http://www.michaeleisen.org/blog/?p=358](http://www.michaeleisen.org/blog/?p=358)

------
chris_mahan
Will code for food?

------
schnevets
Ouch, my retinas!

------
pohl
Someone go make the dream of Anil Dash come true:

[https://twitter.com/anildash/status/312048420720345088](https://twitter.com/anildash/status/312048420720345088)

------
infogulch
Cue mass papercut epidemic.

------
indubitably
and by everyone they mean anyone who has bought their phone

------
tomphoolery
Or I could just buy a pizza, eat said pizza, and convert the box into this...

~~~
mihai_ionic
> Q: Can I use a pizza box for the cardboard? A: Yes. Make sure you order an
> extra large.

I'm not sure I'd want to stick my phone into a soaked pizza box though.

~~~
mikeash
Well don't use the _bottom_ half....

------
midgetjones
Google bosses: "Devs! Quick! We need something cute to cover up something
we're about to do or may have already done!"

------
renarenasaini
my co-worker's sister-in-law got paid $12019 the prior week. she gets paid on
the laptop and bought a $391300 house. All she did was get fortunate and put
to work the steps uncovered on this web site ,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,, WWW.MAX43.COM

