Step 1: Purchase (Or Make) a Version of Google Cardboard
Valve, Sony and Oculus have been making big waves with their high-end VR kits, but you can take virtual reality for a test run in your home. All you need is an Android or iPhone. Simply purchase a version of Google Cardboard (or make your own from a free template). We ordered the DODOcase VR Pop-Up Viewer for $24.95. (Photo by: Dodocase)
Step 2: Assemble the Device
Putting together the makeshift VR kit was ridiculously simple, so don’t be intimidated. You simply lock a few cardboard tabs in place, and you’re up and running in under 10 minutes. If you’ve operated a children’s pop-up book or closed a box of cereal before, then you can certainly handle this.
Step 3: Download Some Apps and Insert Your Phone
You’d be surprised how many free VR apps are currently available for Android and iPhone users. Just search in an app store for terms like “VR,” “Google Cardboard,” or “Dive VR,” and a host of developers experimenting with virtual reality games will pop up. Once you’ve got an app loaded, insert your phone into the case, and you’re ready to dive in.
Step 4: Put on Some Headphones and Enjoy
You’ll want to find a large, quiet space to try this out. If you hook up a decent set of headphones, the sense of complete immersion is actually kind of impressive. Next up: Which particular apps show off your DIY VR kit the best? (Photo by: Jessica Schilling Photography)
VR iPhone App: Stereopsis
One of the coolest projects we discovered is Stereopsis, a gallery of 3D, retro-surrealist art reminiscent of a Guy Maddin film. It’s a nice, clean way to test your kit and make sure everything’s working correctly. If both images combine into a single three-dimensional picture, you’re ready for something more intense. (Photo by: Domonkose)
VR iPhone App: Kris Menace Virtual Edition
This one’s a psychedelic, geometric music video that resembles Tron or Mizuguchi’s Rez. Even though it’s completely composed of abstract shapes, it does a great job at creating a seamless, consistent world. (Matrix Technologies)
VR iPhone App: Evolution of Verse (included in VRSE)
Evolution of Verse is a 360-degree video that tracks your head as you examine your surroundings. It’s got limited interactivity, but when you find yourself standing on a lake and swarmed by a flock of birds, you’ll get a small but incredible tease at what the future of VR has to offer. (Photo by: Vrse)
VR iPhone App: Clouds Over Sidra (included in VRSE)
This is probably the most remarkable activity you can enjoy with your new VR kit. Clouds Over Sidra was created by the UN, and places you alongside a young girl living in a Syrian refugee camp. Whether you’re eating dinner with her family or playing soccer in mud puddles with her friends, your empathy inputs will get flooded. It’s a moving experience that shows that virtual reality may actually bring mankind closer together. (Photo by: Vrse)
VR iPhone App: Casa Maracana
This isn’t really a game so much as an environment explorer. You’ll find yourself in a multi-story, modernist hipster pad decked out with art and expensive furnishings. It’s simple to navigate, and you can experience everything in about five minutes. But the sense of being transported to a virtual location is striking. (Photo by: Coelho)
VR iPhone App: Dive City Coaster
Riding a roller coaster seems like a requisite VR experience, and Dive City Coaster is the best roller coaster sim currently available for your phone. It’s got a collection of cool high-rise buildings to gawk at and a few huge loops to run as well. (Photo by: Durovis)
VR iPhone App: Moorente
There isn’t anything particularly stunning about this simple duck hunting app, except for the enormous pile of dead virtual ducks that pile up at your feet. If you grew up on Nintendo’s Duck Hunt, however, it offers a nice benchmark of just how far technology has come since you were a kid. (Photo by: Die Etagan GmbH)
VR iPhone App: Cardboard VR Shooter
It may have a bland name, but Cardboard VR Shooter is actually the closest you’ll get to a fleshed-out VR game on your phone. It plays like Disneyland’s Toy Story Midway Mania, except with a spooky-themed shooting gallery. (Fun Media Factory)
VR iPhone App: Sharks VR
If you’re jealous over all the virtual shark games making the rounds in press events, here’s your chance to get in on the action at home. You explore an undersea world teeming with predators. It’s a little difficult to navigate, but the setting is super cool. (Photo by: Lakento)
VR iPhone App: Froggy VR
This is one of the rare apps that offers a more robust game, rather than just a bare-bones tech demo. You play a frog navigating lily pads across a cartoonish pond. Along the way you’ll get to swallow bugs in first person–an activity that probably wasn’t on your bucket list, but that definitely shows the imaginative possibilities for VR. (Photo by: FIBRUM)
VR iPhone App: Crazy Swing VR
Strap yourself in for a thrilling fair ride that’ll spin you for loops over a busy cityscape. This may be the only time you don’t mind feeling dizzy in a VR app. The sense of vertigo and the fear of heights translate well to the virtual world. If you turn your head to the left, you’ll notice you have a companion who’s along for the ride too. (Photo by: FIBRUM)
Final Verdict? Go For It!
This list contains just a fraction of VR software available for iPhones, but if you’ve got an Android, it opens up even more possibilities. The one downside: You’ll inevitably wade through a lot of nausea-inducing failed projects. That’s okay though; as an early VR adopter, you can consider yourself a cartographer, mapping out uncharted territories. Don’t expect fully polished games yet, but do expect to get excited by your very own glimpse into the VR revolution. (Photo by: Corbis)
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