Virtual reality (VR) is a technology that makes fake things feel real, and Google’s Cardboard lets you experience it using your smartphone for as little as $5. The technology can be used in a variety of fields, including education, healthcare, and entertainment, and Google is aiming to democratize virtual reality.
Virtual reality. What does this contradictory word, a combination of the words virtual, meaning “fake,” and reality, meaning “real,” mean? Virtual reality is a technology that makes things feel real when they’re not. For example, with virtual reality technology, you can feel like you’re in the Palace of Versailles, France, even though you’re in your living room at home, or you can dive into the deep sea to see sharks, or you can fly through the sky to see natural landscapes around the world. These experiences are revolutionary because they allow us to live out adventures that we could only imagine in books or movies. As a cutting-edge science and technology, virtual reality is a key part of our dreams of the future. Google, Facebook, and other tech companies are jumping into the virtual reality market.
But what if you could get unlimited access to this technology for just $4? Google has made it possible with Cardboard, a device made from cardboard and fisheye lenses. Despite its simple construction, Cardboard is an innovative way to bring virtual reality to the masses. Let’s take a look at how it works, what Google hopes to do with the Cardboard project, and what the future holds.
To create virtual reality, the most important thing is to manipulate our vision. To make a user feel like they’re actually in the Palace of Versailles in France, the view of the Palace of Versailles should naturally position itself in their field of vision whenever they turn their head. The technology that makes these “smart” displays possible is what has made virtual reality devices like the Oculus Rift so expensive in the past. First shown at Google’s 2014 developer event, Cardboard is a device that utilizes a user’s “smartphone” to experience virtual reality. Google’s attempt to replace expensive displays with smartphones led to the creation of a low-cost VR device that costs just $4.
So, how does Google Cardboard work and how does it work? Cardboard consists of nothing but cardboard and fisheye lenses. First, a fisheye lens is placed between the user’s eyes and the smartphone’s screen, which distorts the view. The fisheye lens is what makes the virtual reality video played on the smartphone mimic the real world. Then, the gyroscope already built into the smartphone recognizes whenever the user turns their head and moves the image accordingly. In other words, playing the VR video and moving the image through the gyroscope sensor are all done by the smartphone, and all the cardboard does is look through the lens. The advantage of Cardboard is that it’s made of cardboard, so it’s easy to assemble. And Google made not only the raw materials cheap, but also the information cheap by providing the assembly method and design as open source. As a result, several companies started selling Cardboard with only cardboard and fisheye lenses, and you can enjoy virtual reality for only $4.
The cardboard itself is easy and simple to use. With that in mind, Google launched Cardboard at its 2014 developer event, followed by Cardboard 2 at its 2015 developer event. It has since evolved into one of Google’s flagship services. The natural next step was to create “videos for virtual reality”. Since Google Cardboard utilizes smartphones, the commercialization of Google Cardboard has led to the diversification of apps for virtual reality. Currently, there are about 100 Cardboard-enabled applications on the Google Play Store, and there is a lack of content. Following the commercialization of Cardboard, Google hopes to commercialize virtual reality content creation. By partnering with GoPro, an action camera company, Google has the technology to automatically convert video footage into virtual reality content using GoPro’s 360-degree cameras. This opens the way for a wider variety of content on YouTube, rather than through applications on the Google Play Store.
Virtual reality isn’t just for fun and entertainment. It can be useful in a variety of fields, including education, medicine, and psychotherapy. For example, virtual reality technology allows students to leave the classroom and explore historical sites, medical professionals to practice surgery in a virtual environment, and psychotherapists to help patients overcome their fears. These applications show that advances in virtual reality technology are not just a fad, but a sustainable future technology.
Why is Cardboard design and content creation for VR all “open”? Google sees a future for Google Cardboard in education. Unlike other virtual reality devices like the Oculus Rift and Gear VR, Google aims to lead the education market by making Cardboard affordable and accessible to everyone. This is because the education market is not looking for 99% realism, but rather 85% realism, which is just a little less than 99%, to be accessible to a large number of students. In order to develop educational virtual reality content, the company has partnered with famous museums such as the American Museum of Natural History to provide the same effect as going to the museum in person. This is an important step in helping students learn in a more engaging and lively way.
Currently, the content is mainly in the fun area, such as traveling, games, and watching idols perform on stage. The advancement of virtual reality technology in these areas has been largely left to other virtual reality companies, which have managed the content and advanced the design and production of VR devices. It was also the natural goal of virtual reality companies to make the dictionary meaning of virtual reality – “technology that makes you feel like you are in a real world, even though you are not” – more plausible. Google, however, was more interested in democratizing virtual reality than in making it more advanced. By amplifying the number of virtual reality contents and consumers with cardboard and fisheye lenses that cost only $4, it seems to have taken a step closer to the virtual reality technology in the future society.
As virtual reality technology advances, our society is increasingly blurring the lines between virtual and real. This shift is not only bringing us new experiences we could never have imagined, but it’s also revolutionizing many industries. For example, in architecture, virtual reality can be used to preview and modify buildings, and in real estate, virtual tours can be used to explore homes. In sports, virtual reality allows athletes to train in environments that mimic the real thing. In this way, virtual reality technology is enriching our lives.
In conclusion, virtual reality technology is more than just a tool for entertainment; it’s revolutionizing many fields. Affordable and accessible devices like Google Cardboard are playing a big role in democratizing virtual reality, allowing more people to enjoy its benefits. The advancements in virtual reality technology will continue to have a profound impact on our society, and we can look forward to an even more exciting and enriching future.
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