Google Cardboard VR + Steam VR SDK = cheap VR

[LewisBloom]

Now every day it seems more people are coming out showing that they are working on x y and z using the SDK to make all manner of cool things but this recently caught my eye.

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/GoogleCardboard/comments/4fcayx/steamvr_games_coming_soon_to_your_cardboard_with/

 

Now this is never going to be the best thing in the world in context of the rift or vive but to those with an interest in VR and who wont be able to go all out on a vive at the moment its promising stuff indeed and interesting to see how this develops. From the comments the first versions are Andriod with iOS coming at a later date.

 

cheers,

Lewis

[givingtnt]

holy fluffernuter

I have a cardboard. but my lgg4 is too big for it
I need a bigger one, or a smaller smartphone

that would be perfect to play DCS world

[MEC-777]

Might have to try this and see if it works for Project Cars... 

[Bananasplit_00]

wow this is cool, anyone know of a cardboard that fitts the OnePlus 2?

[multifrag]

If they will implement motion tracking this will best entry level vr  headset

[bcredeur97]

6 hours ago, MEC-777 said:

Might have to try this and see if it works for Project Cars... 

I see no reason why it wont. We got pcars working through steamVR with an oculus DK2 just fine.

 

does it work with my iPhone 6S? lol

 

Suddenly I became interested in google cardboard after having no prior interest. lol

[Benergy]

11 minutes ago, multifrag said:

If they will implement motion tracking this will best entry level vr  headset

Smartphone's have motion sensors built in bruh.

 

 

Another one is already out by the way guys, look up TrinusVR. It works with many games, and videos.

 

[multifrag]

2 hours ago, Benergy said:

Smartphone's have motion sensors built in bruh.

 

 

Another one is already out by the way guys, look up TrinusVR. It works with many games, and videos.

 

They don't have the api ready to use it. That's why I said if they implement it. They do have it on the roadmap + ios port

[Nowak]

I have a Cardboard and a phone that (barely) fits in it, awesome. So I might have a cheap VR headset soon then.

[Kamil]

I ended up with a GearVR, is there a way for that to be compatible? I've seen some things which are supposed to be "cardboard compatible" by showing the two displays and doing gyro tracking, but putting the phone into the Gear VR automatically launches Samsung's stuff instead.

[MMKing]

Isn't a phone more expensive than a VR headset?

 

On a more serious note, this could indeed work. However, if your phone has sub-optimal support for motion tracking. I suggest a reset button which centers the view, so that if the picture falls out of sync. I.e you are looking forward, but the in game camera is looking to the left. You can press the button to put it at 0/0 degrees.

[Sakkura]

6 hours ago, Benergy said:

Smartphone's have motion sensors built in bruh.

 

 

Another one is already out by the way guys, look up TrinusVR. It works with many games, and videos.

 

They're not good enough on their own. The real VR devices have both motion sensors and tracking sensors. 

[Benergy]

11 minutes ago, Sakkura said:

They're not good enough on their own. The real VR devices have both motion sensors and tracking sensors. 

You'd be surprised, it performs pretty well for the poor man's VR

 

1 hour ago, Kamil said:

I ended up with a GearVR, is there a way for that to be compatible? I've seen some things which are supposed to be "cardboard compatible" by showing the two displays and doing gyro tracking, but putting the phone into the Gear VR automatically launches Samsung's stuff instead.

Gear VR is great with the new 2K screens. Check this out: http://oddsheepgames.com/?topic=gear-vr-usb

Basically if you get a right angle USB cable, you can use the headset without plugging the phone in, therefore enabling you to use any VR app, including TrinusVR over USB for playing PC games (I got this working with my S7, can take pics if you need help with it).

[JAKEBAB]

This is what i thought cardboard, samsung thing etc was when i first heard about them. Then i found it wasn't i was dumb founded why this wasn't a thing.

[Kamil]

1 hour ago, Benergy said:

You'd be surprised, it performs pretty well for the poor man's VR

 

Gear VR is great with the new 2K screens. Check this out: http://oddsheepgames.com/?topic=gear-vr-usb

Basically if you get a right angle USB cable, you can use the headset without plugging the phone in, therefore enabling you to use any VR app, including TrinusVR over USB for playing PC games (I got this working with my S7, can take pics if you need help with it).

Looks straightforward enough to me. I don't have a right angle cable right now, but I'll keep that in mind if I decide I need it.

 

EDIT: I did a little more looking around and I found an app called "CB Enabler for Gear VR" that seems to do the trick at some level. Unfortunately the Gear VR USB port doesn't seem to be a pure passthrough so it doesn't get recognized by my PC, but for things that don't need a wired connection it should work fine. It can also be done with Package Disabler which has a free version that I'm told works fine, but I had a bunch of Play Store credit lying around so I went with the simpler solution.