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Google Cardboard is a discontinued
virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a Simulation, simulated experience that employs 3D near-eye displays and pose tracking to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video gam ...
(VR) platform developed by
Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...
. Named for its fold-out cardboard viewer into which a
smartphone A smartphone is a mobile phone with advanced computing capabilities. It typically has a touchscreen interface, allowing users to access a wide range of applications and services, such as web browsing, email, and social media, as well as multi ...
is inserted, the platform was intended as a low-cost system to encourage interest and development in VR applications. Users can either build their own viewer from simple, low-cost components using specifications published by Google, or purchase a pre-manufactured one. To use the platform, users run Cardboard-compatible
mobile apps A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a phone, tablet, or watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop applications which are designed to run on d ...
on their phone, place it into the back of the viewer, and view content through the lenses. The platform was created by David Coz and Damien Henry, French Google engineers at the Google Cultural Institute in Paris, in their 20% " Innovation Time Off". It was introduced at the Google I/O 2014 developers conference, where a Cardboard viewer was given away to all attendees. The Cardboard
software development kit A software development kit (SDK) is a collection of software development tools in one installable package. They facilitate the creation of applications by having a compiler, debugger and sometimes a software framework. They are normally specific t ...
(SDK) was released for the Android and
iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...
operating systems; the SDK's VR View allows developers to embed VR content on the web as well as in their apps. Through March 2017, over 160 million Cardboard-enabled app downloads were made. By November 2019, over 15 million viewer units had shipped. After the success of Cardboard, Google developed an enhanced VR platform,
Daydream Daydreaming is a stream of consciousness that detaches from current external tasks when one's attention becomes focused on a more personal and internal direction. Various names of this phenomenon exist, including mind-wandering, fantasies, a ...
, which was launched in 2016. Following declining interest in Cardboard, Google announced in November 2019 that it would
open-source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use and view the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open source model is a decentrali ...
the platform's SDK. In March 2021, the Google Store stopped selling Cardboard viewers. As of November 2021, third-party companies continue to sell compatible viewers.


Viewer assembly and operation

Google Cardboard headsets are built out of simple, low-cost components. The headset specifications were designed by Google, which made the list of parts, schematics, and assembly instructions freely available on their website, allowing people to assemble Cardboard themselves from readily available parts. Pre-manufactured viewers were only available from third-party vendors until February 2016, when Google began selling their own through the Google Store. The parts that make up a Cardboard viewer are a piece of cardboard cut into a precise shape, 45 mm
focal length The focal length of an Optics, optical system is a measure of how strongly the system converges or diverges light; it is the Multiplicative inverse, inverse of the system's optical power. A positive focal length indicates that a system Converge ...
lenses A lens is a transmissive optical device that focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements''), ...
,
magnet A magnet is a material or object that produces a magnetic field. This magnetic field is invisible but is responsible for the most notable property of a magnet: a force that pulls on other ferromagnetic materials, such as iron, steel, nickel, ...
s or capacitive tape, a hook and loop fastener (such as
Velcro Velcro IP Holdings LLC, trading as Velcro Companies and commonly referred to as Velcro (pronounced ), is a British privately held company, founded by Swiss electrical engineer George de Mestral in the 1950s. It is the original manufacturer of ho ...
), a rubber band, and an optional
near field communication Near-field communication (NFC) is a set of communication protocols that enables communication between two electronic devices over a distance of or less. NFC offers a low-speed connection through a simple setup that can be used for the boots ...
(NFC) tag. Google provides extra recommendations for large scale manufacturing, and pre-assembled kits based on these plans are available for less than from multiple vendors, who have also created a number of Cardboard variations. Once the kit is assembled, a smartphone is inserted in the back of the device and held in place by the selected fastening device. A Google Cardboard–compatible app splits the smartphone display image into two, one for each eye, while also applying barrel distortion to each image to counter pincushion distortion from the lenses. The result is a
stereoscopic Stereoscopy, also called stereoscopics or stereo imaging, is a technique for creating or enhancing the illusion of depth in an image by means of stereopsis for binocular vision. The word ''stereoscopy'' derives . Any stereoscopic image is ...
(3D) image with a wide field of view. The first version of Cardboard could fit phones with screens up to , and used magnets as input buttons, which required a compass sensor in the phone. An updated design released at Google I/O 2015 works with phones up to , and replaces the magnet switch with a conductive lever that triggers a touch event on the phone's screen for better compatibility across devices.


Software

Google provides three
software development kit A software development kit (SDK) is a collection of software development tools in one installable package. They facilitate the creation of applications by having a compiler, debugger and sometimes a software framework. They are normally specific t ...
s for developing Cardboard applications: one for the Android operating system using
Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...
, one for the game engine Unity using C#, and one for the
iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...
operating system. After initially supporting only Android, Google announced iOS support for the Unity plugin in May 2015 at the Google I/O 2015 conference. Third-party apps with Cardboard support are available on the
Google Play Google Play, also known as the Google Play Store, Play Store, or sometimes the Android Store (and was formerly Android Market), is a digital distribution service operated and developed by Google. It serves as the official app store for certifie ...
store and App Store for iOS. In addition to native Cardboard apps, there are Google Chrome VR Experiments implemented using
WebGL WebGL (short for Web Graphics Library) is a JavaScript Application programming interface, API for rendering interactive 2D and 3D graphics within any compatible web browser without the use of plug-in (computing), plug-ins. WebGL is fully integra ...
; phones, including Apple's, that support WebGL can run Google's web experiments. A port of the Google Cardboard demonstration app to iOS was released at Google I/O 2015. In January 2016, Google announced that the software development kits would support spatial audio, a virtual reality effect intended to simulate audio coming from outside of the listener's head located anywhere in 3D space. In March 2016, Google released VR View, an expansion of the Cardboard SDK allowing developers to embed 360-degree VR content on a web page or in a mobile app, across desktop, Android, and iOS. The
JavaScript JavaScript (), often abbreviated as JS, is a programming language and core technology of the World Wide Web, alongside HTML and CSS. Ninety-nine percent of websites use JavaScript on the client side for webpage behavior. Web browsers have ...
and
HTML Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) is the standard markup language for documents designed to be displayed in a web browser. It defines the content and structure of web content. It is often assisted by technologies such as Cascading Style Sheets ( ...
code for web publishing VR content is
open source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use and view the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open source model is a decentrali ...
and available on
GitHub GitHub () is a Proprietary software, proprietary developer platform that allows developers to create, store, manage, and share their code. It uses Git to provide distributed version control and GitHub itself provides access control, bug trackin ...
, allowing developers to self-host their content. On launch, the application offers icons for Cardboard Demos, 360 Video Channel, and Street View, with tabs for My Library and Get Apps. The Demos mode, set in a static scene above a beach, includes a brief tutorial option, a display of museum objects from all angles, a My Videos, a Photo Sphere, and an Arctic Journey with further options to explore aspects of interactivity. The demonstrations also included a Google Earth option that allowed interaction with a 3-D reconstruction of real terrain, but this appeared to have been removed as of late May 2019. Following declining interest in Cardboard, Google announced on November 6, 2019, that it would
open-source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use and view the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open source model is a decentrali ...
the platform's SDK. The company said that it would continue "adding new features" to the project.


Related initiatives


Jump

Jump is an ecosystem for virtual reality film-making developed by Google. It was announced at Google I/O on May 28, 2015. Much as Google did with the Cardboard viewer, for Jump the company developed specifications for a circular camera array made from 16 cameras that it will release to the public.
GoPro GoPro, Inc. (marketed as GoPro and sometimes stylized as GoPRO) is an American technology company founded in 2002 by Nick Woodman. It manufactures action cameras and develops its own mobile apps and video editing software, video-editing software ...
partnered with Google to build an array using their own cameras, although the Jump rig will theoretically support any camera. Once footage has been shot, the VR video is compiled from the individual cameras through "the assembler", Jump's back-end software. The assembler uses
computational photography Computational photography refers to digital image capture and processing techniques that use digital computation instead of optical processes. Computational photography can improve the capabilities of a camera, or introduce features that were no ...
and "
computer vision Computer vision tasks include methods for image sensor, acquiring, Image processing, processing, Image analysis, analyzing, and understanding digital images, and extraction of high-dimensional data from the real world in order to produce numerical ...
" to recreate the scene while generating thousands of in-between viewpoints. Finalized video shot through Jump can then be viewed through a stereoscopic VR mode of
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
with a Cardboard viewer.


Expeditions

Expeditions is a program for providing VR experiences to school classrooms through Google Cardboard viewers, allowing educators to take their students on virtual field trips. It was announced at Google I/O 2015, with plans to launch in fall 2015. Each classroom kit would include 30 synchronized Cardboard viewers and smartphones, along with a tablet for the teacher to act as tour guide. Teachers interested in bringing the program to their school could register online. CNET called Cardboard "the first Virtual Reality platform targeted at children." Through May 2016, over one million students had taken a VR field trip through the Expeditions program. In July 2017, Google released a standalone version of the Expedition app, separating it from the platform's education initiative and making it available to the public.


Partnerships and promotions

In November 2014,
Volvo The Volvo Group (; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distribution and sale of truck ...
released Volvo-branded Cardboard goggles and an Android app, Volvo Reality, to let the user explore the XC90. In February 2015, toy manufacturer
Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company headquartered in El Segundo, California. Founded in Los Angeles by Harold Matson and the husband-and-wife duo of Ruth Handler, ...
, in cooperation with Google, announced a VR version of the stereoscopic viewer View-Master. Android support was available at the viewer's release in fall 2015, with support for iOS and Windows smartphones available later. Google also collaborated with
LG Electronics LG Electronics Inc. () is a South Korean Multinational corporation, multinational major appliance and consumer electronics corporation headquartered in Yeouido-dong, Seoul, South Korea. LG Electronics is a part of LG, LG Corporation, the fourth ...
to release a Cardboard-based headset for the LG G3 known as VR for G3. Released in February 2015, it was distributed as a free accessory with new G3 models sold in certain countries, and was perceived to be a competitor to the
Samsung Gear VR The Samsung Gear VR is a virtual reality headset developed by Samsung Electronics, in collaboration with Oculus VR, and manufactured by Samsung. The headset was released on August 21, 2015. When in use, a compatible Samsung Galaxy device acts as ...
accessory. On November 8, 2015, ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' included a Google Cardboard viewer manufactured by Knoxlabs with all home newspaper deliveries. Readers can download the ''NYT VR'' app on their smartphone, which displays journalism-focused immersive VR environments. Another newspaper, ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'', offered a similar promotion, giving away 97,000 Cardboard headsets to readers on October 7, 2017, and released a Guardian VR app for iOS and Android. In December 2015, Google offered free ''
Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...
''-themed Cardboard viewers through the Google Store and
Verizon Verizon Communications Inc. ( ), is an American telecommunications company headquartered in New York City. It is the world's second-largest telecommunications company by revenue and its mobile network is the largest wireless carrier in the ...
as a part of promotional tie-in for the film '' Star Wars: The Force Awakens''. Ticket holders for the 2016
Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival Coachella (officially called the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and sometimes known as Coachella Festival) is an annual music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valley in the Colora ...
received a Google Cardboard–inspired cardboard VR viewer in their welcome package that can be used with the Coachella VR mobile app. The festival's organizers partnered with Vantage.tv to offer VR content for the festival, such as 360° panoramic photos of previous events, virtual tours of the 2016 festival site, interviews, and performances.


Reception

On January 27, 2016, Google announced that in the platform's first 19 months, over 5 million Cardboard viewers had shipped, over 1,000 compatible applications had been published, and over 25 million application installs had been made. According to the company, users viewed over 350,000 hours of YouTube videos in VR during that time, and 500,000 students took a VR field trip through the Expeditions program. Through March 2017, over 10 million Cardboard viewers had been shipped and over 160 million Cardboard-enabled app downloads had been made. By November 2019, Google claimed that over 15 million viewer units had shipped worldwide.


Successor

The success of Cardboard convinced Google to develop more advanced virtual reality hardware and appoint a new chief of virtual reality. Google announced an enhanced VR platform called
Daydream Daydreaming is a stream of consciousness that detaches from current external tasks when one's attention becomes focused on a more personal and internal direction. Various names of this phenomenon exist, including mind-wandering, fantasies, a ...
at Google I/O on May 18, 2016. The platform's first headset, the Daydream View, was released on November 10, 2016. Google Daydream was not widely adopted by consumers or developers, and in October 2019 Google announced that the Daydream View headset had been discontinued and that they would no longer certify new devices for Daydream.


See also

*
Stereoscope A stereoscope is a device for viewing a stereoscopy, stereoscopic pair of separate images, depicting left-eye and right-eye views of the same scene, as a single three-dimensional image. A typical stereoscope provides each eye with a lens that ...
* Google Glass – another Google product for displaying data next to the face *
Nintendo Labo is a series of toys-to-life video games developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. Gameplay consists of players constructing Toy-Cons from kits that include cardboard cut-outs and other materials in combination with the consol ...
- Similar cardboard headset product produced by Nintendo as part of kit 04


References


External links

*
Official Cardboard app for Android on Google Play StoreOfficial Cardboard app for iOS on Apple App StoreCardboard Design Lab app by Google, demonstrating VR design principles on Google PlayPictures of the first prototype of a Cardboard viewer
{{Authority control Cardboard Products introduced in 2014 Products and services discontinued in 2021 Stereoscopy Virtual reality headsets