It's finally looking like the year of virtual reality – with tech rivals LG and Samsung both releasing virtual reality viewers powered by their flagship smartphones, putting you in the virtual hotseat.
LG's VR for G3 virtual reality viewer is based on the Google Cardboard concept. It's a stretch to call it a headset because it doesn't contain built-in screens. Instead the viewer is basically a plastic frame which holds a smartphone up to your face and then splits the screen to create stereoscopic 3D.
LG's VR for G3 viewer, based on Google Cardboard.
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There are three ways to get your hands on the VR for G3 viewer. It's
specifically designed to hold LG's flagship G3 Android smartphone and
owners who have have signed up at lg.com.au for the warranty will be
offered the viewer free of charge. The first 500 customers to buy the LG
G3 online from Optus will also be given a viewer. Meanwhile LG
Australia will be giving them away on its Facebook page.While the plastic frame is specifically designed to hold the LG G3 smartphone you might have luck cramming in similar-sized handsets and I managed to squeeze in an iPhone 6 and a Samsung Galaxy S5. If you can't get your hands on LG's viewer you can always make one out of cardboard.
How does it work?
There are no built-in electronics but the VR for G3 viewer does have built-in lenses to refocus the image so it doesn't feel like the screen is so close to your face. You can't adjust the lenses, so if you wear glasses you'll want to keep them on.
There's no built-in strap either, so you need to hold the viewer up to your face (I tried fitting a strap to the built-in slots but I couldn't get the viewer to sit correctly on my face).
Thankfully the viewer isn't too heavy to hold, even for young children, especially once you become immersed in the content. Even so you'd probably only want to use it for a few minutes at a time, rather than hours – particularly as the hard plastic divider which separates left from right can dig into the bridge of your nose.
Here the LG viewer differs from Samsung's $249 Gear VR, which works with the Galaxy Note 4 phablet. The Gear VR features a head strap and is more comfortable up against your face than the LG viewer. QANTAS is offering Samsung's Gear VR as in-flight entertainment for first-class passengers on long-haul flights, but LG's VR for G3 is better-suited for quick excursions into virtual reality.
What can you do?
The Google Cardboard demo app in the Google Play app store is a good place to start, but there are quite a few other compatible apps in the store. The phone's gyroscope is used to track your head as you look around, letting you explore 360-degree environments. Unfortunately it can't track you if you walk around, unlike more more advanced virtual reality systems such as Australia's Zero Latency.
As you'd expect, the quality of the third-party Google Cardboard apps is hit and miss. In terms of image quality I think Google's Exhibit demo app works best, as you can see in the video above. You're looking at a small object at a fixed distance so everything stays perfectly in focus as it rotates.
When you switch to an environment where you can look into the distance, such as your own 360-degree photos, you notice that your eyes can't refocus on distant objects. It's a slightly jarring reminder that you're not really there.
Similar to 3D televisions, virtual reality's content needs to be engaging enough to help you forget the technology's shortcomings. This is why some video apps tend to work best even if the quality of the graphics can vary.
Riding roller coasters and chasing dinosaurs through the jungle is certainly fun and will keep your kids coming back for more. Standing on stage with Paul McCartney is less impressive because the content isn't engaging enough to distract you from the shabby video quality.
Admittedly the novelty of these apps is likely to wear off. I'd say the VR for G3's long-term appeal lies in acting as a 360-degree photo viewer – even allowing for the focusing issue which might not bother some people. You can use the free Google camera app to take your own 360-degree Photo Sphere photos by slowing turning around and then looking up and down to complete the picture.
I took the photo of the creek in the video above and it came up quite well – in part because you can't see too far into the distance. The headset would make a great way to show off 360-degree holiday snapshots to family and friends, although you'll struggle to get perfect photos if you're standing on a busy street unless everyone is prepared to stay still for a minute or two.
So what's the verdict?
Having tested more immersive virtual reality it's easy to focus on the VR for G3's shortcomings but, truth be told, everyone who tested it was impressed and came back for more. In the end, developer support will likely make or break Google Cardboard. For now it's a great way to dip your toe into virtual worlds, although it's just scratching the surface of virtual reality's full potential.
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