Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Google's Cleverness Melted My Brain

So almost a month ago when google unveiled the Google Cardboard at Google IO.. the followup videos blew my mind.. the sheer cleverness of that magnetic button.. even the Oculus doesnt have an interactive input element built into their head gear.. 

I immediately went to one of the first sites to sell the kit.. and placed an order.. due to shipping issues it took a month to arrive.. 

Yes thats a patch of sweat from my forehead.. damn


Then the way the "cardboard" apps work is just astonishing.. the youtube app simulates a 3d movie theatre.. complete with subtle bleed of light along the edges.. you move your head around to see other videos.. or look down at the mic icon and tell it what you want to see...!! and because this is a nexus.. my indian accent doesnt matter.. in a few seconds i'm surfing youtube in 3d with no hands ma!

The standard google cardboard app was fun to use.. but the real utility for me is being able to load and view my own 3d models.. using sketchfab.com 



all you have to do is go to one of your models(or any model) and add 

/embed?cardboard=1 

at the end of its url

when you put the nexus in, remember to shift it a little to the side so that the center of the screen(where the two views join) is aligned to the center of the cardboard viewer.

note: by going into fullscreen mode it overrides the launching of the google cardboard app(triggered by the nfc tag).. alternatively when your assembling the kit.. just stick the nfc tag somewhere else.


This particular Google Cardboard kit is by Knoxlabs..
http://www.shoplocket.com/products/VYkE3-google-cardboard-vr-kit
i ordered it right after the Google Cardboard popped up on youtube .. now you can find it all over amazon and ebay for a bit cheaper. You can also buy just the lenses and magnet, and build your own housing.

My Suzanne Robocop model can be 
viewed below or at https://sketchfab.com/models/0bff507c203044b8aa4b4d4568f82637




    RoboCop Suzanne
    by Chaitanya Krishnan
    on Sketchfab


and it can also be downloaded for free at http://www.blendswap.com/blends/view/70048

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