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Google's VR for students comes to more cities and countries
Google's virtual reality education efforts may have only just begun this fall, but they're about to grow in a big, big way. The search giant is expanding its Expeditions Pioneer Program to schools in 12 US cities (including Las Vegas, New Orleans and Portland) as well as three in Canada, Denmark and Singapore. Each school will get a kit with everything it needs to take students on VR field trips, including ASUS smartphones as well as either Google Cardboard or View-Master's device. The project is still far from ubiquitous, but it's big enough to make us a little jealous -- where were these kinds of virtual adventures when we were kids?
YouTube rolls out support for VR video
Google CEO Sundar Pichai took to Twitter Thursday to announce that YouTube now supports VR video. The site already offers 360 degree video but has now officially added Cardboard support as well. Compatible videos will now display a Cardboard icon at the watch page menu. [Image Credit: Bloomberg via Getty Images]
AuraVisor takes on Gear VR, no phone required
Most current virtual reality headsets fall broadly into one of two categories: high-end options (Vive, Oculus Rift, PlayStation VR etc.) that connect to a console or PC, and glorified phone holders (Samsung Gear VR, Google Cardboard et al). AuraVisor offers a third way: the freedom of an untethered headset, but you leave your phone in your pocket -- everything is built-in to the visor. It's a fairly logical solution to the fast-growing problem of family-friendly VR. Using your phone in a headset is quick and dirty, but it comes with compromises on compatibility and comfort. Not to mention the ever-present risk of your fun being interrupted by all the other things your phone does (email, calendars and myriad other notifications). AuraVisor put VR into a single, Android-based device that could provide a Gear VR-like solution to everyone, minus the anxieties of using a phone.
NY Times launches VR app with Google Cardboard giveaway
The New York Times is launching a VR app, and will give a million plus subscribers a Google Cardboard VR viewer to use it. It'll also debut a VR film for the app called The Displaced, which details the struggles of three children caught in the global refugee crisis. Executive Editor Dean Baquet said the NYT "created the first critical, serious piece of journalism using virtual reality, to shed light on one of the most dire humanitarian crises of our lifetime." The film is best viewed on Cardboard, but will also be available on YouTube and smartphones via a 2D version of the app.
Google releases improved Cardboard SDK and adds Street View
Google announced today that its Cardboard VR app is now available in 100 countries for both iOS and Android. The company also stated that the app's software development kit has been improved. According to the Google Developer's Blog, the new SDK now features better drift control thanks to "a major overhaul of the sensor fusion algorithms that integrate the signals from the gyroscope and accelerometer." This should diminish the amount of "drift" wherein the displayed images continue to move even after your head has stopped turning.
Lexus made a working electric car out of cardboard
Suddenly, Lexus' hoverboard doesn't seem quite so impressive. The automaker has unveiled the Origami Car, a fully functional electric IS sedan whose main body, interior and wheels (!) are made out of cardboard. The designers laser-cut 1,700 pieces based on the digital model of the regular car, and stuck them all together using wood glue -- that's not exactly a quick process (it took 3 months to put everything together), but this would have been virtually inconceivable in previous decades. You're not going to see this vehicle on the streets, of course. The instrument cluster is nothing more than a bunch of drawings, and cardboard simply isn't going to be comfortable or safe. However, the Origami Car is proof that modern assembly techniques can build just about everything out of seemingly anything.
Google offers its Cardboard-powered VR field trips to schools for free
Google detailed its Expeditions project back at I/O, and now the company is looking to get schools more involved. To do just that, Mountain View will offer schools the VR field trip kits for free. The New York Times reports that Google is handing out the Expeditions package at no cost to help push the effort ahead. Each kit contains Cardboard VR headsets and ASUS phones for the students alongside an app for teachers that controls the virtual trips. And as you might expect, they're able to pause the action to ask questions as needed. Google isn't ruling out charging for the gear at some point, though, if it's able to make the price affordable enough for educators.
Google asks academia to help advance Cardboard VR research
Google announced its Cardboard VR headset basically as an afterthought at the end of its 2014 I/O conference, but since then the platform's grown into a viable means of experiencing virtual reality. Much like its peers have done in the past, Mountain View is reaching out to academia to submit research proposals that'll hopefully advance the medium. According to the project's Google+ page (naturally) the team's looking for research in areas including immersive audio; optics and displays; computer graphics and rendering and user input technology. Interested? You've got until October 15th to make your submission.
Google introduces 360-degree YouTube ads
Google's already rolled out 360-degree videos on YouTube, like Bjork's latest musical venture, and now the company has announced that it's doing the same with advertisements. The new feature debuted on Wednesday for both Chrome and the mobile YouTube app on Android and iOS. It works exactly the same way existing 360-degree videos do -- just scroll your mouse up, down, left or right to adjust the view. The new ad format is also compatible with Google's Cardboard VR headset. [Image Credit: WireImage/Getty]
#ICYMI: NFC Cognac Caps, play a Virtual Neymar, and More
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-361023{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-361023, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-361023{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-361023").style.display="none";}catch(e){} Today on In Case You Missed It: Remy Martin installs NFC-enabled caps on its cognac bottles to prevent shady saloons from pulling the old switcheroo, Nike lets Google Cardboard users to play soccer as Neymar Jr., and a London-based artist creates custom Power Gloves that can carve through wood and stone. From the cutting room floor: This Auburn Fire Department quadcopter makes a special delivery of lifejackets and tow lines to a couple of guys stranded in the middle of a river. Let the team at Engadget know about any interesting stories or videos you stumble across by using the #ICYMI hashtag @engadget or @mskerryd.
Experience the OnePlus 2 cellphone launch July 27th in VR
OnePlus has heard your frustration about the drip-feeding of information leading to its next phone, but according to co-founder Carl Pei, it's going to "keep doing things differently." For the OnePlus 2, that means taking advantage of new technology just to announce the thing. On July 27th at 10PM ET, OnePlus new Snapdragon 810-powered cellphone will be revealed with a streaming virtual reality presentation. Just to make sure the fans can tune in, it's working on a free OnePlus Cardboard headset that owners of its first phone (pictured above) can use to watch. Sign up on the website for more info on the headset, and clear your schedule. So far, what we know about the phone is its CPU and that it uses a USB Type-C connector (check after the break for a video of Pei using the phone's charging cable to juice up a Macbook), but you should be able to see the new device in 360-degree surround next month.
Dear Veronica: Super Awkward Grandma on Facebook
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-752950{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-752950, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-752950{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-752950").style.display="none";}catch(e){} I think we all know that family and social media don't always mix: just because you love them, doesn't mean you like to hear what they have to say about climate change, gun laws, or whether or not they prefer pie to cake (pie is clearly better, you filthy monsters). For this week's episode, we cover awkward familial Facebook requests, how to break into the world of voice-over work with actor Liam O'Brien, and take a look at the latest Google Cardboard offerings. Don't forget to send me in your questions (especially video ones) to #DearVeronica on Twitter, Facebook, and wherever else hashtags be tagging.
Fancy testing Google's GoPro VR camera rig?
Google and GoPro teamed up to produce Jump, a VR camera-rig that'll record 360-degree footage using 16 of the little action cameras. Just a few weeks later and the search engine is asking if anyone wants to test the hardware for themselves. Much in the same way it did for its head-mounted computer, the company wants applicants to describe the ideas that they have for the system. If you're a filmmaker, journalist, producer or, er, "other," then you can head into this Google Document and register your interest. As TechCrunch notes, the more "awesome" your answer, the better chance you'll get to the top of the list. We're told, incidentally, that you can make things significantly more awexxome by cApiTaliZing letters inside words and adding superfluous Xs every now and again. [Image Credit: Bloomberg/Getty]
Google makes its case for VR by reinventing the field trip
I was standing on the surface of Mars. The rocky terrain was red and dusty, with nothing above it except the vast expanse of space. "Now if you look over here, this is where the Spirit rover landed," said a voice. An arrow emerged, pointing to a circle hovering over a sandy spot close to me. Yeah, okay, I wasn't really on Mars; I was in the Moscone Center in San Francisco. That voice belonged to a Google engineer, who was giving a small group of I/O attendees a brief tour of Mars through "Expeditions," a piece of VR software for educators. He was holding a tablet, talking us through the different points of interests, while everyone -- including me -- held up phone-carrying Cardboard VR viewers to their faces.
Recommended Reading: The new and improved 'Halt and Catch Fire'
Recommended Reading highlights the best long-form writing on technology and more in print and on the web. Some weeks, you'll also find short reviews of books that we think are worth your time. We hope you enjoy the read. Hard Reboot: The Excellent Season 2 Makeover of 'Halt and Catch Fire' by Andy Greenwald Grantland Despite an interesting premise, AMC's Halt and Catch Fire never really took off during its first season. The show that chronicles the effort to reverse engineer an IBM PC in a Texas garage got a full revamp for season two, though, and Grantland's Andy Greenwald explains how the changes have drastically improved the series for version 2.0.
Google's Cardboard Design Lab teaches VR with (what else) VR
Google debuted its larger and more robust Cardboard VR headset at I/O yesterday, now it needs some apps that actually run on it. However, designing a program in a virtual 3D environment is quite different than designing one to run on a 2D touchscreen. That's why Google has also released the Cardboard Design Lab, an app that teaches you the basics of VR design from within a VR environment. The program runs through 10 fundamental design aspects -- from "Using a Reticle" and "Keeping the User Grounded" to "Guiding with Light" and "Gaze Cues" -- all from within the confines of the Cardboard headset. It won't transform you into an VR hacking wizard overnight (as it's not designed to) but CDL will give neophyte coders a solid overview of what they're getting themselves into. And while the lessons learned here can just as easily be applied to designing for the Rift as Cardboard, the app is currently only available on Android.
iPhones can be Google VR viewers, too
As we walked out of today's Google I/O keynote, we -- and all other keynote attendees -- were handed the second-generation version of Cardboard, Google's low-tech effort at a VR headset. As was announced at the keynote itself, the new Cardboard is designed to fit phones that are 6-inches or larger, which makes sense given the size of Google's own Nexus 6. It's also now much easier to set up; in just three easy steps. Another improvement is that it no longer has the magnetic ring trigger of the original, which apparently didn't work with all phones. Now it has a simple top button that when pressed, activates a lever coated in capacitive tape -- think of it as a cardboard finger touching the phone's screen. This, of course, makes the Cardboard viewer compatible with a lot more phones -- including, yes, the iPhone.
Google intros new Jump VR platform and improved Cardboard
Google brought virtual reality to the masses cheaply with Cardboard, a DIY headset announced at last year's I/O conference. Now, the search giant's building upon its 1 million VR viewers with an improved Cardboard headset that fits smartphone screens up to 6 inches. It also incorporates a new top-mounted button that replaces the finicky magnetic ring so that Cardboard works with any phone. And, in what's probably the most consumer-friendly move Google's made with the new and improved Cardboard, it takes just three steps to assemble. Clay Bavor, VP of Product, told I/O attendees that they'd be receiving these new DIY VR kits immediately after the keynote. And for interested VR developers, it's important to note the Cardboard SDK now works with iOS in addition to Android.
Adult Swim makes virtual reality even weirder
Virtual reality's notion of strapping a display to your head is already a bit weird by itself, but Adult Swim just took that strangeness to a new level. The network's Virtual Brainload app for Android invites you to grab a Google Cardboard viewer and experience the "backside of reality" -- in short, it's going to be a kaleidoscopic mind trip. Whether or not you're up for the audiovisual assault, you can expect more VR content from Adult Swim's parent, Turner, in the future. The broadcaster says that it's working on "deeper, custom-created" virtual content that will arrive as soon as this year, so you can expect these VR side projects to become increasingly important in the near future.
Browsing Twitter and Instagram in VR? Yup, it's a thing
I know, you bought yourself a VR rig and never want to take it off. It's the future, that's natural! And with something like the Gear VR's passthrough camera you don't even need to remove the headset to do menial "real-world" chores like going to the bathroom, grabbing another Mountain Dew out of the fridge or some Doritos out of the cupboard. But what if you wanted to check your Twitter feed or see how many new likes that Instagram photo of hitting your activity goal on your Apple Watch got while avoiding meatspace? Have no fear folks, because with a new app called Swerve you'll be able to do that without removing your Android VR system. The app puts Twitter into a 3D space and as VR Focus notes, you can peruse searches, mentions and hashtags too -- apparently all in a cloud-filled skybox. Perfect.
