Google Cardboard – A New Way to View Reality!

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It’s not every day a tech gift appears on my doorstep, but this weekend that’s exactly what happened. Google Cardboard came free with my New York Times newspaper delivery. I was excited because I had been meaning to review Google Cardboard since I first wrote about it in Google I/O Conference 2015 – The New Tech in Your Future!

Google Cardboard is a simple viewer made of, you guessed it, cardboard, that lets you view 3-dimensional 360° virtual reality scenes as if you were there. Put your Android or iPhone into the viewer to see scenes from around the world as if you had traveled there.

Look up, look down, turn around in a circle. You can see the scenes in 3D as if you were standing there in real life.

The effect is amazing.

Thanks to the New York Times, I now have a Google Cardboard viewer of my very own to play with. The New York Times gave its print subscribers a free Google Cardboard this weekend with the newspaper delivery to celebrate the launch of its virtual reality app.

Getting a Google Cardboard

You don’t need to subscribe to the New York Times to get Google Cardboard. You can buy one or even make one of your own. Google sells the viewer and other similar viewers at the Google Cardboard page.

You may think you have to pay hundreds of dollars for a virtual reality viewer and you could. But you don’t have to.

Google Cardboard viewers on the Google Cardboard page cost around $20. You can also check out Ebay where you can get viewers for just a couple of dollars.

The Google Cardboard page also has instructions for you to make Google Cardboard yourself. Whether you make or buy a Google Cardboard, you may want to check out ideas on that page for decorating your viewer.

Google Cardboard Apps

Once you have a Google Cardboard, or a similar viewer, you’ll be able to take advantage of apps that work with Google Cardboard. You can view places around the world/galaxy, watch videos, take virtual test drives of cars, and play games using Google Cardboard.

Google Cardboard App

Google Cardboard is a free app from Google to get you started with Google Cardboard. You can take virtual reality tours of museums, a cave, an Icelandic hot spring, and the surface of Mars.

Google Cardboard app for Android

Google Cardboard app for iPhone

NYT VR

This free app that inspired the New York Times to give its subscribers Google Cardboard has only a few videos but the effects are incredible. “The Displaced” is a video in the NYT VR app that tells the stories of families displaced from their homes due to war, terrorism and violence.

The stories are told through the eyes of three children in Lebanon, South Sudan and Ukraine. You get to experience their journeys through the app using Google Cardboard. For a truly immersive experience, listen to the audio using headphones.

Look up to see the sky, down to see the ground and all around you to see the environment where these children are now living. Text appears on the screen so you can read it from any vantage point.

The NYT VR app has other videos, some of which are from its sponsors.

The app is free and you don’t need to be a subscriber to use the apps or view the videos.

You can get the apps and view the videos from your computer screen without using Google Cardboard at the NYT VR page.

Google Street View App

Google has given us views from all over the world with Google Street View and now that view is taken to a new dimension. The Google Street View app has been recently updated to let you view some scenes in virtual reality using Google Cardboard.

Tap the Google Cardboard icon in the upper right corner of your screen to be shown the Google Cardboard view of the scene. Check out places such as Machu Picchu, the Aquarium of the Americas, the Temple of Dawn and more.

Google Street View for Android

Google Street View for iPhone

Other Google Cardboard Apps

Google Play has a Google Cardboard Apps page listing apps that work with the Google Cardboard viewer. You can search the iTunes App Store for “Google Cardboard” to find apps that work with the viewer.

Also see, Apple Insider, The best virtual reality apps for iPhone, compatible with Google Cardboard and Huffington Post Tech, The best Google Cardboard VR apps.

Google Expeditions Pioneer Program

Educators can use Google Cardboard to take their students on virtual field trips with the Google Expeditions Pioneer Program. This free program allows students to use Google Cardboard to explore the world without leaving their classrooms.

Check out historic sites, science museums, art galleries, underwater sea beds and the surface of Mars using Google Cardboard in the program.

The Expeditions Pioneer Program is available to schools in the US, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand. You can find out more and sign up your school at the Google Expeditions Pioneer Program page.

Your Thoughts

Have you tried Google Cardboard yet? Do you like the idea of being able to view virtual reality scenes from around the world? What would you like to see with Google Cardboard?

Please share your thoughts in the Comments section below!