Google Cardboard Kits

jumbobreakfast · 08-07-2014 9:53am #1

You may have heard of Google Cardboard but most of us can't source the lenses. It's possbile that this crowd might have the answer:
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/wantcardboard-google-cardboard-kits

Don't forget to add £2 to your payment for shipping like I did!

Supported phones:
http://gweb-cardboard.appspot.com/#compatibility
General info:
https://developers.google.com/cardboard/

Doge · 08-07-2014 3:36pm

Really interested in giving this a go, I was only thinking a few months back that it would be cool to watch Oculus Rift VR videos on youtube with the 2 screens by using my phone and 2 lenses.

My Moto G is partially supported too!

Doge · 08-07-2014 4:37pm

The original Moto G is out as it doesn't have a gyroscope to support headtracking:

http://www.reddit.com/r/MotoG/comments/29wvrb/can_i_use_google_cardboard_on_my_moto_g/

The 4G version *may* work with it as it has a gryoscope, but the magnet is still not compatible.

tooth*grinder · 08-07-2014 4:39pm

Funnily enough came across this:

http://www.unofficialcardboard.com/

this morning. For those of us who are curious but not allowed to use scissors.

Doge · 08-07-2014 4:44pm

tooth*grinder wrote: »

Funnily enough came across this:

http://www.unofficialcardboard.com/

this morning. For those of us who are curious but not allowed to use scissors.

10% off both the Assembled version and Unassembled kit with the following code:

cheapskate10%off

Both are selling for $29.99 excluding shipping, I wonder if its a mistake as surely the kit version would be cheaper.

murfilein · 10-07-2014 12:51pm

are the cardboard boxes from unofficialcardboard.com any good? did any order those and have experience?

Thargor · 19-08-2014 7:06pm

jumbobreakfast wrote: »

You may have heard of Google Cardboard but most of us can't source the lenses. It's possbile that this crowd might have the answer:
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/wantcardboard-google-cardboard-kits

Looking like that Indiegogo is a scam, I got Mastercard to do a chargeback and ordered a €10 version from Ebay.

tooth*grinder · 19-08-2014 9:11pm

Opps only remembered this now - I got one from the lads I linked too and its great, the lenses were dusty when I got it (from the card board), were grand after I popped them out and gave the a quick polish though. Assembly was a doodle and it works great with a Nexus 5 and SG4 that I've had to hand to try out.
If you have a spare €20 or what ever it is, there are worse ways to spend it. The quality of the thing is grand, just not really touched after a day or two of messing around is all.

jumbobreakfast · 21-08-2014 1:45pm

Thargor wrote: »

Looking like that Indiegogo is a scam, I got Mastercard to do a chargeback and ordered a €10 version from Ebay.

Yeah I had ordered one and forgot about it. Just finding out now that it was a scam. I'm really sorry for posting the link now. I've backed plenty of other projects before but never got scammed. I hope I can get my money back

Fresh Pots · 21-08-2014 9:11pm

I bought off the indiegogo scammers using my visa debit card. Is there any way of getting my money back?

Thargor · 21-08-2014 9:26pm

Contact your bank and ask, I had to print out a couple of emails asking for my money back (AIB lady told me to) and send them by snailmail to a PO Box in Sandyford with a cover letter explaining the situation, she said Ill probably get it refunded to my CC in a few weeks, pain in the arse.

marcbrophy · 22-08-2014 9:43am

Sorry for the stupid question, but I'm curious as to how this was a scam?

The link shows that it raised 34% of it's £13,000 goal, so the project wasn't funded fully, but these guys/gals got your money somehow?

Are they able to accept money for the project if it hasn't reached it's goal?

Again, sorry for the stupid questions

Thargor · 22-08-2014 9:56am

Yep, as it says on the page, they'll sell whatever kits people pay for no matter how much they raise, think its an option to do that when you're setting up a campaign, Indiegogo just hold the money like an escrow service and release it when the times up, feel sorry for the people who backed the £100 kits.

Fresh Pots · 22-08-2014 9:58am

Thargor wrote: »

Yep, as it says on the page, they'll sell whatever kits people pay for no matter how much they raise, think its an option to do that when you're setting up a campaign, Indiegogo just hold the money like an escrow service and release it when the times up, feel sorry for the people who backed the £100 kits.

Just looking at their twitter now and as of last week they were saying that some are still to be delivered. How are we sure it's a scam?

Thargor · 22-08-2014 10:24am

Have a read of the comments on the campaign, instant replies when they were sucking people in for weeks while the campaign was running then the minute the campaign ends no updates, no replies for 2 weeks on Twitter or there even though every single comment is now calling them scammers:

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/wantcardboard-google-cardboard-kits#comments

Comments like this are very telling:

Ok, this is obvously a scam. Take a look at the way the webmaster wrote cut laser cut (see cache:http://wantcardboard.com)

There are spaces between each word ! And the link to the website ishttp://cutlastercut.com (laster instead of laser). The scammer did this to avoid legal problems with them. We want our money back.

MoodeRator · 26-08-2014 3:22pm

Finally ordered a kit from here - TinyDeal, for just €3.55 delivered!

Thargor · 26-08-2014 3:28pm

Ah crap I paid a tenner for the exact same kit! Still no sign of a chargeback to my CC either.

blocparty · 26-08-2014 7:25pm

MoodeRator wrote: »

Finally ordered a kit from here - TinyDeal, for just €3.55 delivered!

how long you expecting delivery to take?

I ordered from Elecfreaks a month ago for €10 but still in processing :mad:

Chet T16 · 26-08-2014 7:57pm

I paid 30 for 2 with FedEx delivery from somewhere in China. I think the delivery was 21

Doge · 27-08-2014 2:37am

MoodeRator wrote: »

Finally ordered a kit from here - TinyDeal, for just €3.55 delivered!

I wonder how the resin lenses compare to the fancy laser cut glass ones.

MoodeRator · 27-08-2014 9:22am

blocparty wrote: »

how long you expecting delivery to take?

I ordered from Elecfreaks a month ago for €10 but still in processing :mad:

From previous experience with TinyDeal I expect to receive this kit in 3 weeks.

MoodeRator · 28-08-2014 12:03pm

MoodeRator wrote: »

Finally ordered a kit from here - TinyDeal, for just €3.55 delivered!

Just received a nice little update to this! TinyDeal emailed me to offer this handy little MicroSD card for use with the Cardboard kit

"Can be used for Google Cardboard, it includes 3D Movie Torrents, 3D Game APPS, Cardboard APP etc. With this wonderful micro SD card, you can enjoy the 3D virtual world freely."

PLUS- 40% OFF Coupon: 0p2l1N38Xr (do not know if this code is unique)

blocparty · 28-08-2014 2:01pm

MoodeRator wrote: »

From previous experience with TinyDeal I expect to receive this kit in 3 weeks.

the race is on then! im 5 weeks in to my wait and it still says processing :eek:

Thargor · 28-08-2014 2:02pm

Well somethings obviously gone wrong, should have emailed them at the end of week 3...

Although I'm coming up on week 3 for my Ebay one myself with no sign of it yet.

blocparty · 28-08-2014 2:55pm

Thargor wrote: »

Well somethings obviously gone wrong, should have emailed them at the end of week 3...

Although I'm coming up on week 3 for my Ebay one myself with no sign of it yet.

elecfreaks are notoriously slow, chatting with a guy on twitter and we joked that we will be playing with them on chirstmas day!

i think the demand is huge so there could be supply issues

having said that i will send an email to hopefully spark some life in it! waiting on my new phone at the moment so im in no rush to get it really

The_B_Man · 28-08-2014 3:14pm

I got one off eBay a while back.
I have a HTC One with a magnet at the back, so the side magnet doesnt work.

Apparently u can get coper tape and run it from the side of the cardboard, inside and as long as it touches the screen it can be used instead of the magnet.

So I got some copper tape to try it but even though I have it making contact with the screen, its not working. I cut the tape into strips and put them on top of each other to try maintain the circuit. Does anyone know if this will break the circuit or should this still work?

MoodeRator · 30-09-2014 1:02pm

blocparty wrote: »

the race is on then! im 5 weeks in to my wait and it still says processing :eek:

Mine has arrived! I will let you know how I get on with it once I have a chance to play.

Thargor · 30-09-2014 1:18pm

I got mine aswell but only had a 4.5" screen to try it on and couldn't get the magnet to work so not a great test, trying again this weekend with a 5.5" phone but I think you're supposed to be using 5.0"...

The_B_Man · 02-10-2014 12:24pm

Size doesn't matter....

On a related note, I've a HTC One M7 which has the magnet on the wrong side to use the built in magnet buttn.
I saw someone using copper tape to remedy this, but I wasn't able to get it working.
Does anyone have a better workaround? Cheers

Thargor · 22-11-2014 1:52am

Fresh Pots wrote: »

I bought off the indiegogo scammers using my visa debit card. Is there any way of getting my money back?

jumbobreakfast wrote: »

Yeah I had ordered one and forgot about it. Just finding out now that it was a scam. I'm really sorry for posting the link now. I've backed plenty of other projects before but never got scammed. I hope I can get my money back

Thargor wrote: »

Looking like that Indiegogo is a scam, I got Mastercard to do a chargeback and ordered a €10 version from Ebay.

Woohoo, just got a letter from AIB today saying they'll refund my Mastercard the €23 in the next 28 days

Took their time but fair play to them.

tonylee · 04-08-2015 12:18pm

anywhere in Dublin city selling Google Cardboard (V2) ? I know its possible to get from Amazon etc but wondered if there's someplace where I could walk in and buy

MurphChops · 17-09-2015 5:38pm

So how is everyone enjoying their cardboard headsets , Ive had mine a while now and I love taking it around with me and blowing peoples minds .
Anyone watched Elolution of Verse yet ?
I showed to my ma ....she cried...ha !

ldr · 17-09-2015 8:09pm

I have mine couple months now and its good fun, my 6 year old have good fun with it

Any recommended apps? Or to watch?

Thargor · 17-09-2015 9:11pm

Gathering dust on top of the Wii tbh.

gerrybbadd · 18-09-2015 10:03am

Thargor wrote: »

Gathering dust on top of the Wii tbh.

I'd take it off your hands!

MurphChops · 18-09-2015 5:04pm

ldr wrote: »

I have mine couple months now and its good fun, my 6 year old have good fun with it

Any recommended apps? Or to watch?

Get one called Caaaaardboard! I recommend playing it in a swivel chair unless you dont mind geting dizzy and falling over.

Also one called Sisters its kinda creepy , sit to one side of your couch with the rest under your right arm and you will feel weird also a great one for challenging people to sit through the whole thing without jumping.

There is something Im keeping my eye on called Expanse its free and produced by syfy looks like its a tv show just for cardboard but the demo of it looks cool.

Youtube now have vr videos instead of dragging with a mouse you just look around with cardboard .
Check this out
search for Nike Hypervenom II - The Neymar Jr. Effect, A Virtual Reality Experience
on youtube update the app first and use your cardboard to watch it

Ive deleted so much stuff to make room for new vr things they take up some amount of space when i remember them ill post again.

ldr · 19-09-2015 10:49am

very good apps you recommended there, sisters is freaky to watch and yes I jumped and so did the girlfriend.

will try youtube.

Thank you

MurphChops · 19-09-2015 4:38pm

Also try Swivel Gun VR, VRSE and The Height

delph09 · 21-09-2015 11:24am

the second generation of google cardboard seems not as hot as the 1st generation, what's the reason for this?

21-11-2015 10:35am

Bumping an old thread, but figure it was better than creating a new one.

Does anyone know if/where you can buy kits in Ireland?

digitaldr · 21-11-2015 11:54am

nope - I got a few dirt cheap on aliexpress. They were all fine but very slow delivery.

21-11-2015 1:25pm

Is there much of a difference between V1 and V2, bar ease of assembly?

Thargor · 21-11-2015 5:35pm

Go with a plastic version and have something that feels like a proper device and not a gimmick that came free with a newspaper:

http://www.aliexpress.com/af/category/100007533.html?d=n&catName=3d-glasses&CatId=100007533&isViewCP=y&origin=n

Scruff · 25-11-2015 10:57pm

thinking of getting one of these plastic headsets from somewhere nearer like amazon uk
anyone actually used any of these non cardboard versions? Not expecting Rift or even Gear VR quality but seems to be a shed load of suspicious reviews on these generic Chinese manufactured ones...

Thargor · 25-11-2015 11:04pm

Theres a limit to how good any of them are, at the end of the day you're holding a phone up to your eyes, the resolution just isn't there on a phones screen for proper VR. They're just a nice thing to have for when something like the Warcraft trailer is released or you see something good on Reddit. Pick the cheapest one that has a headstrap and holds the phone in place and has a magnet for input, they're all the same after that, cheap gimmicks that will probably be going in a drawer after you've seen them in action. Ive used Cardboard and Ive used my padded plastic one, the plastic one is completely superior.

clsmooth · 21-01-2016 12:10am

Thargor wrote: »

Theres a limit to how good any of them are, at the end of the day you're holding a phone up to your eyes, the resolution just isn't there on a phones screen for proper VR. They're just a nice thing to have for when something like the Warcraft trailer is released or you see something good on Reddit. Pick the cheapest one that has a headstrap and holds the phone in place and has a magnet for input, they're all the same after that, cheap gimmicks that will probably be going in a drawer after you've seen them in action. Ive used Cardboard and Ive used my padded plastic one, the plastic one is completely superior.

Which plastic one did you get? Most dont seem to have the magnet part

Thargor · 21-01-2016 1:03am

Yeah I took the magnet off a cardboard version I already had, I dont get why they would leave that out...

PTH2009 · 21-01-2016 5:08pm

bought one of these guys the other day off amazon

VR-Shinecon-3D-Virtual-Reality-Glasses-Head-Mount-Google-Cardboard-HD-Oculus-Rift-DK2-for-iPhone.jpg

VR-Shinecon-3D-Virtual-Reality-Glasses-Head-Mount-Google-Cardboard-HD-Oculus-Rift-DK2-for-iPhone.jpg

its a handy device but the apps on my htc one m9 are way too battery consuming and overheat the phone.

The apps are amazing and its a good little toy to keep kids quite

Thargor · 21-01-2016 5:34pm

Is there a method of input built in? Magnets or conductive tape?

gerrybbadd · 21-01-2016 6:28pm

PTH2009 wrote: »

bought one of these guys the other day off amazon

its a handy device but the apps on my htc one m9 are way too battery consuming and overheat the phone.

The apps are amazing and its a good little toy to keep kids quite

I see from youtube that some unboxing videos show there were different products included in some than others (some had little Bluetooth controllers and lense cleaner included, others didn't)

Did you have any extras included? Also, did they give you the little foam pieces? I think my phone (Huawei Ascend G7) wouldn't fit properly, cos the power / volume buttons would be pushed with the spring loaded holder - I think those little foam pieces can be used to elevate the phone away from the hard plastic, and it'd work then

PTH2009 · 22-01-2016 6:04pm

gerrybbadd wrote: »

I see from youtube that some unboxing videos show there were different products included in some than others (some had little Bluetooth controllers and lense cleaner included, others didn't)

Did you have any extras included? Also, did they give you the little foam pieces? I think my phone (Huawei Ascend G7) wouldn't fit properly, cos the power / volume buttons would be pushed with the spring loaded holder - I think those little foam pieces can be used to elevate the phone away from the hard plastic, and it'd work then

i didnt get any bluetooth controllers or anything but did get a cloth and those little foam pieces.

theres an amazing app called VRSE in which you can watch 360 videos and its very good but very power consuming. Some google cardboard apps work on it some dont as you need a button which is only on the google cardboard unit to watch. im using a HTC one m9 and its way better on them size screens than say an Iphone 4s screen

I wonder where this VR technology will go. ??