Does Apple need to join the VR arms race? The answer is ‘not yet’

Speculators and tech geeks have been swooning in recent months over virtual and augmented reality becoming the next big thing. From the impending release of the Oculus Rift, to Google giving its Google Cardboard away for free, virtual reality has a bigger presence in the tech world than it did in the past.

Microsoft is working on its Hololens augmented reality kit. Google announced that they’re working on a virtual reality kit that won’t rely on a smartphone or desktop. Google also had its fling with its augmented reality enabled Google Glass. Facebook owned Oculus and companies like HTC are planning on releasing their virtual reality kits within the year.

But there is one company that has yet to announce its plans on virtual reality. Apple has yet to embrace the technology, which has some tech pundits wondering if they’ll have an impact on it soon.

But Apple doesn’t need to support virtual reality or create a virtual reality kit to stay relevant.

On the mobile side, Apple’s dominance with iOS means that developers created virtual and augmented reality solutions for them. In a twist of fate, the biggest pusher of virtual reality on iOS is Google.

Google Cardboard kits are iOS compatible. And some of them come with adaptors to fit the smaller iPhone 4 and 5 series. Developers are coding virtual reality mobile experiences with iOS as well as Android in mind.

And Apple doesn’t need to invest in its own kit on the desktop side just yet. Gaming dominates virtual reality for desktops. Although games exist for OS X, Windows is by far the most supported platform for desktop game developers. Oculus made this apparent when they announced that they would focus on Windows development first, returning to OS X and Linux development when they felt it was right.

But this doesn’t mean that Apple never will craft a virtual reality device of their own. Apple is notorious for trying to get the details right on their devices for their market. And their market is dominated by users that want a simpler experience, and for Apple devices to carry a bit of prestige to it.

Look at the Apple Watch. Apple wasn’t the first by a long shot to invent the smart watch. And critics said their smart watch implementation was mediocre at best.

But when Apple partners with luxury brands like French leather manufacturer Hermes, it sends a signal to their current customer base that this is a piece of technology that they’ll want. It’ll exist as an extension of their users’ aesthetic choices, rather than as a device first.

Although Apple Watch sales haven’t gone gangbusters compared to their iPhones, they outperformed equivalent devices from other manufacturers. Despite the lukewarm reception, Apple did something right.

And Apple already has sent out feelers suggesting that they’re getting ready to enter the virtual reality market at their own pace. They’ve hired key personnel that have worked on virtual reality in the past, and have submitted patent schemes for a potential kit.

But virtual reality is not part of Apple’s long term survival. For a company like Microsoft, they need to work on it because enterprise users and hardcore gamers make up a significant part of their base. They tend to be the type of people attracted to virtual reality, whether it is for creative and collaborative tools, or for a more immersive experience.

And it makes sense for Google to get involved in virtual reality, since their revenue is reliant on advertising. If virtual reality were to become popular, that could be an additional way for Google to collect money. Plus Google likes to experiment with niche technologies.

But there is not a lot of incentive for Apple to just make a virtual reality kit. It’s not like their technology outright stops the use of virtual and augmented reality from third parties. And iOS and OS X users are not a huge target market for virtual reality.

Until something revolutionary comes along, virtual reality in the short run will be a curiosity best left for the niche markets, and a gimmick on the mobile side. And those are perfect reasons why Apple won’t dive into a potential tech trend head first.

 

 

Make stereoscopic VR photos with Cardboard Camera

Google’s new Cardboard Camera app will allow users to make and view stereoscopic photos. The Android app works with a Google Cardboard kit for an immersive experience.

Google released a new app designed to further their virtual reality initiatives. And so far, it looks like a great way for VR novices to make virtual reality content of their own.

Google launched the Google Cardboard Camera app on Dec. 3 for Android devices. The app itself is simple to use.

Holding their phone in portrait mode, users will rotate 360 degrees to the right at a sluggish pace while the app records everything in its view. After a brief processing period, a VR photo is available in stereoscopic mode. You can view the three-dimensional photos through a Google Cardboard compatible viewer.

I tested the app in two scenarios: With moving objects in the background, and without. After comparing the two, I have to say that you’ll want to make sure to take your VR photos with no moving objects in the background. The photos warp and distort moving objects, making for a jarring experience when viewing them.

Another major flaw in the app is that the VR photos only can capture everything in a horizontal field of view. The vertical plane above and below the user gets a color distortion field to mask that no data exists. I hope a patch in the future will add the Y-axis during recording for more immersive photos.

But the VR photos as they stand are impressive. In fact, after viewing one photo, the similarities between the facsimile and the reality began to feel disorienting when I couldn’t do things like walk around in the VR photo. My mind was that fooled.

Other companies are pushing virtual and augmented reality, including Oculus, Samsung, and Microsoft. But so far, making content for those devices is a developer-exclusive thing for now.

Although the Cardboard Camera renderings won’t have the level of sophistication as an Oculus Rift game, it is more accessible for casual users to experience what virtual reality is about.

Youtube unveils stereoscopic VR videos and more for Google Cardboard

Youtube unveiled two initiatives designed to push Google Cardboard’s virtual reality experience for Android.

According to the official Youtube blog, all Youtube videos seen via the Android app now can display videos using Google Cardboard. Selecting the Google Cardboard icon gives the videos a theatre-esque appearance of a two-dimensional image in an interactive three-dimensional black sphere.

In addition, Youtube announced that the Android app supports 3D VR videos. In a nutshell, they work like the 360 degree videos available on Youtube, but they split the images into a stereoscopic field, giving the illusion of depth.

Content creators can make the stereoscopic videos using the Jump camera rig, which combines 16 cameras together with software stitching to create the effect.

Select VR videos available include demo reels from the New York Times and The Hunger Games. Testing out the videos, they have a sense of depth, but lack resolution clarity when objects are at a decent distance from the camera. Given this is Google’s first run at stereoscopic videos, I imagine the VR video will go through patches in the coming years.

The new features give consumers a more compelling reason to use Google’s product over other companies with a stake in the burgeoning virtual and augmented reality industry. Companies like Oculus, HTC, Samsung, and Microsoft have their own kits competing with Google Cardboard.

Google has yet to announce when these features will roll out to iOS. Also unknown is if desktop users watching VR videos via Chrome can view the stereoscopic videos with a compatible VR kit.

View-Master review: A holiday impulse buy targeting nostalgia-laden adults

The revamped View-Master is here, only this time, it’s ready for the 21st century. The new View-Master replaces the photo reels with a smartphone for a more immersive virtual reality experience.

As a child, I have fond memories of the 80s. Well, not the parts involving the socio-economic decline, urban decay, war on drugs, and Cold War propaganda. No, the 80s as a child was the time of toy titans. It was a time when F.A.O. Schwarz and Toys ‘R’ Us were cultural icons, and not mere forgotten memories.

During the 80s, there was a popular toy called a View-Master from Mattel, which originated after the end of World War I. A cheap piece of plastic, its gimmick was purchasing modified film strips arranged on circular cardboard that viewers could place in a stereoscopic device to see immersive pictures.

With a flip of a switch, the View-Master would cycle through the photos until the user reached the end, or got bored. It was a neat concept at the time, but it lulled in obscurity for a while.

But now most of those kids that used a View-Master are adults. And some of those adults have kids of their own. Mattel, looking to cash in on this, decided to crank the nostalgia factor to eleven. Only this time, they modernized the concept for the 21st century.

The new View-Master contains the View-master itself, an AR disk, lanyard, and instructions.

Google Cardboard sans cardboard

Mattel’s new View-Master is essentially a Google Cardboard kit. But don’t let it fool you; it’s one of the most impressive Google Cardboard efforts I’ve come across.

The package consists of the View-Master itself, an Augmented Reality (AR) demo disk meant to supplant the older photo disks, a lanyard, an adapter for the now hobbit-size iPhone 5 series, and instructions.

The View-Master is sturdy. It’s made of the same plastic material as the older View-Master, but it feels a bit thicker. The visor is made of rubber, and has a snug fit on the face, as long as you’re not wearing glasses.

Opening the View-Master reveals the mount for your smartphone. It has a solid mechanical grip on the inside that requires a bit of force to pry open, but will hold a smartphone as large as my Nexus 6 with ease. And when your phone is in the mount, it’s not moving.

The best feature about the View-Master from a Google Cardboard perspective is the switch that used to rotate the photos now deploys a capacitive nub to touch the screen. No longer will you need to open the kit to switch between menus. It’s a shame more Google Cardboard kits don’t have this feature.

The AR disks replace the photo reels of yore. Although the concept is cool, the implementation needs more refinement.

Augmented Reality needs more augmenting

The hardware is one part of the View-Master experience. But Mattel is trying to sell the software side of this more. And I have to say, the software needs a lot of work.

The AR disk needs to be placed in a well-lit area, and by well-lit, I mean on baseball stadium levels of lighting. It has to be paired with one of several apps available on the Google Play and Apple App Store for it to work. Once a user launches the app and aims the View-Master at the AR disk, a 3D model will appear on it, similar to the AR cards on a Nintendo 3DS.

However, the 3D models are incredibly lackluster. They appeared to be at a low resolution, and even worse, they ran at what looked like 15 frames per second. Considering I tested this on a Nexus 6, and the 3D models weren’t doing anything more demanding than a typical smartphone game, I have to blame the sub-par presentation on Mattel.

I thought that the virtual reality would have been like previous efforts from other developers, where they use a 360 degree camera to capture every angle so viewers can look around a pre-rendered arena. These tend to run smooth on even low-end hardware.

Instead, the 3D models, while ambitious, failed to immerse me in a virtual world. Readers might be thinking that it’s designed for a kid, and they wouldn’t know any better. But try to have some respect for your children. They’re not that dumb, and they’re accustomed to higher standards than when we were children, simply because they’re aware it exists.

Any child that has played a modern portable game or console is going to see the dramatic dip in graphical quality between what they know and what they experience in the View-Master. And that soured experience might end up breaking the nostalgia cycle for those kids when they grow up and have children of their own.

Starting at $30 USD, the View-Master is fairly affordable for those curious about VR. The AR disks cost $15 USD each, but I recommend trying out a demo before buying.

A great kit, but a shoddy VR experience

So in conclusion, I’m a bit torn on the new View-Master. On the hardware side, it’s easily the best Google Cardboard kit I’ve ever handled. If you’re curious about virtual reality and want to try out Google Cardboard, then this is the kit I recommend buying. At $30 USD, it’s an entry level cost you won’t regret. And since the Google Cardboard apps don’t require specific viewers to work, you can use the View-Master to look at Google Street View, Youtube 360 Videos, and others stellar products in your app store.

On the software side, I can’t recommend it until Mattel puts more effort into the 3D models, or scraps the idea and goes with something simpler, like the 360 degree videos. Although the apps are free to download, they have to be paired with the AR disks, which sell for $15 USD each. That’s the price of a Blu-Ray movie, a Steam download, or a decent dinner at a restaurant. The price of admission for such substandard quality is unacceptable. I recommend trying out the demo before throwing your hard-earned money at the AR disks. I hope Mattel is listening and will try to correct the issue on their end.

Nostalgia goggles are going to get Mattel a decent amount of sales this holiday season. But shoddy software implementation could jeopardize the brand.

Google Cardboard: The future of VR is getting more affordable

My first experience with Google Cardboard was interesting, to say the least. This little kit will turn your smartphone into a virtual reality set.

Google Cardboard is definitely something I would describe as a tchotchke (or a useless trinket for those unfamiliar with the term). But after trying it out for an extended period of time, I’ve come to appreciate what it is attempting to do. As a first entry into virtual reality, it’s a noble effort.

I received a free Google Cardboard kit from Conan O’Brien’s ConanCon promotion. Thumbs up to Conan for having a pulse on his demographics. It’s exactly as you expect: A folded piece of cardboard with a lens located at the viewfinder. Assembling it was cake, and adding phones into it is as easy as flapping the front part.

The major issue I had with Google Cardboard wasn’t the hardware in this case. Rather it was the software. I tested Google Cardboard with an Android and iPhone using the Google Cardboard demo app. It worked as anticipated, but some of the control was a bit un-intuitive. For example, there are gestures to switch the device on and off, but they didn’t work for navigating the gallery. I eventually resorted to manually selecting these by hand, which ruins the demo’s immersion.

The most disappointing thing was that Youtube 360 appeared not to be properly calibrated for Google Cardboard use. I tried using the official Youtube apps for both Android and iOS, and played videos that supported 360 degree cameras. Although the cameras responded properly to the phones gyroscopes, the screen didn’t format itself so you could view it through the Google Cardboard kit properly.

I imagine I might be missing something, since Google advertises Youtube 360 as being compatible with Google Cardboard. But it doesn’t matter much, since I was able to see the potential this technology has.

What an un-assembled Google Cardboard kit looks like. Thanks to ConanCon for sending it.

For educational and entertainment purposes, I feel this could be more than just a gimmick. Communication is cheap due to technology, but traveling still is expensive. To be able to go on a tour to some far away location, or better yet, be able to interact with someone live that may live 10,000 miles away from you is now a realistic possibility.

And yes, let’s get the 800-lbs gorilla out of the room. The adult entertainment industry has a lot to gain by providing virtual experiences. We all know it’s heading in this direction, and there is nothing we can do to stop it. And I don’t think we should try to stop it either.

Google Cardboard kits generally run in the $20 to $40 USD range, give or take. If you’re curious to see what it’s like, I say it’s worth a buy, but in its current state, I don’t feel it’s an essential item.