virtual reality mac for google cardboard

But not all consumers saw this as a step forward. The path ahead might be different from what Google originally envisioned, but the story certainly isn’t over.Ĭlearly Google was cooling on the idea of phone-based VR for some time, but their exit from the market was further accelerated by the arrival of new stand-alone VR headsets from the likes of Oculus that far outperformed Cardboard. Between Google’s decision to spin it off into an open source project and the legions of third party viewers on the market, Cardboard isn’t going down without a fight. Just ask those who were still active on Google+ or Allo before the plug was pulled.īut this time, things are a little different. Under normal circumstances, anyone still using the service would be forced to give it up. With Cardboard no longer available for purchase, Google has simply made official what was already abundantly clear: they are no longer interested in phone-based virtual reality. On the software side, Android 7 “Nougat” got baked-in VR support in 2016, but it was quietly removed by the time Android 11 was released in the fall of 2020. While the Daydream hardware got a second revision in 2017, and Google even introduced a certification program to ensure phones would work properly with the $100 USD headset, the device was discontinued in 2019. Of course if you knew where to look, the writing had been on the wall for some time. But despite Google’s best efforts to introduce premium Cardboard-compatible hardware with their Daydream View headset two years later, it failed to evolve into a profitable business. The exceptionally low-cost VR googles, literally made from folded cardboard, were a massive hit when they were unveiled back in 2014. So when the search giant acknowledged in early March that they would no longer be selling their Cardboard virtual reality viewer, it wasn’t exactly a shock. The search giant is notorious for tossing out ideas just to see what sticks, and while that’s occasionally earned them some huge successes, it’s also lead to plenty of heartache for anyone unlucky enough to still be using one of the stragglers when the axe falls. In fact, it’s become something of a meme. Google giving up on one of their projects and leaving its established userbase twisting in the wind hardly counts as news anymore.

Virtual reality mac for google cardboard