G oogle last week announced an updated app for
its minimalist Cardboard virtual reality viewer, as
well as software development kits for both Android
and the Unity game engine.
It also published new building specifications for
those interested in making their own Cardboard
viewers and announced that it's hiring more
people to work on the project, with five new
positions now open.
More than half a million phone-based Cardboard
viewers have been shipped, Google said.
Cardboard-compatible apps now available on
Google Play include a live concert and fully
immersive game.
First introduced at Google's I/O conference earlier
this year following Facebook's multibillion-dollar
purchase of Oculus VR, the open source Cardboard
viewer is also available from several retailers,
including DODOcase, I Am Cardboard, Knoxlabs
and Unofficial Cardboard. Pricing on most is less
than US$30.
"Google's Cardboard virtual reality viewer initially
was introduced to laughs, with people thinking it
was a joke," said Susan Schreiner, senior editor
and analyst with C4 Trends .
"Now, Google may be having the last laugh with
three key announcements that have the potential
for seeing an emerging end-to-end VR
ecosystem," she told TechNewsWorld.
Nowhere to Go But Up
It's easy to see how Cardboard progressed from "a
tongue-in-cheek response to a 'thing,'" said
Christine Arrington, a senior analyst for games
with IHS.
"I think the tech industry loves a bit of snark and
fun," she told TechNewsWorld.
With 500,000 users so far, it is hard to say
whether Google Cardboard has moved beyond its
initial audience, Arrington said, but "it wouldn't be
surprising to see it do just that."
Mobile media "gets a lot of leeway from users that
is not given to game consoles or PC content," she
added. "The expectations for any VR headset
connected to those devices will be very high."
By the very nature of the Cardboard "joke," on the
other hand, "the expectations are very low," said
Arrington. "Google can build from there and the
only direction is up."
A Viewer Calibration Tool
The new Cardboard app can help users launch VR
experiences, discover new apps, and set up a
viewer.
Included with the app are several demos, including
one that offers a tour of Versailles with a local
guide.
Meanwhile, the new Cardboard SDKs for Android
and Unity are designed to simplify common VR
development tasks.
Also, the new building specs were created with
specific cutting tools in mind.
Google plans to add a viewer calibration tool to the
Cardboard SDK next year, so that creators can
tailor the viewing experience to their viewer's
particular optical layout.
Lowered Barriers to Entry
Between the SDKs and the new building specs,
"more headset players are likely to jump into the
marketplace and offer consumers and verticals an
increased range of product form factors," said C4
Trends' Schreiner.
Moreover, with a dedicated section in Google's
Play Store highlighting Cardboard-compatible
apps, developers now have an efficient channel to
reach the consumer, she added -- one that's easy
to navigate.
In all, "these additions signal that if configured
properly, content for the Cardboard VR should be
compatible with any VR headset powered by an
Android device like Samsung's Gear VR," Schreiner
said.
"Google's approach, coupled with the inexpensive
bill of materials for cardboard -- lowering the
barriers to entry into the VR marketplace by pros
as well as hobbyists -- and the growing DIY
movement," Schreiner noted, "opens the door for
Google to unleash the potential of the VR
ecosystem."
'$2 Billion Ahead'
Something like Cardboard likely could get VR into
the hands of more people more quickly than
Oculus, which is selling as a development kit for
$350, observed Roger Kay, founder and president
of Endpoint Technologies Associates.
"It's a relatively inexpensive way for Google to
keep Facebook at bay and a finger in this new area
of development," he told TechNewsWorld.
Meanwhile, "at the starting gate, Google is $2
billion ahead, since it didn't have to buy a
company to put Cardboard out," Kay pointed out.
In Search of the Killer App
Many of the technical issues in virtual reality, such
as motion sickness or latency, have been worked
out by companies like Oculus and PlayStation, but
"both leaders still lack a killer app or must-have
game," noted Eric Smith, an analyst in the digital
consumer practice at Strategy Analytics .
"Google Cardboard and its SDK open up
possibilities for any developer to be the one that
brings a unique experience to VR, which is badly
needed for commercialization to be a success," he
told TechNewsWorld.
In short, "Google Cardboard is a cheap way of
doing what Samsung and Oculus are doing with
the Gear VR," Smith remarked, "except on a wider
and cheaper scale."
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