10 ms·

Google Cardboard

712 points by rburhum 12y ago

rburhum 12y ago
This is what the Google IO attendees received on their way out of the keynote.
- joezydeco 12y ago
  That's a huge cutback from everyone getting laptops or phones.
  - TarpitCarnivore 12y ago
    They also get a choice of LG or Samsung Android wear device, as well as everyone will get a Moto360 when they ship.
    - arrrg 12y ago
      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.
      - moistgorilla 12y ago
        It breeds good will. People will be going to google io, spending a couple of days only thinking about google and leave feeling happy with their new toys. Also, if there is anyone there not in the android ecosystem they will sure as hell give it a try once they leave with their new top of the line phone.
      - jrockway 12y ago
        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.
        wuliwong 12y ago
        hahah, I was thinking the same thing. :)
        pyre 12y ago
        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.
      - pavanky 12y ago
        > I don’t really understand why they do that. Isn’t there more than enough demand? There is. But they also want developers to work on their products. What better way to get them started than to give them away at a developer conference.
      - dragonwriter 12y ago
        Its not designed as an incentive to attend, is designed to get devices in the hands of the kinds of people who will attend I/O so that they can develop for them and act as product evangelists.
      - jfoster 12y ago
        As long as they keep the value of the devices lower than the cost of attending, that incentive ought to be minimized. I think they may have done giveaways in the past that were worth more than the ticket price, though.
      - blisterpeanuts 12y ago
        There was some HN discussion about this a few weeks ago. It was mentioned that the freebies attract opportunists who just want to acquire gadgets to flip them on ebay. Legitimate developers are crowded out of the conference as a result. In my opinion, the solution is to put the gadgets in generic packaging and, maybe, if there's enough time, key them to an attendee's badge. Then, the flippers will have to market them as "open box" and "like new".
  - tluyben2 12y ago
    The also get 2 smart watches I think.
  - thelonelygod 12y ago
    Everyone also got 2 google watches.
  - dm2 12y ago
    They need to randomly not give out freebies that are worth a lot so that people will stop going to these conferences just for the freebies. It would be neat to have a requirement for going to the conferences, either press or verified developer.
- jobu 12y ago
  I kinda thought this was a joke at first... something about thinking outside the box. Has anyone tried it?
- dzhiurgis 12y ago
  Relevant illustration http://explosm.net/comics/2696/ http://explosm.net/comics/2696/
infogulch 12y ago
Cue mass papercut epidemic.
schnevets 12y ago
Ouch, my retinas!
pohl 12y ago
Someone go make the dream of Anil Dash come true: https://twitter.com/anildash/status/312048420720345088 https://twitter.com/anildash/status/312048420720345088
JoshTriplett 12y ago
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.
zyxley 12y ago
Somebody should do a Kickstarter to make and ship copies of this kit for $5 or $10.
- calbear81 12y ago
  I was looking into this right now, I think it has to be more expensive than that to account for the cost of the lens and magnets.
- prbuckley 12y ago
  You can order one here... http://www.dodocase.com/products/google-cardboard-vr-goggle-toolkit http://www.dodocase.com/products/google-cardboard-vr-goggle-... (full disclaimer, this is my company, we make and ship lots of stuff so this will get delivered, unlike some kickstarter projects)
  - dspillett 12y ago
    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.
tomphoolery 12y ago
Or I could just buy a pizza, eat said pizza, and convert the box into this...
- mihai_ionic 12y ago
  > 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 12y ago
    Well don't use the bottom half....
- jonobr1 12y ago
  DO IT
rogweiof 12y ago
Oh man. Brian May's gonna be pissed. No vertical is safe.
corysama 12y ago
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 12y ago
  > 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
  - samskeller 12y ago
    And if so, could we use VR to help people with vestibular disorders?
    - toomuchtodo 12y ago
      It appears that it is entirely possible.
    - muraiki 12y ago
      After I had a bad concussion, one of the biggest things that helped -- with a multitude of post concussion syndrome symptoms, not just vision/movement -- was vestibular therapy. It consisted of things like having the word "dog" on a sheet of paper on a wall and keeping my eyes focused on it while turning my head left and right to a metronome. Once I got better at that, we'd either increase the speed or add "distractions" like having "dog" written on black and white checkered boxes. But more related to what you're saying, there are actually therapy systems that use multiple displays to simulate things like walking through a grocery store. Some people after a concussion can't even go through a grocery store because all the stimulus of different boxes plus movement overwhelms them. An even simpler thing I did was simply to watch youtube videos of people walking through areas with a shaky camera or a dashboard camera from a car driving at night (dealing with other cars' lights). So if those 2d versions are effective, perhaps VR can also help.
timle 12y ago
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 12y ago
  > Was sort of hoping they worked out how to use the camera for motion tracking See Project Tango.
amjaeger 12y ago
lenses are $250??
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- mccr8 12y ago
  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 12y ago
    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
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- luminiferous 12y ago
  There's a website called Surplus Shed that someone else linked. I found 25mm diameter, 40mm focal length double convex lenses for $4.50 each. You can put those parameters into the finder yourself here: http://www.surplusshed.com/lens.cfm http://www.surplusshed.com/lens.cfm
lucb1e 12y ago
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 12y ago
  The bottom flap is flipping, revealing the inside face in the second frame. It confused me the second time too.
whouweling 12y ago
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)
- foobarian 12y ago
  It's a sailboat!
- rainforest 12y ago
  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.
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
deleted 12y ago
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rbanffy 12y ago
I wonder if it can be done with a Nexus 7... Edit: damn spell checker...
chris_mahan 12y ago
Will code for food?
hfsktr 12y ago
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.
joakleaf 12y ago
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.
- joakleaf 12y ago
  Oh, forgot to mention that Smartphone VR-cases are not that new too: http://www.durovis.com http://www.durovis.com http://www.vrase.com http://www.vrase.com
  - yincrash 12y ago
    The lenses used for the Cardboard were from Durovis. Google (@ I/O) also used the Durovis Dive to demo Project Tango.
- tlrobinson 12y ago
  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 12y ago
    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.
  - leoc 12y ago
    Palmer Luckey's been pretty blunt about it: http://www.reddit.com/r/oculus/comments/292twe/cardboard_a_vr_android_app_from_google/cigyz28 http://www.reddit.com/r/oculus/comments/292twe/cardboard_a_v...
brianbreslin 12y ago
That's the best use of parallax yet.
mhb 12y ago
Good lens source (US): http://www.surplusshed.com/finder.cfm http://www.surplusshed.com/finder.cfm
- slipperyp 12y ago
  I'm not thrilled about this company or my order - fair warning below for others who ordered a lens from them. tl;dr - the site may have autogenerated an account for you with a weak password if you told it to check out as guest. First - they didn't have an exact lens match, so I tried ordering two sets of close-to-recommended lenses. My lenses arrived today (10 days after my order, which is probably pretty decent) but I only got one of each, not two sets. OK, this was probably my screw-up, but I definitely knew what I needed and remember trying to tweak quantities on my order to get this right. This is probably my screwup but part of me wishes that it wasn't so easy to screwup online retail (yes, by the customer) like this. But my bigger worry is this! Now that I've got two individual, unpaired lenses, tonight I'm going back to place a new order. I didn't create an account with my original order so I'm checking out again and choosing the "don't create an account" option again when the site tells me I have an account. That's weird because I definitely know I didn't choose to create an account. But I can't check out in without signing in, so I try using the password generation routine I've been using for years. That doesn't work, so I ask it to email me my password and the email I receive tells me my password is "optics". 1) For obvious reasons, it's really, really, really bad to send a username and password together in an email (my username happened to be my email, but the body of the message makes this explicit, too) 2) I definitely did not create that account or with that password - this seems to have generated one "for" me 3) In doing so, it used a really insecure password and I suspect that same default password is in place for other accounts that have been generated automatically and without consent on the site. I don't really mean to come slam these guys and their site - it seems like a bit of a mom & pop shop for some specialized equipment - but others who've placed an order here should beware.
- hanley 12y ago
  Not anymore. "The web site you are accessing has experienced an unexpected error. Please contact the website administrator."
- 12y ago
clebio 12y ago
Or this little beauty from the game Metal Gear Acid for PSP: https://greenhillszone.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/solid-eye.jpg https://greenhillszone.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/solid-eye...
uaygsfdbzf 12y ago
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
femto113 12y ago
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/
indubitably 12y ago
and by everyone they mean anyone who has bought their phone
breckinloggins 12y ago
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.
- yincrash 12y ago
  For me there was initial confusion, but that completely went away once I found the instructions. Unfortunately, I couldn't get it to trigger the magnetosensor on my Moto G.
- C0d3r 12y ago
  > 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 12y ago
    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 12y ago
      just sneak your finger in and double tap.
seshakiran 12y ago
I am amazed by Google more and more each day.
- thescrewdriver 12y ago
  I'm more amazed by the level of vague content-free comments hero-worshipping Google.
Firegarden 12y ago
https://twitter.com/GoogleCardboard https://twitter.com/GoogleCardboard
Firegarden 12y ago
https://twitter.com/GoogleCardboard https://twitter.com/GoogleCardboard
zizzer 12y ago
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.
midgetjones 12y ago
Google bosses: "Devs! Quick! We need something cute to cover up something we're about to do or may have already done!"
jsemrau 12y ago
Is it April 1st already? Just joking... Cool concept.
mattkrea 12y ago
Really wish I had an Android phone for this. Sat there fumbling with this cardboard in the lobby for 20 minutes.
matthuggins 12y ago
Can someone just make the viewer and sell it online? I'm too lazy.
- prbuckley 12y ago
  Done... http://www.dodocase.com/products/google-cardboard-vr-goggle-toolkit http://www.dodocase.com/products/google-cardboard-vr-goggle-...
slashdotaccount 12y ago
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
rahimnathwani 12y ago
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 12y ago
  I wonder if these would work http://www.aliexpress.com/item/LED-44-5mm-convex-lens-optical-glass-led-lens/581196796.html http://www.aliexpress.com/item/LED-44-5mm-convex-lens-optica... 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 12y ago
    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.
utopkara 12y ago
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
doff 12y ago
I like to imagine that Google Cardboard is an internal company joke at the expense of Google Glass.
- pertinhower 12y ago
  How can this not be some kind of internal sniping?
prbuckley 12y ago
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
philip1209 12y ago
For those at IO - there is a 10AM session tomorrow about cardboard: https://www.google.com/events/io/schedule/session/603fe228-89c5-e311-b297-00155d5066d7 https://www.google.com/events/io/schedule/session/603fe228-8...
conroe64 12y ago
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 12y ago
  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?
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
renarenasaini 12y ago
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
johnsteve 12y ago
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.
elpollo 12y ago
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 12y ago
I wonder what the effects this kind of VR stuff has on the health of your eyes.
nickzoic 12y ago
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 :-)
lizagub 12y ago
has anyone ordered from knoxlabs.com? they seem to be selling it as well.
lizagub 12y ago
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

Google Cardboard

712 points by rburhum 12y ago

rburhum 12y ago

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

joezydeco 12y ago
That's a huge cutback from everyone getting laptops or phones.
- TarpitCarnivore 12y ago
  They also get a choice of LG or Samsung Android wear device, as well as everyone will get a Moto360 when they ship.
  - arrrg 12y ago
    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.
    - moistgorilla 12y ago
      It breeds good will. People will be going to google io, spending a couple of days only thinking about google and leave feeling happy with their new toys. Also, if there is anyone there not in the android ecosystem they will sure as hell give it a try once they leave with their new top of the line phone.
    - jrockway 12y ago
      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.
      - wuliwong 12y ago
        hahah, I was thinking the same thing. :)
      - pyre 12y ago
        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.
    - pavanky 12y ago
      > I don’t really understand why they do that. Isn’t there more than enough demand? There is. But they also want developers to work on their products. What better way to get them started than to give them away at a developer conference.
    - dragonwriter 12y ago
      Its not designed as an incentive to attend, is designed to get devices in the hands of the kinds of people who will attend I/O so that they can develop for them and act as product evangelists.
    - jfoster 12y ago
      As long as they keep the value of the devices lower than the cost of attending, that incentive ought to be minimized. I think they may have done giveaways in the past that were worth more than the ticket price, though.
    - blisterpeanuts 12y ago
      There was some HN discussion about this a few weeks ago. It was mentioned that the freebies attract opportunists who just want to acquire gadgets to flip them on ebay. Legitimate developers are crowded out of the conference as a result. In my opinion, the solution is to put the gadgets in generic packaging and, maybe, if there's enough time, key them to an attendee's badge. Then, the flippers will have to market them as "open box" and "like new".
- tluyben2 12y ago
  The also get 2 smart watches I think.
- thelonelygod 12y ago
  Everyone also got 2 google watches.
- dm2 12y ago
  They need to randomly not give out freebies that are worth a lot so that people will stop going to these conferences just for the freebies. It would be neat to have a requirement for going to the conferences, either press or verified developer.
jobu 12y ago
I kinda thought this was a joke at first... something about thinking outside the box. Has anyone tried it?
dzhiurgis 12y ago
Relevant illustration http://explosm.net/comics/2696/ http://explosm.net/comics/2696/

infogulch 12y ago

Cue mass papercut epidemic.

schnevets 12y ago

Ouch, my retinas!

pohl 12y ago

Someone go make the dream of Anil Dash come true: https://twitter.com/anildash/status/312048420720345088 https://twitter.com/anildash/status/312048420720345088

JoshTriplett 12y ago

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.

zyxley 12y ago

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

calbear81 12y ago
I was looking into this right now, I think it has to be more expensive than that to account for the cost of the lens and magnets.
prbuckley 12y ago
You can order one here... http://www.dodocase.com/products/google-cardboard-vr-goggle-toolkit http://www.dodocase.com/products/google-cardboard-vr-goggle-... (full disclaimer, this is my company, we make and ship lots of stuff so this will get delivered, unlike some kickstarter projects)
- dspillett 12y ago
  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.

tomphoolery 12y ago

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

mihai_ionic 12y ago
> 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 12y ago
  Well don't use the bottom half....
jonobr1 12y ago
DO IT

rogweiof 12y ago

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

corysama 12y ago

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 12y ago
> 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
- samskeller 12y ago
  And if so, could we use VR to help people with vestibular disorders?
  - toomuchtodo 12y ago
    It appears that it is entirely possible.
  - muraiki 12y ago
    After I had a bad concussion, one of the biggest things that helped -- with a multitude of post concussion syndrome symptoms, not just vision/movement -- was vestibular therapy. It consisted of things like having the word "dog" on a sheet of paper on a wall and keeping my eyes focused on it while turning my head left and right to a metronome. Once I got better at that, we'd either increase the speed or add "distractions" like having "dog" written on black and white checkered boxes. But more related to what you're saying, there are actually therapy systems that use multiple displays to simulate things like walking through a grocery store. Some people after a concussion can't even go through a grocery store because all the stimulus of different boxes plus movement overwhelms them. An even simpler thing I did was simply to watch youtube videos of people walking through areas with a shaky camera or a dashboard camera from a car driving at night (dealing with other cars' lights). So if those 2d versions are effective, perhaps VR can also help.

timle 12y ago

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 12y ago
> Was sort of hoping they worked out how to use the camera for motion tracking See Project Tango.

amjaeger 12y ago

lenses are $250??

deleted 12y ago
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mccr8 12y ago
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 12y ago
  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
deleted 12y ago
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luminiferous 12y ago
There's a website called Surplus Shed that someone else linked. I found 25mm diameter, 40mm focal length double convex lenses for $4.50 each. You can put those parameters into the finder yourself here: http://www.surplusshed.com/lens.cfm http://www.surplusshed.com/lens.cfm

lucb1e 12y ago

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 12y ago
The bottom flap is flipping, revealing the inside face in the second frame. It confused me the second time too.

whouweling 12y ago

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)

foobarian 12y ago
It's a sailboat!
rainforest 12y ago
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.

deleted 12y ago

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rbanffy 12y ago

I wonder if it can be done with a Nexus 7... Edit: damn spell checker...

chris_mahan 12y ago

Will code for food?

hfsktr 12y ago

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.

joakleaf 12y ago

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.

joakleaf 12y ago
Oh, forgot to mention that Smartphone VR-cases are not that new too: http://www.durovis.com http://www.durovis.com http://www.vrase.com http://www.vrase.com
- yincrash 12y ago
  The lenses used for the Cardboard were from Durovis. Google (@ I/O) also used the Durovis Dive to demo Project Tango.
tlrobinson 12y ago
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 12y ago
  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.
- leoc 12y ago
  Palmer Luckey's been pretty blunt about it: http://www.reddit.com/r/oculus/comments/292twe/cardboard_a_vr_android_app_from_google/cigyz28 http://www.reddit.com/r/oculus/comments/292twe/cardboard_a_v...

brianbreslin 12y ago

That's the best use of parallax yet.

mhb 12y ago

Good lens source (US): http://www.surplusshed.com/finder.cfm http://www.surplusshed.com/finder.cfm

slipperyp 12y ago
I'm not thrilled about this company or my order - fair warning below for others who ordered a lens from them. tl;dr - the site may have autogenerated an account for you with a weak password if you told it to check out as guest. First - they didn't have an exact lens match, so I tried ordering two sets of close-to-recommended lenses. My lenses arrived today (10 days after my order, which is probably pretty decent) but I only got one of each, not two sets. OK, this was probably my screw-up, but I definitely knew what I needed and remember trying to tweak quantities on my order to get this right. This is probably my screwup but part of me wishes that it wasn't so easy to screwup online retail (yes, by the customer) like this. But my bigger worry is this! Now that I've got two individual, unpaired lenses, tonight I'm going back to place a new order. I didn't create an account with my original order so I'm checking out again and choosing the "don't create an account" option again when the site tells me I have an account. That's weird because I definitely know I didn't choose to create an account. But I can't check out in without signing in, so I try using the password generation routine I've been using for years. That doesn't work, so I ask it to email me my password and the email I receive tells me my password is "optics". 1) For obvious reasons, it's really, really, really bad to send a username and password together in an email (my username happened to be my email, but the body of the message makes this explicit, too) 2) I definitely did not create that account or with that password - this seems to have generated one "for" me 3) In doing so, it used a really insecure password and I suspect that same default password is in place for other accounts that have been generated automatically and without consent on the site. I don't really mean to come slam these guys and their site - it seems like a bit of a mom & pop shop for some specialized equipment - but others who've placed an order here should beware.
hanley 12y ago
Not anymore. "The web site you are accessing has experienced an unexpected error. Please contact the website administrator."
12y ago

clebio 12y ago

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

uaygsfdbzf 12y ago

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

femto113 12y ago

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/

indubitably 12y ago

and by everyone they mean anyone who has bought their phone

breckinloggins 12y ago

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.

yincrash 12y ago
For me there was initial confusion, but that completely went away once I found the instructions. Unfortunately, I couldn't get it to trigger the magnetosensor on my Moto G.
C0d3r 12y ago
> 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 12y ago
  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 12y ago
    just sneak your finger in and double tap.

seshakiran 12y ago

I am amazed by Google more and more each day.

thescrewdriver 12y ago
I'm more amazed by the level of vague content-free comments hero-worshipping Google.

Firegarden 12y ago

https://twitter.com/GoogleCardboard https://twitter.com/GoogleCardboard

Firegarden 12y ago

https://twitter.com/GoogleCardboard https://twitter.com/GoogleCardboard

zizzer 12y ago

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.

midgetjones 12y ago

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

jsemrau 12y ago

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

mattkrea 12y ago

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

matthuggins 12y ago

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

prbuckley 12y ago
Done... http://www.dodocase.com/products/google-cardboard-vr-goggle-toolkit http://www.dodocase.com/products/google-cardboard-vr-goggle-...

slashdotaccount 12y ago

rahimnathwani 12y ago

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 12y ago
I wonder if these would work http://www.aliexpress.com/item/LED-44-5mm-convex-lens-optical-glass-led-lens/581196796.html http://www.aliexpress.com/item/LED-44-5mm-convex-lens-optica... 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 12y ago
  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.

utopkara 12y ago

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

doff 12y ago

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

pertinhower 12y ago
How can this not be some kind of internal sniping?

prbuckley 12y ago

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

philip1209 12y ago

For those at IO - there is a 10AM session tomorrow about cardboard: https://www.google.com/events/io/schedule/session/603fe228-89c5-e311-b297-00155d5066d7 https://www.google.com/events/io/schedule/session/603fe228-8...

conroe64 12y ago

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 12y ago
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?

deleted 12y ago

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renarenasaini 12y ago

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

johnsteve 12y ago

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.

elpollo 12y ago

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 12y ago

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

nickzoic 12y ago

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 :-)

lizagub 12y ago

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

lizagub 12y ago

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