Google’s Cardboard recently put forward a new iteration of its product that has excited critics and VR aficionados alike. The inexpensive cardboard headsets use smartphones to create head-mounted displays that are accessible and affordable for those interested in VR but not interested in or able to make large investments in the budding technology.
The Oculus Rift, a much more sophisticated gadget, costs $600, while the $900 Vive costs even more. Even the less expensive Rift requires some extreme computing power that would be costly in and of itself.
Google Daydream, however, builds on the more affordable and accessible Cardboard concept. The VR software will be added into the upcoming Android N, which will give users the ability to switch between a traditional mobile interface and the additional VR mode.
Cardboard involves baking in some features into Android smartphones. These invlude having VR versions of Street View and YouTube, and then Daydream will have a fair amount of additional content a well. Daydream is also compatible with CNN, HBO Now, MLB.com, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, Hulu, Netflix and IMAX, who are all working on their own fledgling projects to create VR content for users as well as videos for more standard platforms.
Unlike Google Cardboard, Google has created actual hardware for its newest product, giving top manufacturers standards for developing Daydream-ready smartphones and headsets that can hold them and make them possible to operate. Vendors that sell the headsets will be liable for packaging the devices with the Daydream remote control.
Industry analysts have noticed that Google is quietly making moves to conquer the VR market, a market that some people believe is doomed to fail and that some people believe will open up into a completely new financial and social frontier.
Clay Bavor, head of the VR department at Google, has cited the fact that Cardboard app downloads have already surpassed the 50 million mark in his assertion that the VR market will be a success.
Abi Mandelbaum, CEO of YouVisit, explained that Google’s approach to VR made it possible for them to pass the biggest VR obstacle:
“While high-end developers like Oculus and HTC have worked to create headsets that provide highly immersive experiences, these pieces of hardware are very much unavailable to the general population due to their price tag and additional computer power needed to support them,” Mandelbaum stated.
Google’s Cardboard only charges $30 for admission into a completely new virtual realm, making it possible for it to become the source of both the most basic and the most varied experiences in VR.
According to Google, the Daydream hardware will make it possible for Google to establish itself in both the hardware and software sides of VR:
“Google is helping to close another massive hole within the VR industry- that is, the gap between the growing number of devices to view VR experiences and the limited amount of immersive content available to consumers,” Mandelbaum continued.
If Google sees Daydream through to its completion, it may be one of the most strategic moves made by a company hoping to spearhead the VR industry.