Google Cardboard Camera app turns phone into VR cam

Google released a new virtual reality app called Cardboard Camera today; with it, users can record their own 360-degree photos for viewing with a Cardboard headset. The resulting content will allow someone to look around within the photo, sort of (the app gives the panoramas a sense of depth), but of course you're not going to be able to walk around within the captured content, as the photos aren't actually three dimensional.

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The app was released for Android phones on the Google Play Store today; it is basic and fairly lightweight at 33MB. You'll need to be using Android 4.4 or higher to run the app. We installed it on a Galaxy S6 and took it for a quick spin — the interface is clean and very simple, presenting existing panoramas for viewing and a camera icon for recording your own.

When you first start it up, you get a few screens explaining things, then the home screen:

To record your own panorama, you'll need to hold your phone vertically (it'll complain if you don't); a horizontal line in the middle of the display serves as a guide. Tap the audio option to toggle audio recording on or off, then tap the record button to start recording a scene.

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Move the phone slowly around in a circle until you're back where you started; don't move too quickly or the app will make you start over. Likewise, try to keep the horizontal guide even across the entire movement.

Once you've captured a full 360-degrees, the app will automatically start working on the panorama, applying a little bit of post-processing voodoo to transform it into a 360-degree photo for enjoyment with a Google Cardboard headset. When viewed on a phone, it'll simply look like a regular panorama. In our tests, Cardboard Camera did a good job, though the best results happen when you move very slowly.

SOURCE: Google Play

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