Google today launched its Cardboard app which is now available to iPhone and iPad users after previously being an exclusive app for the Android platform. Google Cardboard allows users to take 3D photos, mainly panoramic, and then share them with friends. Google calls those images virtual reality photos, since they can be viewed by anyone using a smartphone-compatible virtual reality device.
Along with iOS compatibility, the aforementioned ability to sharing virtual reality photos with friends is a new addition to the appEven on Android, the image is available through a sharing link created by the application, ready to be sent to the recipient.
The newly released Google Cardboard application should not be confused with another iOS application. Google Cardboard, allows users to view virtual reality and similar content, and many images shared by other users are viewed in a realistic way.
According to the App Store description of the application, you can look around to explore the image in all directions, and even hear the sound while taking the photo to hear the moment exactly as it happened. To capture a VR photo, hold your phone upright, hit record next, and start turning around as if you were taking a panorama.
Google's obsession with virtual reality has spread to its original equipment manufacturers like Samsung and LG, but Apple has so far refused to enter this market. With that being said, however, the iPhone 7 Plus' dual-lens camera system could be a huge problem for VR content creation, so who knows what Apple has in store for the future.
The Google Cardboard app can be download from the App Store for free, and requires iOS 8 or higher.
